Allergic to Montreal
Montreal football fans and Atlanta baseball fans are kindred spirits. The both have witnessed their teams produce fantastic regular season teams and both have seen their teams come up short in championship games.
Following their lost to the Calgary Stampeders in the 96th Grey Cup before a sell-out home crows in Montreal, the Als are now 1-5 in Grey Cup finals since returning to the league in 1996. The Atlanta Braves, you may recall, were 1-4 during their remarkable National League dominance in the 1990s.
At least they’ve won one title or else they’d be in the same boat as the Minnesota Vikings and Buffalo Bills who have 0-4 records in the Super Bowl.
Bah.
It really looked like the professionally coached Als were going to get it done in the first half. Indeed, coach Marc Trestman’s imprints were firmly evident as they looked sharp and prepared.
However, fellow NFL graduate John Hufnagel’s Calgary squad matched Montreal’s intensity kilo for kilo. By the second half they were in full gear as they sacked, pillaged and threw their weight and talent around. As a result, the rattled Als could not get anything going offensively while the defense couldn’t come up with any big plays.
On this day, Stampeders QB Henry Burris outdid Alouettes gunslinger Anthony Calvillo.
Game over.
Too bad. I had a post lined up with the title “Quebec King of Canadian Football” discussing the university football dominance of Laval Rouge et Or who won the Desjardins Vanier Cup a day earlier over Western 22-14.
Oh well.
Final Score: Calgary 22 Montreal 14.
Congratulations to the Calgary Stampeders who incidentally won their last title in 2001 in, you guessed it, Montreal.
Seven years later, they were the better football team once again. Pure, plain and stompin’ simple.
That late Calvillo interception in the end zone was a killer. The Als were truly sunk after that.
Yes, that was a momentum shifter; a turning point.