La Coupe Grey

I am surprised to admit it but I think I have a mild case of three down football fever. Over the past two weeks I, with increasing interest, have been following both the CFL and CIS playoffs and, for the first time ever, actually care about the outcomes of the title games this weekend.

My alma mater, Queen’s University, is vying for the Vanier Cup against the University of Calgary tomorrow afternoon. I have always had a strong distaste for Canadian university football and this stems from my time as an undergraduate student.

When I was at Queen’s, the football team was beyond awful; I mean historically bad. On the other hand, the baseball team, of which I was an integral cog, enjoyed back to back National Championship appearances, culminating in a win in 2004.

What team got more respect and notoriety from the school media and administration? The football team, which was total bullshit. We had a top notch program and struggled to get any sort of funding from the university, while the football team, which couldn’t lose by less than 25 points, got whatever their little hearts desired.

Funding should be based on team success. Queen’s football is great right now and the baseball program stinks (coincidentally since I left); therefore, the football rightfully deserves more money.

While I will be cheering for Queen’s, I won’t actually watch the game. CIS football is terrible to watch, especially compared to the US college game. I went to one game in my freshman year and was appalled to see quarterbacks not able to throw further than 30 yards and kickers who were happy to get the ball airborne. No thanks.

For you SAT fans: CIS football is to American college football like the Special Olympics are to the real Olympics.

However, I am legitimately excited for the Grey Cup on Sunday. The game is wrought with interesting storylines. Can the Montreal Alouettes, with their high octane attack and tremendous regular season success, finally win the big one? Can the underdog Saskatchewan Roughriders pull off an upset?

The Riders are supposed to have the most passionate fans in all of the CFL and why wouldn’t they? What the hell else is there to do in Saskatchewan? Organizers are expecting a decidedly partisan crowd, so will the transplanted home game for the Riders be their key to victory?

I’m leaning towards a Saskatchewan victory, only because they are led by a trio of Canadian receivers: Robb Bagg, Andy Fantuz, and Chris Getzlaf.

Getting back to the topic of political correctness from Tuesday, I saw a newspaper headline that pissed me off. It was a Grey Cup preview and it said that the Roughriders offense was led by “Slow, white, Canadians’? How is that appropriate?

What if an analogous article was written about another team pinning their success to “Fast, black, Americans? I’m pretty sure the discrimination police would have their panties in a twist.

For the record, I have no problem with the original heading. I just hate the double standard and the fact everyone has to be so damn sensitive about everything. Life is hard enough as it is, let’s all lighten up a bit.

Have a good weekend.