Adding the Vanier Cup to the Grey Cup weekend turned out to be a brilliant idea. I am sure having a team from the same province (Manitoba) playing in both games helped the attendance and energy some. From my understanding, the CIS championship usually draws between 10,000 and 14,000 fans (that may even be a high estimate) but almost 27,000 people witnessed this year’s edition. Next year’s Grey Cup is in Montreal and I hope they do the same as this year and link the CIS championship with it as I am sure the Montreal fans (perhaps the best fans in North America) will come out in full force. And if history is any indication, Laval, winners of three of the last five championships, will be one of the competing teams.
The multitude of fans in attendance were not disappointed either. The 2007 Vanier Cup was as exciting, or more so, than Sunday's big event. A backup quarterback started the game for Saint Mary’s and he handled himself fairly well as he opened the scoring with a 13-yard touchdown pass. Unfortunately for Saint Mary’s, he could not rally his team to victory. Manitoba was too determined to win and repay the Huskies for a 2001 Vanier Cup defeat. Mike Howard of the Bisons tied a Vanier Cup record by intercepting three passes to lead Manitoba to a 28-14 win.
The big show on Sunday also saw a backup quarterback get the start, and like the Vanier Cup, his efforts were not enough to get the win. The Saskatchewan Roughriders took advantage of key turnovers to come out on top of the first Grey Cup meeting with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers. The game remained close throughout and it wasn’t until early in the fourth quarter before the Roughriders seem to take control en route to a 23-19 victory. The 2007 Grey Cup was played in front of 52,230 at Rogers Centre.
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