99th Grey Cup
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Date | November 27, 2011 | ||||||||||||||||||
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Stadium | RDS HD | ||||||||||||||||||
Announcers | (TSN): Chris Cuthbert, Glen Suitor, Dave Randorf, Jock Climie, Matt Dunigan, Chris Schultz (RDS): Denis Casavant, Pierre Vercheval, Marc Labrecque, Mike Sutherland, Claude Mailhot | ||||||||||||||||||
Ratings | 4.6 million[1] | ||||||||||||||||||
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The 99th Grey Cup was a
The game took place on November 27, 2011, at
BC head coach Wally Buono won his fifth Grey Cup, tying a CFL record.[3][4] In his first Grey Cup, Lions quarterback Travis Lulay threw two second-half touchdown passes and was named Grey Cup MVP. Lions tailback Andrew Harris, also playing in his first championship game, was the Most Valuable Canadian.[5][6][7]
Host city
On February 27, 2009, news agencies reported—and the league confirmed—that the game had been awarded to Vancouver.
The game was announced as a sellout on July 21, 2011, thirty days after the tickets went on sale to the public and 129 before the game itself. This surpassed the previous Vancouver record, set when the 93rd Grey Cup game was sold out on October 7, 2005. The sellout attendance for the 99th Grey Cup was 54,313. Prices ranged from $125 to $375 when tickets were released to the general public in June 2011, but 2011 Lions season ticket holders were able to get priority seating at prices ranging from $100 to $295.[9]
Broadcasting
In Canada, the game was televised in
The game was watched on television by an average audience of 4.6 million people. Although this was down from the 6.04 million viewers that the 98th Grey Cup drew, it was still the highest-rated television program of the week in Canada. In the Vancouver market, over half the population watched the game, and more than 11 million Canadians overall watched some or all of the broadcast on TSN and RDS.[1]
Entertainment
Before the game, Canadian singer-songwriter Jann Arden sang the
On the Friday preceding the championship game, the CFL Alumni Association organized a fan meet-and-greet hosted by stand-up comedian Ron James to benefit the research against concussions in football.
Path to the Grey Cup
Winnipeg Blue Bombers
The Winnipeg Blue Bombers entered the 2011 season with almost a completely unchanged roster than the team that went 4–14 and finished in last place in the
The Bombers earned a bye into the Division Final by virtue of winning the tie-breaker for first place over the
. The Blue Bombers came out on top in a tough defensive battle, defeating the Ti-Cats 19–3 on a cold day in Winnipeg, advancing to the Grey Cup game for the first time since 2007.BC Lions
Unlike the Bombers, the Lions got off to a slow start in 2011, losing their first five games before finally getting their first win of the season over the
In the West Division Final on November 20, 2011, the Lions faced the
Head-to-head
Winnipeg and BC met twice during the regular season. The Bombers won both games against the Lions, sweeping both meetings. The first game was a 25–20 win by the Bombers at Canad Inns Stadium in Winnipeg on July 28, 2011, which was the first game played after former Lion defensive line coach and then Bomber defensive line and assistant head coach Richard Harris suddenly died on July 26, 2011. Both teams joined each other at the center of the field for a moment of silence before the game. The second game at Empire Field in Vancouver on August 13, 2011, was much more decisive with the Bombers defeating the Lions by a score of 30–17. Despite the Blue Bombers sweep over the Lions, the Bombers sudden decline along with the Lions resurgence resulted in BC being named Grey Cup favourites.[citation needed]
Winnipeg and BC have only met once before in the Grey Cup game, the 76th Grey Cup in Ottawa in 1988. The Lions were also favoured in that game, but the Blue Bombers edged the Lions 22–21 in front of 50,604 fans in Ottawa.
