The Grey Cup will not be known this year as the Braley Bowl. And that's a good thing.
The last thing the Canadian Football League needed was two teams in the championship game owned by one man, even if it happened to be a senator paying the bills.
For a brief moment Sunday, it appeared that the Toronto Argonauts and the B.C. Lions, both owned by Senator David Braley would be one win away from making it to the championship game.
Immediately after the Argonauts, the team Braley became the sole owner of this year, scored a 16-13 upset victory on the road over the Hamilton Tiger-Cats in the East semi-final, it suddenly became a real possibility.
But it was not to be: the Saskatchewan Roughriders ended the Braley Daily Double by beating the B.C. Lions 41-38 in overtime. It was a hell of a game.
And why is it when the Saskatchewan Roughriders play, the script usually produces a dramatic ending?
It happened last year in the Grey Cup, when they lost to the Montreal Alouettes after committing an egregious penalty that will be forever be remembered by historians and fans of Rider Nation.
They registered an amazing win against the Alouettes in the CFL season-opener with a 54-51 decision in overtime. Later in the season, they beat the Calgary Stampeders 43-37 in overtime.
This is a team that is not for the faint of heart. Who knows what they will have left in the tank for this Sunday's West final in Calgary. The Roughriders took a physical pounding and lost several players to injury.They should be commended for the win over the Lions, who led the game 13-7 at halftime.
Though the Lions lost, they played with pluck, noticeably on the final play of regulation when quarterback Travis Lulay hooked up with receiver Emmanuel Arcenaux on a 29-yard Hail Mary. It wasn't as amazing as the famous Doug Flutie pass he threw for Boston College before he started doing that regularly north and south of the border, but it was surely a highlight reel play.
Braley had to be happy with what he saw. He scrambled after the first game to return to the Braley Bunker in Burlington to watch the second game.Braley sat in his usual seats at the 55-yard line watching the Argos, perhaps one of only a few in attendance who wanted the Torontonians to win.
Sadly, the Ticat fans did not embrace the game with gusto. There were many seats empty, and the idea that the team had only two weeks to sell the game is nonsense. For whatever reason, there is a disconnect between the current organization and the fans. While team owner Bob Young continues to pump millions into this organization and will dip into the reserves as part of his plan to build a new stadium for the 2015 Pan Am Games, there just isn't the hunger or desire among the current generation of Ticat supporters.
The fact a playoff game between the Ticats and the Argos did not sell out makes you wonder how many people will still support the black and gold by the time the new stadium is up and running.
Give Young credit, he keeps on trying. He took possession of the team after the 2003 season and has yet to make it beyond the semi-finals. He can't win for trying.
Then there is Braley. He bailed out of owning the Ticats in 1993 after four years because he didn't like the direction of the league. He returned in 2006 to rescue the B.C. Lions and has won two Grey Cups in that interval. And his team is actually making some money.
That isn't the case in Toronto. It will continue to be a tough sell. Braley knows that after a full year of owning the team. He'll no doubt use the off-season to put some more ideas into place in hopes of making the Argos must-see entertainment.
In two years, the Argos will play host to the Grey Cup and the man in charge of that Grey Cup committee, Chris Rudge, has grand ideas about making it a Canadian affair to celebrate the 100th edition of the game, and not just something of a Toronto spectacle. He hopes to get buy-in from all three levels of government. It's a challenge.
Then again, all he has to do is take a cue from Braley. His latest team is one win away from making it to the Grey Cup. Imagine if both teams were in it?
Well, maybe it's a good thing that won't happen. The Grey Cup should stand on its own. It doesn't need to become the all-Braley Grey Cup, although Braley might disagree.
