Kamau Peterson
CFL.ca
Finally, the stage is set for the greatest annual sporting event that this country has to offer. CFL fans will bear witness to a showdown between the Montreal Alouettes who were far and away the best team in the league in 2009, and the Saskatchewan Roughriders who are this nation’s most beloved team.
The best of the West, will try to tame the beast of the East at McMahon stadium in Calgary on Sunday in front of a capacity crowd – thousands of which will be wearing watermelons as hats. Anthony Calvillo the most outstanding player in this league for the last two years running will be trying to work his magic as both John Chick, the 2009 defensive player of the year and Stevie Baggs (who arguably could have been the defensive player of the year), try to make his existence a difficult one.
Match-ups notwithstanding, these two teams took diverging paths from the start to arrive at this place. Montreal has been the favorite to represent the East in the Grey cup since they came up short in last year’s final against Calgary. This team knew that they were favorites and frontrunners the entire regular season and embraced that role which says something in itself.
Truly a reflection of their coach, this team is disciplined and focused while still being very physical and playing with a ton of emotion. It takes a special kind of team to take the role of favorite and play with it all year successfully. There lies a different type of motivation in this team, and with that a different level of confidence that the rest of us weren’t able to attain this year.
Not once has this team been able to claim an underdog role or state to media that the pressure isn’t on them, but on the other team. Every team that they played this year prepared for them as if it was a playoff game, and they still managed to dominate the league week in and week out. They talked the talk, and then walked the walk.
Now for them it is time to exorcise the demons and lost opportunities of past seasons. Players like Calvillo, Chiu, Flory, Cahoon and Sanchez while seemingly ageless in their production and level of play, will at some point succumb to age as we all do.
Many have speculated that win or lose, this team will look very different next year. Rumors regarding Coach Marc Trestman’s possible departure back to the NFL, as well as speculation regarding the possible retirement of Cahoon and Chiu, and the possible free agent departure of Kerry Watkins could have this team looking very different.
The time for this team is now, and the hunger and focus that they’ve shown throughout this entire year will be evident once they cross the right lines.
Across the field, the Saskatchewan Roughriders came out of a talented West as the number one ranked team despite being predicted by pundits to finish middle of the pack. They managed to come out on top in spite of losing 2 all-star linebackers to free agency, their defensive co-ordinator of more than a decade, and even losing their top receiver mid-season to injury.
They have used these potentially negative and damaging aspects to serve them in rallying around each other as a team. This has enabled them to overcome any perceived lack of talent that experts have sited.
In contrast to their opponents, this team has been told all year what it could not do. Experts have said that Durant is not an elite level QB since he began his career as a starter, he’s shown otherwise. Most doubted that Renauld Williams and Tad Kornegay could fill the void left by Maurice Lloyd and Anton McKenzie and they’ve both played at an All-star level erasing doubts along the way.
Questions also swirled all year about the Riders choice to play so many Canadian receivers. Bagg, Getzlaf, Fantuz and Clermont have done nothing but make plays all year proving yet again that there is more to playing this game than strong combine results.
The injuries to Wayne Smith, Belton Johnson and Jordan Rempel along with the quick departure of free agent signing Joe McGrath also left many concerns regarding the state of the Rider offensive line. Led by veteran Gene Makowsky the offensive line is a question no more.
This team exemplifies sacrifice, and relying on the man next to you. All year they have picked each other up when another takes a misstep. Cates starts slow – Foord picks up the slack. Fantuz goes down – Getzlaf steps in. Dressler is lost for the season – Bagg introduces himself to the league and so on, and so forth.
Whenever this team has faced adversity they’ve been able to rely on each other and the Rider Nation itself to pull the best out of each other in order to make things happen.
While many are calling for this game to be lopsided in favor of Montreal, I wouldn’t be surprised to see some fireworks. Montreal is as polished and determined a team as I’ve seen in quite some time, while Saskatchewan is truly a team of fighters, which gives them a punchers chance in any fight. If the game stays close it favors the Riders, so look for the “sea of green” to aid them in keeping Montreal off balance early on.
Key Matchups: Fantuz vs Cox/Parker/Brown, Cates Vs Emry, Calvillo vs Baggs, Chick/Williams/Morgan vs Watkins, Davis vs Cahoon, Taylor vs Armstead.
