Grey Cup liveblog

2:56 - Here we go! At this moment, TSN's showing some sort of snowy car race (play-by-play by the immortal Vic Rauter), but Grey Cup pregame starts in four minutes!

3:00 - I stand corrected. First they're going to update us on everything else going on in sports (mainly NFL football). NOW here's the pregame!

3:06 - Six minutes in, and we've already seen seven commentators - not including the two who will actually call the game. And hey, here's an interview with Joe Theismann, because there's nothing Canadians love more than seeing American football stars from the 1970s patronizing our game!

3:12 - Maybe the current Motts Garden Cocktail commercials would seem like less of a ripoff of the Philadelphia cream cheese angel if the latter commercials weren't still on the air.

3:23 - Tonight's atmosphere is going to really be something. You don't get the hometown team playing in the Grey Cup very often, and as I learned when I went to a Habs game last year, nobody does sports passion like Montrealers. (The post-1994 Expos don't count.)

3:27 - See, what they're not telling you is that Gus *has* to eat KFC because all those hobbies don't leave him any time to cook (and judging from the commercial, he doesn't have a wife).

3:35 - Dave Duvall, Montreal's kicker, is practicing field goals. TSN's desk is located directly behind the goalposts. My lifelong dream of seeing Dave Randorf get hit in the head with a football on-air might come true here.

3:44 - I was wondering what kind of hilarity would ensure as TSN tried to fill three hours of pre-game coverage. Unfortunately, it seems like they've found a solution to unintentional comedy - video packages. Blargh.

3:47 - Spoke too soon. Brian Williams is interviewing CFL Commissioner Mark Cohon, who is trying to argue that the fundamentals of his league are strong. And Ottawa's return has been pushed back another year.

3:56 - I'm doing a lot of multitasking here. Watching, blogging, snacking, and homework. So if you suddenly spy a whack of text in here on John Updike and Islam, that's why. Likewise if there's bite marks.

4:00 - There it is! The Grey Cup! And its honour guard of Mounties! Don't we get enough of the RCMP whenever Americans turn their attention up here? Also, the commentator count is now up to nine.

4:09 - DAVE NAYLOR! I completely forgot about him! That's ten, and we *still* have at least Chris Cuthbert to come! I bet TSN has more people in Olympic Stadium than the Expos did some weeks.

4:15 - The annual tribute to those CFL-connected people who have died in the past year. Unfortunately, there were a LOT this year, including at least five broadcasters. Hard to believe in a way.

4:36 - I was away from the TV for the last little while, and from what I heard, I think I missed some Dixieland music. Right now, there's a guy talking through Microsoft Sam. Halfway to kickoff!

4:47 - The fans are starting to trickle into the stands, which gives you some idea of just how big Olympic Stadium is. You barely even notice the roof, because the stands stretch so far back.

4:53 - We see a group of Baltimore Stallions fans in attendance (quite possibly the last Stallions fans on Earth). The Stallions were the only successful part of the CFL's ill-fated mid-90s American expansion, and they moved to Montreal after 1996. Baltimore went to the Grey Cup in two out of their three seasons of exitences, while Montreal has been in six of the last nine, meaning this might be the most successful franchise in the history of pro sports.

5:01 - So is the new trend in commercials to name and reference a specific (and likely fictitious) person, showing how your products relate to the average person? I've seen at least four examples of it so far today. Can I blame this on Joe the Plumber?

5:10 - I just realized I haven't made a prediction yet. Probably for the best.

5:11 - Okay, fine. Calgary. Probably by quite a bit.

5:19 - Pretty sure I just saw the referee signing autographs for a guy in a Saskatchewan jersey. Rider fans are awesome.

5:24 - I'm a little freaked out at the moment. Reading Updike, the main character is about to make a delivery in Camden (New Jersey, as that's where he's from and he can't legally drive a truck out of state). On TV, Brian Williams introduces a video feature on Avon Cobourne, wherein Williams travels to the town Avon grew up in - Camden, New Jersey.

5:28 - And as TSN goes to commercial, they focus on the Grey Cup in such a way that you can clearly make out the word 'excellency' on the bowl. In the book, the guy drives a truck for the Excellency furniture company. I think I'm being mocked.

5:33 - Special pregame live performance by Mobile! And only a few weeks after I decided that 'Out Of My Head' was the best song of 2007! (I'm slow with this stuff.)

5:37 - Wow. So, um, the lead singer really isn't that great live. And they only sang one song ('The Killer'). Hopefully the halftime show's better, although looking over the lineup makes me doubt it.

5:38 - "Anthony Calvillo plays every play like it's his last." Get ready for a lot of Hail Mary passes.

