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CFL

Better Know Your Grey Cup Semi-Finalists

By oddJoe ⋅ November 11, 2006 ⋅ Post a comment

The 94th Annual Grey Cup Tomorrow us Yanks will all be stuck watching such natty NFL fare as San Francisco at Detroit and Arizona vs. Dallas, but up in Canada they’ll all be watching the Division Finals of the CFL. That’s right, the Grey Cup championship is just a week away, and an entire nation will be rivited to see who emerges from this weekend’s semi-final matches to contend for the title. To get you up to speed, here’s a preview of the East and West Division match-ups.

Toronto Argonauts at Montreal Alouettes - This marks the fifth consecutive year the Argos and Als will meet to decide the East Division championship. Apparently the CFL has not heard of ~~mediocrity~~ parity and how great it has been for the NFL. Of course, this is the game American football fans should be most interested in because Ricky Williams plays for the Boatmen, though if he helps Toronto win their first Grey Cup since 2004, he might just well trade in his American citizenship and stay in Canada. Not all former NFLers have such good feelings about being Canada, though. Alain Kashama, defensive end, and cornerback Mark Estelle, were pulled over for a traffic violation this past Monday night after Montreal police suspected a drug deal might be going down; the players say the police are racists. Bringing the Cup back to Ville de Montr�al for the first time since 2002 might solve that.

Saskatchewan Roughriders at B.C. Lions - This game is shaping up as the Canadian version of Colts vs. Patriots. The Lions finished the season with the best record in the CFL (13-5) and have the league’s top passing offense. The Riders, though, have a scrappy defense and won three of the four meetings between these two teams this year. But that’s not the only reason to give the edge to Saskatchewan: They’re still pissed that Calgary banned the Roughriders mascot, Gainer the Gopher, from attending the their playoff game against the Stampeders last week. The Riders won that game 30-21. You do not disrespect a gopher and get away with it in Canada.