Keywords Sports Trophies

In 1948 the CALGARY STAMPEDERS and their supporters transformed the Grey Cup game into a week-long carnival of festivities, a national celebration, and the most watched sporting event in Canada. In 1962, hailing the game as an instrument of national unity, Parliament decreed that both major Canadian television networks must make the television transmission of the game available to the other so that all regions could see it. This has been borne out as the game has consistently been the nation's highest-rated television program.

The Grey Cup has been an east-west battle for the Canadian football championship since 1921, when the EDMONTON ESKIMOS journeyed eastward to play the TORONTO ARGONAUTS. An attempt was made in 1995 to change the focus to north-south. The CFL expansion into the US in 1993 resulted in a re-alignment in 1995 of a Southern Division of five American teams: San Antonio, Shreveport, Birmingham, Memphis and Baltimore. The Northern or Canadian Division had eight teams: Ottawa, Toronto, Hamilton, Winnipeg, Saskatchewan, Calgary, Edmonton and British Columbia. The object was to build on the successful Grey Cup game of 1994, the first time an American team played in the final. The BC LIONS defeated the Baltimore CFLers 26-23. Baltimore, known as the Stallions in 1995, returned to the 1995 Grey Cup final in Regina, where it was being played for the first time, and defeated the CALGARY STAMPEDERS 37-20. It was the first time an American-based team had won the Grey Cup. The distinction will probably stand for some time since the Southern Division was disbanded after the 1995 season. Four of the American teams ceased operations while the fifth, Baltimore, transferred its franchise to Montréal, where it was revived as the MONTREAL ALOUETTES.

The trophy itself has had a storied past, enduring fire, theft and damage, most recently in 2006 when the BC Lions broke the base during victory celebrations. In 2008 it journeyed to the Kandahar Air Base in Afghanistan where, on Canada Day, it was passed around by Canadian troops stationed there. As the cup nears 100 years old, the CFL is considering options for its future preservation as a museum piece such as retiring the base.

See GREY CUP SCORES 1945-1969; GREY CUP SCORES 1970-1995; GREY CUP SCORES 1996-PRESENT.

Grey Cup
The Grey Cup, created by Birks Jewellers, has been part of Canadian sport since 1909.

Fog Bowl in Toronto
Visibility on the field was adequate to play the game, but the action was invisible to the spectators and the television audience. Here Charlie Shephard catches a touchdown pass (Courtesy Hamilton Spectator).

Author FRANK COSENTINO

Links to Other Sites
Canadian Football League
The official website of the Canadian Football League.

CBC Sports' Don Wittman dies
An obituary for CBC veteran sports broadcaster Don Wittman.

Boyhood dream came true for Moon
Article about legendary football star Warren Moon. From canoe.ca.

The Grey Cup: Six questions
A article on Grey Cup trivia from thestar.com.

TSN
Catch the latest sports news and stats at the website for TSN, a subsidiary of CTVglobemedia.