Argos close out magical season in Toronto with Grey Cup victory
Bruce Arthur | Nov 25, 2012 10:35 PM ET | Last Updated: Nov 26, 2012 12:21 AM ET
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TORONTO — They broke the Grey Cup somewhere in the whirlwind of
Champagne and beer and big men in close quarters, letting out all the
joy and pain and pressure from a long and strange season. The handle
snapped clean off, but then, it’s never been the sturdiest trophy. Which
is fitting, since the Toronto Argonauts, for all the 139 years of their
history, have never been the sturdiest franchise.
On Sunday night, though, in the 100th Grey Cup, they were immovable from beginning to end in a 35-22 victory over the imploding Calgary Stampeders. The game capped a smashing Grey Cup week, during which Toronto felt more like the rest of Canada than it has in a long time; the dusty old Rogers Centre came alive in a way that it simply never does. Usually, this place is half-empty or worse, and the games feel small. This time the sellout crowd of 53,208 turned the dusty old dome into a multicoloured, raucous, sold-out festival. And their team measured up.
“It’s something we can be proud of the rest of our lives — that when all the lights were brightest, and all the eyes were on us, we answered the call and made Toronto a city of champions,” said defensive back Jordan Younger, one of this team’s most enduring presences. “As an athlete, it’s a perfect moment. I mean, perfect.”
This town has become a black hole of despair when it comes to sports, but for the Argonauts it’s been Toronto’s week, and Toronto’s year. From the moment this last-place team traded for quarterback Ricky Ray the conspiracy theories bloomed, as if the Canadian Football League had somehow convinced the Edmonton Eskimos to torch their franchise for the good of the big picture. Speculation swirled around the job security of Toronto’s general manager, Jim Barker, despite the heist. Late in Grey Cup week, speculation swirled around their immediate future. This team has always been a little uncertain, and this version was no exception.
But on Sunday, they were the best team in the country, and not by a little. No conspiracy theory would have arranged a 9-9 record in the regular season, a climb over Edmonton and Montreal in the playoffs, and the demolition of a team that had won 13 of its previous 15 games. But here we are.
“I think this was as much as anyone could have hoped for,” said Argonauts CEO Chris Rudge, standing clear of the puddles of Champagne in the plastic-wrapped winning locker room.
It was, on the balance, a very Canadian evening. Burton Cummings botched the anthem in both languages, singing what appeared to be the old version before they changed the words, but then, he was doing in the jazz style, so maybe it was just improvisation. The halftime show was Gordon Lightfoot and the kids, with Justin Bieber — who has nearly as many Twitter followers as there are Canadians — saying it was an honour to appear, even after being booed.
Yes, the turf was slippery, the officials were foggy, and the air was
so murky from the fireworks that you felt like it was the world’s
biggest restaurant in 1985. Non-smoking, please.
But the game was a coronation, to conclude a struggle. Ray, the franchise quarterback acquired from Edmonton for a bag of magic beans, chucked an interception on the game’s first play from scrimmage. But the Stampeders went two-and-out, and on Calgary’s next possession Jon Cornish, the league’s Outstanding Canadian and leading rusher, fumbled an exchange with Kevin Glenn that Toronto turned into a Chad Owens touchdown. After a Calgary field goal, Glenn — in his first Grey Cup after 12-star-crossed years — flopped a short, errant pass to his right that was picked off by Pacino Horne and returned 25 yards for a touchdown and a 14-3 Toronto lead.
The Stampeders, who had not lost a game since Sept. 23, were in trouble. Glenn just couldn’t keep a drive together. Cornish, who would be held to 57 yards on 15 carries, seemed lost in the pall of smoke.
It was 24-6 at halftime, and Calgary’s necessary miracles never came. A 105-yard kickoff return by Larry Taylor was called back for holding; receivers fell down, balls sailed, nothing worked. The Calgary Stampeders might well wake up Monday morning and wonder how, in the biggest game of what had become a remarkable season, everything fell apart.
Owens, the league’s Most Outstanding Player, caught just two passes, but running back Chad Kackert rolled up a combined 195 yards on 28 touches and was named the game’s MVP. Ray, the fulcrum, was rock solid. The defence, coached by former Calgary defensive co-ordinator Chris Jones, ate the Stampeders alive. Calgary had to negotiate its horse into the stadium; like its team, it didn’t have room to run.
And so, the end of a strange and compelling year. It’s easy to forget, but the Argonauts are a 9-9 team that struggled to mix in a sea of new faces and a first-time head coach, Scott Milanovich, in a season where the practice facility burned down. As Younger puts it in his gravel-soaked voice, “I told my teammates, man, we are blue-collar. We are not divas, we are not soft. We did this with no meeting rooms. We did this bouncing around a college campus, getting in where we fit in. We really pulled this off the hardest way we could, the most difficult and complicated way we could.”
They did, but they almost made it look easy at the end. As the Cup
was carried in late in the fourth quarter, Calgary’s horse exited stage
left, and the Stampeders committed 30 yards of penalties on one play.
Next thing you know, Owens’ daughters were doing snow angels in the
confetti.
Going forward, the Argonauts suddenly seem like a team that could be here again. Montreal is a dynasty in decline; Winnipeg is rubble; Hamilton will spend the next year as a refugee franchise, playing under bridges and in parking lots while a new stadium is built. Toronto could become the new Montreal, for a time.
Maybe the Blue Jays will put natural grass in and evict their
tenants, which is an idea that is suddenly swirling with some force;
maybe a mess is right around the corner. But on the field, the future
seems strangely bright.
