On November 19, 1995, more than 52,000 people trudged into Taylor Field in Regina, Saskatchewan, to witness what would become the most pivotal game in the history of the Canadian Football League. It was the day of the 83rd Grey Cup, so named for the silver trophy bestowed upon the CFL’s annual champion.
The weather was very Canadian, with temperatures dipping below zero and winds gusting to around 50 mph. The crowd, though, was spirited, ready for anything and decidedly on the side of the Calgary Stampeders, led by superstar quarterback Doug Flutie. The former Boston College star had been named the CFL’s Most Outstanding Player for four years running, but 1995 was arguably his most incredible season yet. Surgery in August on a torn tendon in his throwing elbow was supposed to keep him out eight months, but he returned in time for Calgary’s regular-season finale and led them through the playoffs and to the championship game. With backup quarterback Jeff Garcia keeping the team afloat and competitive in Flutie’s absence, Calgary had gone 15-3, tied with their Grey Cup opponent for the best record in the league.
That team was the Baltimore Stallions, a franchise in only its second year of existence. (The Stampeders date back to 1935, older than all but eight NFL teams.) Read more: http://www.rollingstone.com/sports/feat … z3rufoIKhr
That GC should have an asterisk beside it . The Stallions were allowed to play by a different set of rules. If Calgary were allowed to use all Americans they would have won easily. Baltimore was the only U.S. Team to truly take advantage not having to play Canadians and had a savvy CFL coaching staff .
Far more temporary seats were added in the end zones for the 95 Cup. And of course the Riders organization could not know that they would be in the game when they bid to host it.
I think the goal back in the day was to have as many football fans pack into the game as possible. The goal in todays grey cups and sporting world seems to be make the most money possible which means a balance of less seats and highest possible prices.
I am guessing Winnipeg could sell 50,000 seats at 90's prices.
they also didn’t know which teams would be in the 1995/2003 Grey Cups either yet still increased temp seats substantially and sold a whopping 52,564 tickets for the former and nearly 51,000 for the latter game.
and despite the decreased popularity/apathy for the CFL at that time, the games drew extremely well.
question is, why did the organizers not add a similar number of temp seats in 2013 when the two previous Grey Cups in Regina attracted in excess of 50,000+ and the popularity of the CFL much greater?
Im guessing the difference in seating capacity is attributed to the fact that Mosaic-Taylor Fields layout changed between those 2 Grey Cups. In recent years, the stadium added permanent-temporary seating around the field for regular season games, which made changes the temporary seating configuration capabilities. Thats my guess anyways
[b]O[/b]n November 19, 1995, more than 52,000 people trudged into Taylor Field in Regina, Saskatchewan, to witness what would become the [b]most pivotal game [/b]in the history of the Canadian Football League.
The dreamer in me can’t help but wonder if Portland could do the same thing, though in this case it would be them getting a NFL team as opposed to one returning…
Baltimore was a bridge too far.
Turdeau will offer free health care & CFL teams to the border states. They will certainly revolt.
Steffy will use the military assets of the breakaway states to anschluss America.
This is how the Mongols toppled China.
I still believe if done properly it would flourish, like the Stallions.
We could have a couple of teams in the US along the border, but only in a city where there is no other pro teams.
I will agree the ratio was not fair. However, The Stamps were a better team than the Stallions in 95, regardless of ratio.
The reason Baltimore was good was because Don M , knew he had to bring in players with CFL experience. The other US teams did not have that.
If you compare the Stamps - Stallions vs similar opponents , Stamps won the games by much wider victories.
Also the Stamps +/- points were greater.
What hurt the Stamps in 95 was they gave up 17 pts on special teams. That had nothing to do with the ratio.
Baltimore just played better that day.
BTW, that was one of the worst day’s of my life. I have never gotten over it. I would be happy if I could trade.
Give the Cats the 2014 win and I will take the 95 win in it’s place.
Also for those to young to remember, the reason for the non ratio was because of US labour laws.
Baltimore’s O Line and D line was dominant because of the non ratio . They were able to chose any player from a country of 330 million . Of course they had an advantage . They only played 2 years … There expansion year was a final appearance . It wasn’t an accident . If the U.S . experiment continued it would have crippled the league.
Don’t know if it was the worst mistake ever. If we didn’t have Baltimore, we may not have had Montreal when we did. I wouldn’t mind a US team or three eventually. But only in a border state with no other professional team that was able to play under Canadian player ratio rules. If it was mandated that Canadian teams had to have so many American players and American teams had to have so many Canadian players it might circumvent the labour laws in the States. And done very slowly, with alot of vetting of new owners.
Yes, The Stallions moved to Montreal.
As for we would not have Montreal, not sure about that.
In 1991 92 the Montreal Machine of the WLAF averaged between 25-38,000.
Roger Dore owned the team and considered it success.
I say if the Stallions did not move to Montreal , Dore would have placed a team there anyway.