I don't watch Canadian Football. Until yesterday, I didn't even realize this was Grey Cup day. Needless to say, I had no idea who was playing, nor did I really care.
So, when I got home from dinner and saw that the game was in progress, I decided to tune in for a few minutes before watching my pre-recorded programs on DVR. It was nearly half-time, and Toronto was trailing. Honestly, I can't even remember what the score was.
I didn't watch the half-time festivities, electing instead to watch some of my recorded programs. A while later, as I deleted the last-watched program, I caught a glimpse of the game (which had been playing on live TV while I watched recordings). In quick succession, Toronto, and then Saskatchewan scored touchdowns and the game started to look interesting.
It really got exciting when Saskatchewan, with little time to go in the game and with an 8-point lead, decided to forego the opportunity to kick a "gimme" field goal (which would have given them a 2-possession lead with only four minutes left in the game) and instead tried to advance the ball for a first down near the goal line. The Saskatchewan receiver caught the ball cleanly, but was stripped of the ball near the six yard line. Toronto recovered the fumble on the 1-yard line and ran the ball 109 yards back for a touchdown. Toronto went for a 2-point conversion, and just before the quarterback was about to be tackled, he managed to find a receiver in the end zone. After that play, the score was tied!
Saskatchewan was unable to score after receiving the kickoff, and on the next possession, Toronto managed to get good enough field possession to kick the go-ahead field goal with only 49 seconds left in the game. It was the first time Toronto had been in the lead during the entire game.
On the ensuing kickoff, Toronto tried to keep the ball away from Saskatchewan's excellent kick return specialists, opting instead to aim a squib kick at the nearby Saskatchewan players. This gave Saskatchewan excellent field position with 43 seconds to play.
Saskatchewan's quarterback heaved a 50-yard pass down the field, and hit the receiver right on the numbers, but somehow, the pass was dropped. On second down, the quarterback tried the same play to the same receiver. This time, the pass was caught, and Saskatchewan found themselves very close to field goal range. One play later, they got a first down (I think they were around the 20 yard line) with under 20 seconds to play in the game.
If you were the Saskatchewan coach, what would you do? Would you kick the field goal, tying the score and leaving 20 seconds to Toronto to score again - and hope that your defense could stop them and that you would get lucky during the overtime frame? Or would you try to take a bit more time off the clock before kicking a field goal, so there would be almost no chance for Toronto to score again? The way Saskatchewan had been playing all day, there was no hesitation. They decided to try one more play before kicking the field goal. Worst case, they'd have an incomplete pass, and then kick the field goal.
Surprisingly, Saskatchewan caught everyone off guard and threw a beautiful pass into the end zone, knowing that the pass would be caught for the winning touchdown, or dropped - forcing the field goal. Guess what? There was a third possible outcome... the ball was intercepted by Toronto (their first interception of the game), and all of a sudden, the improbable last minute comeback was complete. The underdog Toronto Argonauts beat Saskatchewan.
This was Saskatchewan's second straight improbable loss in the championship game - where they had been the odds-on favourite to win both times.
I have to admit, that game's second half was the most exciting football I've witnessed in a very long time. Who knows? Next year, I may actually watch the whole game!