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Oshawa, Ontario, Canada

Sunday, November 23, 2008

Weekend of Champions - Day 2

The Montreal Alouettes had the cards stacked in their favour for the 96th Grey Cup. They had home field advantage, the league's most outstanding player (Anthony Calvillo) and despite finishing the regular season with four fewer points than their opponents, they were favoured to win. Unfortunately for them, they were facing a team with something to prove in the Calgary Stampeders.

The game started as a carbon copy of the Vanier Cup one day previous as the team from Quebec ended the first quarter with a 3-0 lead. Montreal even looked dominant throughout the second quarter and seemed to be on the verge of busting the game wide open but they had trouble getting through the Stamps defence. At the end of the half, the Als were unable to expand upon their three point lead finishing the half with a 13-10 lead. Calgary made the right adjustments at halftime and came out in the second on a mission. Although they were unable to score a major, the Stamps allowed only one point against in the entire second half while converting on four field goals, including a 50-yarder for the 22-14 Grey Cup victory.

Earlier in the day another championship was battled out, this one on a soccer pitch in California. The Columbus Crew faced off against the New York Red Bulls for the 2008 Major League Soccer Cup. Columbus scored the first goal in the 31st minute but New York tied the game early in the second half. The Crew retook the lead less than 90 seconds later and never looked back, putting the game out of reach in the 82nd minute. Columbus 3, New York 1. Guillermo Barros Schelotto was named game MVP with three assists, setting a MLS Cup record. Coincidentally, Columbus was the top team at the end of the regular season. Visit MLSnet.com for a more complete story.

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