The Time has come

The lovely Allison Brynes from Saskatoon was quite disturbed when I told her that Bob Hughes is correct that the Saskatchewan Roughriders in their glorious 98 year history have only won The Grey Cup on two occasions November the 26th 1966 and on the same date in 1989.

Allison said she has been a die hard Rider fan for twenty three years and was not aware that the Grey Cup drought for Saskatchewan was that bad and the fact that the Sarnia Imperials who have been defunct for ions have won the coveted Grey Mug as many times as her beloved Riders.was a stunning bit of news to her.


She looked me square in the eye and said "The time has come for things to change" beginning with the Green White and Black changing those historical facts with a run of"two or three Grey Cup victories in the next five years" and she said that the correct people are in place to make this happen referring specifically to General Manager Eric Tillman and Head coach Kent Austin. I have to agree with her on that point because if Tillman and Austin who are used to winning cant win a Grey Cup for us I do not know who can.

The facts are the facts and when you look at the accepted time line for CFL existence specifically from 1936 till the present there are some interesting facts that are revealed.

The Eskimos whether you love them or hate them and who only came into existence in 1949 have appeared in a record 22 Grey Cup games in the last 58 years and have won the cherished mug a record 13 times.and have the record for consecutive victories with five from 1978 to 1982.

The double blue from Hog town lead the Eastern Division as winners having participated in the big dance fourteen times since 1936 and have been winners eleven times followed by Hamilton with nine victories in seventeen appearances and Montreal and Ottawa with seven CFL championships each in fifteen and twelve attempts. attempts.respectively.

The Blue Bombers who since 1936 have been in the East,West and Northern Division of the CFL when we had an American division have hoisted the Cup on nine occasions .and have been at The Big Show 19 times second only to the Green and Gold of Edmonton.

The Calgary Stampeders have been in the winners circle five times in eleven attempts while the BC Lions who came into the League in 1954 like the Calgary crew have claimed the trophy five times including last year.and have represented the West on Eight occasions.

The frustrating part for Rider fans to swallow is that their team has participated in the Championship contest the same number of times since 1936 at eight as the Lions who did not exist before 1954 .

The Riders eight Western Championships were in 1951,and not again till fifteen years later in 1966 ,then again in 1967 ,1969 ,1972, and 1976.five times in eleven years in the Lancaster era.The remaining two times have been in 1989 and 1997.

The truth is that very one of the current CFL teams has won the Grey Cup since 1997 the last time Saskatchewan were there with every one of the other Western teams winning it twice.since then.

So Allison you have a right to be frustrated however there is every reason to believe that very shortly things will change and the beloved Prairie Marauders will win their third CFL championship and as a matter of fact I have gone on record as saying that we will win it all in 2008 the second year of the Tillman ,Austin regime.