I would be happy if the Canucks would get 1 in a row....says FootballYouBet
It seems like in any sport,any league nowadays that 1 in a row is as good as it gets,you rarely see teams win back to back Championships anymore in anything,the day of the true dynasty is indeed a thing of the past.Ironically the 2nd to last team to win back to back in the CFL are the Flutie led Argos in 96-97.The last team to pull it off was the 09-10 Al's.
In fact in the modern era of the CFL(50-13)there is only been 7 times that a team has won a Cup in back to back years,with the Eskimos doing it twice(54,55,56)and of course(78,79,80,81,82)and the Bombers also pulling it off on two occasions(58,59)(61,62)the only other team to win back to back is the Rough Riders(Ott)in 68,69.It makes the Eskimos 5 year run as Champs even more amazing when you look at it from this standpoint and a record that will never be broken or even come close to being broken again in the CFL or any other league for that matter. :cowboy:
Turns out that my memory of that “81” Cup and the Tony Gabriel penalty was correct.It is talked about in the last paragraph of the article I’ve linked about Gabriel titled the Grey Cup Aftermath-the Tony Gabriel Experience.The whole article is a good read,enjoy!!! :thup:
As a Stamp fan I can say that it was the 5 in a row that fueled my hatred of the Eskies :lol: obviously for good reason, they were dominant and didn't have a single weakness. I played a few years of flag football with Larry Highbaugh who would always talk of what it took to win, he was a character for sure and still had decent speed for a 40 year old with bad knees. He use to pick on one of our corners who was always getting beat and his favorite thing to say to him was " C'mon man he beat yo a$$" Ah the good ol days.
People forget Dunnigan’s GC play was very sub par. Played awful in 86 vs Hamilton , Damon Allen coming off the bench in 87 saved that one, choked in 88 vs the Bombers, played ok in the 91 game , outclassed by Flutie in 92. A very good player but the GC games were not very kind to him.
Not arguing your basic point, but IMO to say he played OK in 1991 does not do him justice. He played with a separated shoulder on his throwing arm and still managed to throw two long TD passes and avoid turning the ball over. Argos wouldn’t have won that game without his gritty performance.
I remember when the Esks won 2 Grey Cups in 3 years in 2003 and 2005, I would have been around 10-11 years old and I took for granted going to and Eskimo viewing with the Grey Cup every few years... I was in for a big shock for the 2006 season when they missed the playoffs for the first time in 34 years (a world sports record), I remember how I felt after the deciding game being 12 and utterly pissed off haha. Looks like I wont be taking Grey Cups for granted as we havent even made it to one in 9 years :lol:
I was born in 77 and am a Bomber fan. The first game I ever remember watching was the 84 Grey Cup. Then in 86 we destroyed the Riders 56-0. By grade 8, we had won the Grey Cup 3 times!!! 3 times in 7 years. Then by grade 11 we made 2 more appearances (92,93) Little did I know the futility that would ensue.Including a 55-0 thrashing by the Riders on Labour Day a few season's ago. It was at that precise moment that I realized that we had become as pathetic as the Riders 1977-1988.
During the five in a row for the Esks seemed to hurt the CFL more than help, East Division played garbage, and it didn't help when a terrible Ottawa team almost beat the Esks in the 81 GC. For Edmonton it was great, can't see a team going for five, or even three these days. So happy theres a cross over in the league now to keep teams that play so bad from playing in the playoffs. Used to hate seeing good teams in the West miss cause there wasn't enough teams in the East.
The CFL season cannot be gauged the same as the NFL season, The Rough Riders were terrible at the start of the 81 season but progressed at the right time, and had to win the East to get to the Grey Cup!
Hamilton did the same last season, true the playoff format has been improved, but to discredit and re-write history ? this is the old CBC mentality IMHO!
I have to agree 100% on that statement that the East Division played garbage for the most part back in the late 70’s early 80’s.Taking the “81” season as a prime example,the East only had one competitive team that season,that being the Cats who ended up at 11-4-1 on the season,amazingly they had more wins than the other three East teams combined who totalled 10 wins combined(Ottawa-5-11,Montreal-3-13,Toronto-2-14).Ottawa actually got a home play-off date in the semis where you had a 5-11 team vs a 3-13 team,which was absolutely ridiculous and made the league look totally Mickey Mouse and hard to take seriously.Meanwhile over in the West Division that same year the 3 play-off teams were Edmonton,Winnipeg and B.C. each had double digit wins on the season and combined had a W/L record of 35-12-1,meanwhile the Sask Riders missed the play-offs that year with a 9-7 record,more wins than Ottawa and Montreal combined who totalled 8 between them.
You guys raise a good point. I never realized it but I lost the CFL after the 5 in a row. Up til then I was a huge CFL and Eskimo fan and lived there. During and after their run it became apparent the league was weak. Moon left and Hugh Campbell followed him to Houston and my attention shifted. I thought of the CFL as boring. CFL teams were in and out of bankruptcy or folding and soon thereafter the awful US expansion happened. NFL was thriving and made the CFL look like a poor cousin. Flutie came and that added something but he went from team to team, Dunigan added something but he also moved every two years. Owners like Ballard, Skalbania, Pezim, showed up. Telethons were happening to keep teams afloat, by mid nineties, BC place had 10,000 people in there if that. It was the dark time for CFL. Looking back I have no idea how it survived. Turns out Edmonton was secretly funding other teams as they had a ton of dough, Braley showed up and was a prop. As I say pretty amazing the league survived.