Which, when you think about it, could be as unifying a force as the Grey Cup, in its own way. Toronto is a town that has been pitied of late; this will give the rest of the country something to cheer against again. It’s been too long.
On Sunday night, though, in the 100th Grey Cup, they were immovable from beginning to end in a 35-22 victory over the imploding Calgary Stampeders. The game capped a smashing Grey Cup week, during which Toronto felt more like the rest of Canada than it has in a long time; the dusty old Rogers Centre came alive in a way that it simply never does. Usually, this place is half-empty or worse, and the games feel small. This time the sellout crowd of 53,208 turned the dusty old dome into a multicoloured, raucous, sold-out festival. And their team measured up.
“It’s something we can be proud of the rest of our lives — that when all the lights were brightest, and all the eyes were on us, we answered the call and made Toronto a city of champions,” said defensive back Jordan Younger, one of this team’s most enduring presences. “As an athlete, it’s a perfect moment. I mean, perfect.”
This town has become a black hole of despair when it comes to sports, but for the Argonauts it’s been Toronto’s week, and Toronto’s year. From the moment this last-place team traded for quarterback Ricky Ray the conspiracy theories bloomed, as if the Canadian Football League had somehow convinced the Edmonton Eskimos to torch their franchise for the good of the big picture. Speculation swirled around the job security of Toronto’s general manager, Jim Barker, despite the heist. Late in Grey Cup week, speculation swirled around their immediate future. This team has always been a little uncertain, and this version was no exception.
But on Sunday, they were the best team in the country, and not by a little. No conspiracy theory would have arranged a 9-9 record in the regular season, a climb over Edmonton and Montreal in the playoffs, and the demolition of a team that had won 13 of its previous 15 games. But here we are.
“I think this was as much as anyone could have hoped for,” said Argonauts CEO Chris Rudge, standing clear of the puddles of Champagne in the plastic-wrapped winning locker room.
It was, on the balance, a very Canadian evening. Burton Cummings botched the anthem in both languages, singing what appeared to be the old version before they changed the words, but then, he was doing in the jazz style, so maybe it was just improvisation. The halftime show was Gordon Lightfoot and the kids, with Justin Bieber — who has nearly as many Twitter followers as there are Canadians — saying it was an honour to appear, even after being booed.
Darren Calabrese/National PostChad Owens.
But the game was a coronation, to conclude a struggle. Ray, the franchise quarterback acquired from Edmonton for a bag of magic beans, chucked an interception on the game’s first play from scrimmage. But the Stampeders went two-and-out, and on Calgary’s next possession Jon Cornish, the league’s Outstanding Canadian and leading rusher, fumbled an exchange with Kevin Glenn that Toronto turned into a Chad Owens touchdown. After a Calgary field goal, Glenn — in his first Grey Cup after 12-star-crossed years — flopped a short, errant pass to his right that was picked off by Pacino Horne and returned 25 yards for a touchdown and a 14-3 Toronto lead.
The Stampeders, who had not lost a game since Sept. 23, were in trouble. Glenn just couldn’t keep a drive together. Cornish, who would be held to 57 yards on 15 carries, seemed lost in the pall of smoke.
It was 24-6 at halftime, and Calgary’s necessary miracles never came. A 105-yard kickoff return by Larry Taylor was called back for holding; receivers fell down, balls sailed, nothing worked. The Calgary Stampeders might well wake up Monday morning and wonder how, in the biggest game of what had become a remarkable season, everything fell apart.
Owens, the league’s Most Outstanding Player, caught just two passes, but running back Chad Kackert rolled up a combined 195 yards on 28 touches and was named the game’s MVP. Ray, the fulcrum, was rock solid. The defence, coached by former Calgary defensive co-ordinator Chris Jones, ate the Stampeders alive. Calgary had to negotiate its horse into the stadium; like its team, it didn’t have room to run.
And so, the end of a strange and compelling year. It’s easy to forget, but the Argonauts are a 9-9 team that struggled to mix in a sea of new faces and a first-time head coach, Scott Milanovich, in a season where the practice facility burned down. As Younger puts it in his gravel-soaked voice, “I told my teammates, man, we are blue-collar. We are not divas, we are not soft. We did this with no meeting rooms. We did this bouncing around a college campus, getting in where we fit in. We really pulled this off the hardest way we could, the most difficult and complicated way we could.”
Peter J. Thompson/National PostAs
the Grey Cup was brought down to field level, the Calgary Stampeders
mascot exited and Toronto fans new that the Argonauts, who went 9-9 in
the regular season, had brought home the 100th Grey Cup.
Going forward, the Argonauts suddenly seem like a team that could be here again. Montreal is a dynasty in decline; Winnipeg is rubble; Hamilton will spend the next year as a refugee franchise, playing under bridges and in parking lots while a new stadium is built. Toronto could become the new Montreal, for a time.
Darren Calabrese/National PostRicky
Ray has appeared in four Grey Cup games — three with the Edmonton
Eskimos and one with the Toronto Argonauts — and has now won three of
them after a 35-22 victory over the Calgary Stampeders on Sunday.
Which, when you think about it, could be as unifying a force as the Grey Cup, in its own way. Toronto is a town that has been pitied of late; this will give the rest of the country something to cheer against again. It’s been too long.
Peter J. Thompson/National PostChad
Owens left his mark for the Toronto Argonauts in a record-setting
regular season, and has already had an impact with a touchdown in the
first half of the 100th Grey Cup against the Calgary Stampeders.
Darren Calabrese/National PostToronto
Argonauts receiver Andre Durie's, left, fourth quarter touchdown put
the final exclamation mark on a dominant 35-22 victory over the Calgary
Stampeders in the 100th Grey Cup.
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