Winnipeg Blue Bombers Game Day

November 29 - Grey Cup Playbook

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WINNIPEG FREE PRESS SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 28, 2015 GREY CUP PLAYBOOK 3 November 29 at Investors Group Field - 5:00 p.m. vs Ottawa Redblacks Grey Cup Appearances: Sunday's game will be the Redblacks' first Founded: Officially founded in 2010, the Redblacks' first game was in Winnipeg on July 3, 2014. The Redblacks are Ottawa's third CFL team. The Ottawa Football Club was founded in 1876, and named the Rough Riders (after Teddy Roosevelt's Spanish-American war cavalry) in 1898. The team was renamed the Senators in 1925, but reverted to Rough Riders in 1930. Ottawa's last Grey Cup win was in 1976. Its last Grey Cup final was in 1981, when the Rough Riders lost to Edmonton 26- 23. The team folded in 1996. Most recently, the Ottawa Renegades had a four-season run starting in 2002. Home Field: TD Place Stadium Head Coach: Rick Campbell 2015 Win-loss stats: 12-6 in regular- season play. Counting last Sunday's East Division final, the Redblacks have won five in a row. Mascot: Big Joe Mufferaw, a lumberjack who walks softly and carries a big axe. Inspired by French-Canadian folk hero Joseph Montferrand, the Paul Bunyan-like Mufferaw is the subject of a Stompin' Tom Connors song. Edmonton Eskimos Grey Cup Appearances: Sunday's game will be the Eskimos' 25th Grey Cup Wins: 13, including five consecutive championships from 1978 - 1982 Founded: 1949 Earlier versions of the Edmonton Eskimos played in the CFL from 1910 - 1921 and 1929 - 1939. The Edmonton Elks played for one season and appeared in the 1922 Grey Cup final, losing to Queen's University. Edmonton's team started out as the Edmonton Rugby Football Club in 1890, and was called the Edmonton Esquimaux in 1908 and 1909. Home Field: Commonwealth Stadium Head Coach: Chris Jones 2015 Win-loss stats: 14-4 in regular- season play. Counting last Sunday's West Division final, the Eskimos have won nine in a row. Mascots: Punter, a six-foot tall partially deflated football "drafted" in 2004, and Nanook, a polar bear "signed as a free agent" in 1997. Wild, Wild Westerners Blame Calgary Stampeders fans if you're not feeling quite up to snuff on Monday morning. It was a rowdy crew from Calgary who got the national Grey Cup party started, way back in 1948. When the Stampeders played the Ottawa Rough Riders to win the 36th Grey Cup in Toronto, fans from Calgary brought their eh game. They descended on the city, cooking up a pancake breakfast on the steps of Toronto City Hall, riding a horse into the Royal York Hotel lobby and generally creating a fabulous scene wherever they went. The tradition continues at the 103rd Grey Cup Festival. Head to the Nissan Titan Street Festival site at the University of Winnipeg Saturday from 11:30 a.m. - 1:30 p.m. to enjoy a Calgary Grey Cup Committee Pancake Breakfast. [ Party On, Football Fans CFL teams and fans from coast to coast have been hosting massive celebrations in Winnipeg this week, and they continue on Saturday. Fans in the Maritimes don't have a team, but they do put on one of the best parties of the Grey Cup Festival. The 9th DownEast Kitchen Party at the RBC Convention Centre Winnipeg from 12 p.m. - 2 a.m. features the Dust Rhinos, Mudmen, lobster rolls and, of course, a cod to kiss. Tickets cost $20 at ticketweb.ca. Riderville is also rocking the convention centre, from 12 p.m. - 2 a.m., with live music and peerless Prairie hospitality. See 103greycupfestival.ca for ticket information. Drop by the Stamps House at the Pony Corral Downtown to take in the Calgary Stampeders' official Grey Cup party from 12 p.m. - 12 a.m. with outrider performances, live music, prize draws and a visit from the Grey Cup. Tickets cost $20 and are available at the door. The 42nd annual Spirit of Edmonton Breakfast, at the Victoria Inn from 8 a.m. - 12 p.m., is a legendary spread that sells out every year. Tickets cost $125 at spiritofedmonton.com. If you can't make breakfast, drop by the free Spirit of Edmonton party at the Victoria Inn from 2 p.m. - 12:30 a.m. Music, cheer teams and the Spirit Dancers are on tap. The Lions Den at the Delta Winnipeg promises a roaring good time from 12 p.m. - 1 a.m., with live music, DJs, cheer teams and more. Admission is $20. The Redblacks Grey Cup Party is an afternoon cocktail party at Earl's on Main, from 2 p.m. - 5 p.m. Admission is free. TigerTown takes over the Fox & Fiddle pub from 12 p.m. - 2 a.m. for the Hamilton club's celebration. Admission is free. And finally, enjoy some hometown hospitality with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers at Blue Bomber House. The welcome mat is out from 11 am. - 2 a.m. at the Shark Club. [ See You Next Year A year should be just about enough time to recover from the 103rd Grey Cup. For those of you making plans for next year, the 104th Grey Cup will be played outdoors at BMO Field, which will be the new home of the Toronto Argonauts. Toronto last hosted in 2012, when the 100th Grey Cup was played at the old home of the Argos, Rogers Centre. The Argos won on their home turf that year, defeating the Calgary Stampeders 35 -27. Mark your calendars: The date has been set for Nov. 27, 2016. [ peculation is rampant, but when it comes to predicting the winner of the 103rd Grey Cup final, the Magic 8 Ball is as reliable an oracle as any — and it says, 'Ask again later.' The Edmonton Eskimos won two regular-season games against the Ottawa Redblacks this year, outscoring the Ottawa upstarts 46 - 17 at Commonwealth Stadium on July 9 and following up with a 23 -12 victory at TD Stadium on July 17. But Edmonton's starting quarterback Mike Reilly was out with a knee injury in July, which means he and Ottawa QB Henry Burris have their first meeting of 2015 on Sunday. And if Burris didn't rise to the occasion in July, he has had an outstanding season, capped by a spectacular play in the CFL's East Division final last Sunday, when a pass from Burris launched Ottawa wide receiver Greg Ellingson on a 93-yard run for the game-winning touchdown against Hamilton. Will we see more of that magic on Sunday? Stay tuned. [ Ottawa Redblacks' Jerrell Gavins steals a catch from Edmonton Eskimos' Cory Watson in Ottawa on July 17. THE CANADIAN PRESS/ Sean Kilpatrick FINAL EAST MEETS WEST AT WINNIPEG'S INVESTORS GROUP FIELD SUNDAY

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