Championship weekend up north … While Americans enjoy their annual Thanksgiving football fare, its championship week in Canada with the CFL title up for grabs when Calgary plays Toronto in the 105th renewal of the Grey Cup game in Ottawa at 6 PM ET on Sunday. Coverage is on TSN in Canada and on ESPN2 in the U.S. Calgary, which won the Western Conference with a 13-4-1 record, go into the game as heavy favorites against Toronto which won the East with a 9-9 record, although the Argos played better down the stretch. Starting QBs are veteran Ricky Ray, a Sacramento State grad who had NFL pit-stops in San Francisco and with the Jets in New York, and Calgary’s Bo Levi Mitchell who played collegiately at Eastern Washington. Toronto, in particular, has a number of former NFL draft picks including former Ohio State WR DeVier Posey (Houston 3rd), former Indiana (PA) CB Akwansi Owusi-Ansah (Dallas 4th), former Kansas State edge rusher Victor Butler (Dallas 4th) and former Mihigan OT William Campbell (NY Jets 6th). At the same time, former Florida State RB James Wilder who had free agent tryouts with Cincinnati and Buffalo, is one of the Argos RBs. Calgary Stampeders who people will recognize include former Notre Dame WR DaVaris Daniels, former Nebraska DB Ciante Evans, former Southern Miss DE Cordarro Law and former Kentucky LB Micah Johnson. Meanwhile, the Canadian college title, which is quaintly determined by a national playoff, will be decided later today in Hamilton when Laval plays Western for the Vanier Cup; kick-off is set for 1 PM ET with coverage in Canada on Sportsnet.