Game summary
Winnipeg Blue Bombers (23) – TDs
BC Lions (34) – TDs,
- First Quarter
- BC – TD Harris 19 run (6:54) (McCallum convert) 7 – 0 BC
- BC – FG McCallum 22 (3:42) 10 – 0 BC
- BC – Single McCallum 57 punt (00:48) 11 – 0 BC
- Second Quarter
- BC – FG McCallum 16 (4:44) 14 – 0 BC
- WPG – FG Palardy 30 (2:41) 14 – 3 BC
- WPG – FG Palardy 15 (00:33) 14 – 6 BC
- Third Quarter
- WPG – FG Palardy 33 (10:25) 14 – 9 BC
- BC – FG McCallum 22 (2:59) 17 – 9 BC
- BC – TD Johnson 66 pass from Lulay (McCallum convert) (00:30) 24 – 9 BC
- Fourth Quarter
- BC – TD Bruce 6 pass from Lulay (McCallum convert) (7:13) 31 – 9 BC
- WPG – TD Carr 45 pass from Pierce (Palardy convert) (3:51) 31 – 16 BC
- WPG – TD Edwards 13 pass from Pierce (Palardy convert) (1:52) 31 – 23 BC
- BC – FG McCallum 34 (1:20) 34 – 23 BC
CFL playoffs
Playoff bracket
November 13: Division Semi-Finals | November 20: Division Finals | November 27: 99th Grey Cup BC Place Stadium – Vancouver
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E3 | Hamilton Tiger-Cats | 3 | ||||||||||||
East | ||||||||||||||
E1 | Winnipeg Blue Bombers | 19 | ||||||||||||
E3 | Hamilton Tiger-Cats | 52* | ||||||||||||
E2 | Montreal Alouettes | 44 | ||||||||||||
E1 | Winnipeg Blue Bombers | 23 | ||||||||||||
W1 | BC Lions | 34 | ||||||||||||
W2 | Edmonton Eskimos
| 23 | ||||||||||||
West | ||||||||||||||
W1 | BC Lions | 40 | ||||||||||||
W3 | Calgary Stampeders | 19 | ||||||||||||
W2 | Edmonton Eskimos
| 33 |
*-Team won in overtime.
Division Semi-Finals
East Semi-Final
Date and time: Sunday, November 13, 1 PM Eastern Standard Time
Venue: Olympic Stadium, Montreal, Quebec
Team | Q1 | Q2 | Q3 | Q4 | OT | Total |
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Hamilton Tiger-Cats | 10 | 14 | 3 | 17 | 8 | 52 |
Montreal Alouettes | 3 | 13 | 7 | 21 | 0 | 44 |
West Semi-Final
Date and time: Sunday, November 13, 3 PM
Team | Q1 | Q2 | Q3 | Q4 | Total |
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Calgary Stampeders | 8 | 1 | 6 | 4 | 19 |
Edmonton Eskimos |
3 | 22 | 1 | 7 | 33 |
Division Finals
East Final
Date and time: Sunday, November 20, 12 PM
Team | Q1 | Q2 | Q3 | Q4 | Total |
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Hamilton Tiger-Cats | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
Winnipeg Blue Bombers | 0 | 10 | 3 | 6 | 19 |
West Final
Date and time: Sunday, November 20, 1:30 PM Pacific Standard Time
Venue: BC Place Stadium, Vancouver, BC
Team | Q1 | Q2 | Q3 | Q4 | Total |
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Edmonton Eskimos |
0 | 3 | 6 | 14 | 23 |
BC Lions | 6 | 20 | 7 | 7 | 40 |
References
- ^ a b https://www.tsn.ca/cfl/story/?id=381490 4.6 million viewers watch 99th Grey Cup on TSN and RDS
- ^ "Lions defeat Blue Bombers to capture 99th Grey Cup". Tsn.ca. Retrieved September 15, 2012.
- ^ "B.C. Lions post rare Grey Cup triumph in front of hometown fans". Vancouver Sun. November 27, 2011. Retrieved November 28, 2011.
- ^ "BC Lions win the 99th Grey Cup in Vancouver". Digital Journal. November 27, 2011. Retrieved November 28, 2011.
- ^ "LIONS DEFEAT BLUE BOMBERS TO CAPTURE 99TH GREY CUP". TSN.ca. November 27, 2011. Retrieved November 28, 2011.
- ^ "Restoring the roar: B.C. Lions win 99th Grey Cup". CFL.ca. November 27, 2011. Archived from the original on November 29, 2011. Retrieved November 28, 2011.
- ^ "Andrew Harris named Most Valuable Canadian". CFL.ca. November 27, 2011. Archived from the original on November 29, 2011. Retrieved November 28, 2011.
- ^ "2011 Grey Cup Coming to Vancouver". Archived from the original on September 30, 2015. Retrieved August 23, 2017.
- ^ "2011 Grey Cup Festival brand revealed | CFL.ca | Official Site of the Canadian Football League". CFL.ca. Archived from the original on January 27, 2011. Retrieved September 15, 2012.
- ^ "Despite Nickelback's 'Burn it to the Ground' set, Vancouver well-behaved for Grey Cup finals". The Globe and Mail. November 27, 2011. Retrieved November 28, 2011.
- ^ "99th Grey Cup – Box Score". TSN.ca. November 27, 2011. Retrieved November 28, 2011.