5:46 - They showed the pre-game speeches from each coach to their respective teams. That was different. Oh, and Rod Black brings the commentator count to an even dozen.

5:56 - There's not much to say about player introductions, but I think I was wrong before - a large portion of the roof seems to have been removed. Weird.

6:01 - Is it just me, or is the girl singing the national anthem something like 13 years old?

6:08 - Kickoff! And this crowd is LOUD!

6:14 - Montreal with a quick, efficient drive down the field, but they're stuffed at the goal line and settle for a field goal.

6:19 - Glen Suitor's (and Reggie Hunt's) favourite movie is Gladiator. This is one more trivial factoid about a ocmmentator than I expected to hear by this point.

6:28 - I had a dream last night that involved a smoked-salmon-and-cream-cheese flavour of instant oatmeal. I mention this in case it ever inexplicably becomes reality, in which case I can say I had the idea first. I have weird dreams.

6:34 - First quarter comes to a close (this seem fast to anyone else?). Still 3-0, but Calgary's in the midst of a big drive. Burris has yet to throw an incompletion. And my book's running out of time to turn itself around.

6:42 - 3-3 after a Calgary FG.

6:51 - I'm starting to think that there is no food which wouldn't seem appealing if it was featured in a Tim Horton's commercial.

6:56 - Touchdown Montreal, on a rush by the pride of Camden, New Jersey! 10-3!

7:07 - 13-3 Montreal after another field goal. Boy was I wrong.

7:14 - Twenty-yard pass leads to a touchdown for Calgary. Maybe I wasn't so wrong. 13-10, and probably going to halftime as such.

7:17 - Wow. With his helmet off, the guy who caught that ball can't be much older than me.

7:20 - Yep. 13-10, and time for the Diet Pepsi halftime show. Cue the jokes about how we only get a secondary brand as sponsor because we're a secondary league in a secondary country.

7:24 - I have absolutely no interest in seeing Vince Vaughan Celebrates Christmas With A Dysfunctional Family.

7:35 - But slightly more interest than I have in watching more of this halftime show.

7:45 - Last year's Grey Cup telecast was innundated with commercials for the Wendy's Bacontaor. So omnipresent were these commercials that, after the game, I went out and bought a Baconator. I haven't noticed any ads as oversaturated this year. Maybe Future Shop. At least it's not Viagra.

7:58 - Calgary's defence stops Montreal quickly, but Calgary's offense can't get anything going either.

8:05 - Told you I hadn't been following the CFL this year. I forgot Dave Dickenson was even in the league, let alone on Calgary. Too bad he's relegated to backup status (again).

8:07 - Huge run for Burris brings the Stamps to the 10. It's like Montreal just doesn't expect him to run, ever.

8:09 - And they don't get it in, settle for a field goal. We're tied, 13-13.

8:14 - Montreal goes up 14-13 after a botched punt. American viewers are now very confused.

8:20 - Calgary once again gets within ten yards of the endzone but has to settle for three. At least they're in front now, 16-14, as the third quarter ends.

8:24 - Old Dutch all-dressed potato chips, the official snack food of honeygarlic's Grey Cup coverage! I also ate half of a frozen pizza, but it wasn't that good, so they don't get sponsorship.

8:27 - 19-14 following another Calgary field goal. I smell strategy coming into play pretty soon.

8:33 - I like how, as Calgary has made their comeback, the announcers' narrative has changed from "Anthony Calvillo has never had much success in Grey Cups, maybe this time's going to be different" to "The knock on Henry Burris has always been that he can't win the big games, maybe he's about to dispel that myth!" They're not even being subtle about it.

8:35 - From the 20, Calvillo throws to the endzone and a Stampeder picks him off. If the TSN Turning Point still exists, that might be it.

8:41 - 50-yard field goal just makes it through the uprights, Calgary extends their lead to 22-14.

8:45 - Three-minute warning. Als basically need to score on this drive.

8:48 - They don't. Ended up punting. I don't think Calgary can run down the last two minutes and change, so Montreal should get one last shot.

8:56 - Here we go, last chance for the Als. 14 seconds of playing time, starting from their own 30 after an unexpectedly good punt return.

8:57 - It was working, but it takes them a moment too long and they don't get far enough. Stamps win! Here's hoping they don't break the trophy the way BC did a couple years ago. Less exciting than this year's Super Bowl, maybe even last year's Grey Cup. Still fun though.

Goodnight everybody!

9:04 - Okay, I thought I was done, but Jim Flaherty presenting the Grey Cup to the winning team was too funny not to mention.

--Ryan