Surreal scene at ‘Lansdoom’
Go ahead, Ottawa, paint the town plaid.
Your Ottawa Redblacks are going to the Grey Cup game in Winnipeg. And not as spectators. With dramatic flair, the Redblacks defeated the Hamilton Tiger-Cats 35-28 in the CFL East final to punch their ticket to Winnipeg for next Sunday’s football classic.
“Grey Cup!!” fans chanted in the south stands as the clock ticked down the final seconds in the Sunday twilight. “Grey Cup!!”
So many imagined it could be like this one day in Ottawa, with the right ownership, and a competitive team.
And still the scene — 25,000strong, over the moon for their team — was surreal for those who have witnessed so many horrors at Lansdowne Park over the past few decades. The stadium was nicknamed “Lansdoom” for the all the heartache and bad football within. Failed franchises. In 1996 and 2005. Tainting former Rough Rider triumphs.
And this third chance — third and long, they said. Weird how the team with the funny nickname got the last laugh. In less than two calendar years, the startup Redblacks franchise turned a 2-16 rookie season into a 12-6 eastern powerhouse.
On the anniversary of the Rough Riders last Grey Cup visit, Nov. 22, 1981, football fans in the Nation’s Capital drank in the East Final like a pre-game beverage.
And why wouldn’t they? It was first CFL playoff game in the Nation’s Capital since 1983.
Dressed in lumberjack plaid and Redblacks toques and earflap caps, fans arrived early and left late, long after Greg Ellingson and his teammates carted the east trophy off the TD Place field.
This, after the game nearly got away in the final minutes, the score tied 28-28. Ottawa quarterback Henry Burris threw what seemed a sure interception in his own end, but the ball was dropped. New life. Not to be wasted.
Against all odds, against a gusting wind, Burris bobbled the high snap and fired a strike, some 30 yards upfield to the ever-reliable Ellingson in single man coverage. Ellingson did the rest. Head coach Rick Campbell called it a “50-50” play, essentially a jump ball.
“We had to take that shot,” Campbell said.
The Redblacks like Ellingson’s odds in that situation. He cut in front of one defender, and outraced another before holding the ball up into the chill air in the west end zone.
“We’ve run that play three or four times this year,” Ellingson said, matter-of-factly.
Can it get any sweeter? Well, sure. Both Burris and Ellingson were with the Tiger-Cats a couple of years ago, Ellingson was still there in 2014. Hearing he was going to be available as a free agent, Burris claims he was phoning GM Marcel Desjardins and coach Campbell in the middle of the night with cries of: “Sign him! Sign him!”
Another strong play by the Redblacks. “It was in the cards,” said Burris, reflecting not just on that 93-yard pass and run play but on what Ottawa fans have endured to get back to the Grey Cup.
“It’s been a long time since the city of Ottawa has experienced anything like this,” Burris said. “We’re proud to be able to bring it to them.”
Before he celebrated with his teammates, Burris had a special moment with his family at midfield, wife Nicole and their two boys, Armand and Barron. TV cameras soaked it up.
Hamilton had its own near-hero in backup quarterback Jeremiah Masoli. Different QB, with a different offence than the Redblacks saw in Hamilton a couple of weeks ago. Sprinkled with QB-option plays, screens, and even a flea-flicker, with Luke Tasker tossing a pass to Andy Fantuz, the Ticats pushed Ottawa to the final minute.
When Masoli tossed a 66-yard pass and run play to Tiquan Underwood — wide open up field, he staked the Ticats to a 17-14 lead. A later dumb move by Underwood, stepping out of bounds to stop the clock in the final minute of the first half, allowed Ottawa to bank five critical points — two on a safety touch by the Ticats, and then a 39-yard field goal, for a 19-17 halftime advantage.
In the second half, penalties and punting issues cost the TigerCats — Ottawa fans welcomed a special teams problem by an opponent for a change — and the Redblacks took full advantage.
In classic CFL fashion, mistakes and might-have-beens evolved into one moment.
“They made a play at the end,” deadpanned Hamilton head coach Kent Austin.
A play worthy of a Grey Cup contender.
It’s hard not to think about all those who went before in the name of a CFL Ottawa franchise, and never got a chance to enjoy such spoils. Not for lack of trying. We’re thinking of Dan Rambo, Jo-Anne Polak, Wendy Lisowski, Steve Goldman, John Peterson, Gary Page, Sol Shabinsky, Hap Nicholds, Mike McCarthy, Arnie Mierins, Fred Glick, Bob Weber, Joe Moss, Urban Bowman, Greg Marshall, Joe Paopao, Eric Tillman. Dozens more coaches, recruiters, trainers, staff and hundreds of players in the red, black and white colours.
May all the formers be living vicariously through this renaissance of football in Ottawa as the unlikely second-year march carries through to Winnipeg. Godspeed to Ottawa’s first shot at Grey Cup glory since the narrow miss in 1981 and the triumph of 1976.