Are there more positive things to be said about Grey Cup?

Of course…by far…
I really enjoyed this year’s Grey Cup in Ottawa.

Got to Ottawa on Thursday in time to have lunch with my cousin –intended to dine at the Black Bear but when we got there both found it was closed. What transpired next was funny…we would walk around the block looking for each other, but each time we did we were just out of sight of the other… too funny… but eventually we did locate each other and then discovered Gibsons (I think that is the name) at the nearby Radisson Hotel and this eatery has been upgraded. And it has good service with good food and more than adequate draft beers…

It was a great lunch but it came with insufficient time to fully get caught up — my hope is that Doug will come out to the Okanagan to ski. I know that Kelda (his wife) likes good wine so there would be a double benefit.

I then fully intended to go to the Market to hit some of the early party spots of some of the teams. I stopped first though at the Delta…and never left. Ran into a variety of football people as the Atlantic Schooners had made their home there as well as the CFL itself. Had a great conversation with Mike Reilly of the Esks who was there as guest of the CFL since he was nominated for Player of the Year (which he won later that evening at the Awards Banquet to which I did not go due to the $350/ticket price tag!! — I don’t always “shovel money out the window!!). Also talked with Andre Prioux, a CFL referee (but not one handling the GC itself). Also discussed at great length the potential future of Maritime participation in the CFL, and myriad other topics as they came up. And all of a sudden it was dinner-time which led to a meal which was delightful as well — nice steak and good red wine served with precision and politeness… Not much wonder I spent the rest of the day there!!

Friday was very busy. In the morning there was the State of the League conversation with the Commissioner. For once again we have a commissioner who actually played the game AND has some financial savvy. Randy was good and covered a lot of ground as well as holding an extended Q&A with the fans who were there. There was some criticism that he didn’t really address the concussion issue, but with a court case currently pending (which should have been dealt with between the Players Association and the league some time ago) I actually thought he was properly prudent. Once this ego-centric Arland Bruce III case gets tossed, I’m sure you will see a much more vigorous conversation on the issue (it’s much like Canada’s public position on TPP Trade Deal, until the NAFTA issue is solved it will not be as vigorously discussed).

Then I went to the Legends Luncheon that the Players Association puts on. This year’s was first class… At the first table I was at, I met Piron a guy who I watched play for the Renegades. Then I was moved to a table with Anthony Calvillo and Mike O’Shea and Glen Johnson…a star QB when he played for the Alouettes (during my time as a Season Ticket holder and we would drive from PEI often to the games), a former tough linebacker and now head coach of the Blue Bombers (who I think has turned that franchise around), and a head referee who now mans the control centre for video replays. It was an honour to be in their presence and have conversations with them. As well the program was very interesting as they honoured Jeff Avery and Russ Jackson…two guys I got to watch in my younger years, actually Russ was really in my youngest years (a sidebar: I watched the last game that he and Ron Lancaster played together for the Ottawa Rough Riders as the next week Ronnie was traded to the Saskatchewan Roughriders and the rest, they say, is history)… I think I will start attending this event every year now (in the past it has been kind of hit and miss, and often I’d just drop in after the meal).

In the afternoon I had a great time at a local pub chatting with two sisters whose parents hosted us at the Winnipeg Grey Cup. These two women are among the smartest people I know and so any conversation is always a delight — but to also get to talk football was even better. And then I got to witness a very wonderful moment. The one sister actually is an Ottawa resident and served on the Grey Cup committee. As a result she came into possession of two complimentary tickets to the game. But she already had her seats (she and her equally brilliant husband, who I will discuss in another part of this chapter, have season’s tickets to the RedBlacks) and yet she didn’t want to sell these extra tix. She took the time to find a group that deals with less fortunate kids and found a young boy who in an chance meeting with Athletes in Action, was the only kid to correctly identify the Grey Cup as the big event in Ottawa on the weekend. So a senior rep of the organization came to the pub to get the tickets and was then going to give them to the kid and his older brother. The scene at the table as the organization person explained the circumstances of the young kid was incredible — nary a dry eye, as they say but certainly a worthy recipient…

In the evening I had a most enjoyable dinner will the above-noted lady’s husband. He and I would have another meal (that I will discuss later); but for the Friday night it was football and politics and a generally enlightening gathering. There is a rumour that he abetted the removal of a very attractive Craft House beer glass, but as there is no evidence at either his house nor in my luggage, I would suggest that is a rumour that should be dispensed with immediately. The meal and the beer though were absolutely and truthfully excellent. It all was so filling that I walked back to the townhouse where we were staying…

And that was the end of Friday…although I may have had some Old Pulteney before retiring for the night…the hostess there is also a fine person — actually one of PEI-descent and a rising star in the DM circles…but I digress…