For me TSN and dedication to Friday nights saved the day.
I started watching CFL in 1979. There were two constants in the universe that you could always rely on for those first 2 or 3 seasons that I followed. Edmonton ALWAYS won and Saskatchewan ALWAYS lost. Seriously, that is what it felt like when I was 7 or 8 years old. It was a HUGE deal if Edmonton ever lost a game.
I was 8 years old and in complete awe of Brian Kelly. The little guy just simply never dropped a pass, never even bobbled.
The Esks had the best everything. They had the best QB (Moon), the best backup QB (Wilkie) the best receivers (Kelly, Scott, Waddell Smith), the best all purpose back (Germany), the meanest olineman and best beard (Hec Pothier) the hardest hitting LB (Kep), the most feared DL (Fennell, Boone, Estay), the best secondary (Highbaugh, Holimon, Ed Jones), the best Canadian players (Lumsden, Stu Lang, Dale Potter, Tom Towns), the best coach (Hugh Campbell), the best (game-on-the-line-money) kicker (Cutler, and even the best damn punter (by a TON) (Ilesic).
40-8, 55-7, 49-14. Literally every other week, that’s what the scoreboard looked like. Once in '79 or '80 Sask went into Commonwealth and got destroyed 40-0. I remember that score burned into my brain. If the game was even close in the 4th quarter, it was as if the equilibrium of the universe had been compromised.
For these reasons, the 1981 Grey Cup was absolutely surreal to witness.
Yeah Brian Kelly was superb. They truly had the best two or three at EVERY position.
I remember after Moon and Campbell left for the NFL and commented that at their height those Eskimo teams would've made the NFL playoffs.
Another memory was Donny Warrington's death in a car accident, drunk driving. The Eskimos of that generation partied hard. I went to the funeral memorial and the level of brothers-in arms grief was palpable. Kepley was soon arrested for driving drunk the wrong way down a one way.
Wilky was perfect. Once when an reporter asked him about Moon's ability to throw while rolling left...Wilky said.." Yeah I taught him that". BTW you should have seen Wilkinson play basketball...unreal. And Highbaugh could dunk without effort at 5-9. They played all winter long against high school teams, community events etc.
Another great Wilky line...when asked how he withstood injury. "You can't sprain fat". He's my favorite all time player. Still lives in Edmonton area. So does Kepley, Towns..a whole raft of them
Many of the players have done VERY well staying in Edmonton post retirement.
I remember watching that game. The Cats went through a number of QBs that year with all sorts on injuries. Dave Marler would have his 15 seconds of fame in the 1980 playoffs before disappearing onto the sands of time, but on that day it was a fellow named (Brian?) Holland #19. I remember Holland trudging quickly off the sidelines after a turnover or quick 2-and-out repeatedly, soaked in the pouring rain watching the Esk offense rack up a league record 50 first downs!
I remember that one too. Watched the first half at the dinner table, shockingly 31-10 (or 13) at the break. Then went down the block to toss the nerf in the neighbor's yard. Stepped inside to see the final 2 minutes, the Esks drive for the tying FG. Wilkinson led that comeback. That was also the Hall of Fame Game in Sept if I recall correctly.
I totally remember this one, almost vividly. Moon kept trying to hit the long bomb but the TiCats secondary kept picking them off. First Gerald Bess, also I think Howard Fields, and eventually rookie Felix Wright first career pick (perhaps even his first CFL game). The Esk defense was totally on form and kept forcing punts. Back and forth back and forth in the 2nd half. Punt one way, long pick (like a punt) the other. Then finally the Esks late in the game got down to the 5 yard line and tossed a hitch screen to Waddell Smith who in turn floated not the prettiest pass into the endzone for a TD. Can't remember who caught it but the Cats fought them all the way to the end forcing the big bad Esks to dig deep for a gadget play to win the game. Anyone tells you low scoring games are boring never saw this one.
It took Hamilton 10 years to win their first game at Commonwealth I believe in 1987, or maybe '88.
That is definitely a fair comment, but at the same time, would this league be the same without the history of that dynasty. Such greatness creates the mystique that all others aspire to match or beat.
Would the Stanley Cup still have the mystique it has today without the aura of the great Habs, Islanders and Oilers dynasties?
The NFL has the 49ers, Cowboys, Steelers and Patriots.
Baseball has the Yankees. Baseball would not have the profile it has today without the legacy of the pinstripes throughout the decades.
In the CFL we have Alberta Crude 78-82. We can say that it was bad for parity at the time, but in the rear view mirror it has been great for the league.
I remember Kepley telling a story. He was one of the last cuts on Tom Landry’s 1975 Cowboys. he gets the call to Edmonton. Shows up, first guy he meets in the locker room, kinda chubby stocky dude workin’ a wad of snuff tobacco, walks up shakes his hand, ‘welcome to the team’. Kep asks him, ‘who are you, the equipment manager?’ guy replies, ‘no, I’m the quarterback.’ It was Wilkie.
:thup: