Penton: Alouettes put stop to ‘dynasty’ talk in Winnipeg
By Bruce Penton
Dynasty? What’s all this talk about a Canadian Football League dynasty?
The ‘D’ word was bandied about in Winnipeg and area, because the Blue Bombers were appearing in their fourth consecutive Grey Cup game, and were aiming to win their third Cup in four years.
Instead, after falling 28-24 to Montreal Alouettes in the 2023 game in Hamilton, the Blue Bumblers have now lost back-to-back Grey Cup games and any talk of a ‘dynasty’ has been put on the back burner.
Toronto Argonauts got in the way of the Bombers winning three Cups in a row last year, with a 24-23 victory, but when the Eastern Division’s best regular-season team, the Argos, were hammered 38-17 by Montreal in this year’s East final, many Bomber fans presumed the road to Cup glory would be even easier with the Argos out of the way.
But the Als were having none of that. On a roll going into the Grey Cup game after winning seven consecutive games dating back to Sept. 22, when the streak started, Montreal overcame a 10-0 deficit and outscored Winnipeg 21-7 in the second half to win their first Grey Cup since the Anthony Calvillo-led 2010 team.
The victory was especially sweet for Als’ quarterback Cody Fajardo and head coach Jason Maas, both of whom were dumped by Saskatchewan Roughriders after the 2022 season. Maas, the Riders’ offensive co-ordinator, believed in Fajardo, but that belief was not shared by Riders’ head coach Craig Dickenson, who benched his QB for the final two games of the season, and then fired Maas at the conclusion of the 2022 campaign. Maas was subsequently hired by the Alouettes to be their head coach, and free agent Fajardo was quick to join Maas in Montreal.
The rest is history. Montreal stumbled along to a 6-7 record by mid-September before winning out. With Maas calling the shots and Fajardo playing like an all-star, the Als won their last five games in the regular-season, dumped Hamilton in the East semi-final and then stunned the Argos in the East final. And the roll continued against the Bombers.
“No one expected us to be here — no one expected us to make the playoffs, no one expected us to beat a 16-2 Argo team and no one sure as hell expected us to beat a Winnipeg team we didn’t play well all year,” Fajardo told reporters after the game. Indeed, the Bombers had no trouble with Montreal during the regular season, winning 17-3 and 47-17. That Bomber domination appeared to continue during the first half of the Grey Cup game before Fajardo and the Als took over in the final 30 minutes.
Eight straight wins did it for Montreal. And the ‘dynasty’ talk in Winnipeg has been silenced.
Kansas City Chiefs’ coach Andy Reid, quoted in Peter King’s Football Morning in America: “I’ve always said if we could figure out how to get all the countries to play (football), we wouldn’t have wars. We’d just go play football. It’d be a great place.”
Headline at theonion.com: “Motivated Kawhi Leonard Circles Date Of National TV Matchup On Calendar To Sit Out”
Mike Bianchi of the Orlando Sentinel: “Worst days in Cleveland history: (3) When LeBron left for Miami. (2) When the Cuyahoga River caught on fire. (1) When the Browns signed Deshaun Watson!”
Steve Simmons of Sunmedia in Toronto: “Oakland has hit for the cycle now that the A’s are moving to Las Vegas. Oakland has lost teams in MLB, NBA, NFL and NHL”
Super 70s Sports, on X, on how NFL teams often misjudge quarterbacks on draft day: “The Panthers are looking at their Bryce Young receipt and still on hold with customer service.”
Pete Paczko, on X, prior to the Grey Cup game in which former Roughriders Kevin Maas, the coach, and QB Cody Fajardo were to play central roles: “What time is the torch and pitchfork gang heading to Mosaic Stadium if Fajardo and Maas win this?”
Jay Ornait on TSN’s Sportscentre, promoting a story about offensive co-ordinator Matt Canada being fired by the Steelers: “When things go badly in Pittsburgh, the Steelers blame Canada.”
Comedy writer Brad Dickson of Omaha: “Today Deion Sanders said he thought the ‘four heads’ — known to most of us as Mount Rushmore — was in Southern California.”
Dickson again: “In Hell the only sports channel is the Peacock Network.”
Janice Hough of leftcoastsportsbabe.com: “Nothing is certain but death, taxes, and the Detroit Lions, even in their best year, playing a turkey game on Thanksgiving.”
Jack Finarelli on his sportscurmudgeon.com website, previewing the Panthers-Titans game on U.S. Thanksgiving weekend: “Give thanks if you are in a part of the country where this game will not be shown in your viewing area.”
Headline at fark.com: “UConn’s Azzi Fudd out for season after sewious injury to antewior cwuciate wigament.”
Care to comment? Email brucepenton2003@yahoo.ca