The Occupy BC Place movement has begun to makes its way to Vancouver.
The first to arrive are the B.C. Lions and Winnipeg Blue Bombers after last Sunday’s playoff skirmishes that sorted out the Grey Cup combatants.
This occupation will take place under one giant tent in Sunday afternoon as Grey Cup fever hits Lotusland.
We can expect that even the big city folk in Vancouver will be aware of the game because the home town boys are in the Grey Cup, and they are overwhelming favorites to win the championship.
The B.C. Lions are a blend of nastiness and talent, a combination that has served them well during the second half of the season.
The emergence of talented quarterback Travis Lulay has only added high octane fuel to the fire.
The Winnipeg Blue Bombers have been monsters on defense in 2011, a fact that has saved the team from embarrassment on the field due to its serious lack of offensive production.
To say that the 2011 Bombers had a popgun offense would be a serious insult to popguns. But the offence did just enough not to lose games during the regular season.
However, the Bombers added a new late-season wrinkle on offense with the emergence of replacement tailback Chris Garrett, a powerful little guy built low to the ground and with plenty of speed at his disposal.
Garrett was not even an active player after he was cut by the Bombers and was added to the roster only after a season-ending injury to starter Fred Reid.
Garrett ran over and around the Tiger Cat defense en route to a 190-yard rushing game in the East Final.
He was the main reason that Winnipeg put the ‘Cats to sleep last Sunday and he will be called upon to do the same in the Lions’ den.
So let’s consider the task ahead for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers in the Grey Cup.
They are the visitors in a newly-renovated football slaughterhouse and will face the hometown team in a championship game.
The crowd will be against them and their opponent has won just about everything but the coin toss since late summer.
Vegas had the Bombers at 50-to-1 for a Grey Cup championship prior to the start of the 2011 season and now those same odds-makers would appear to be plucky optimists, given the track record of the Lions.
In the immortal words of Stampeder coach John Hufnagel, the Bombers have the Lions right where they want them. Everything in the specialized field of common sense suggest that this game will be over even quicker than the lions vs. Christians matchup in ancient Rome, but I am willing to toss out logic and go with my gut on this one: the Bombers win the game.
There are two factors that push me toward this brash prediction.
The Bomber defense is one of the main factors in my prediction because they are flat-out killers on defense, and their undisputed leader will play his last game on Sunday afternoon. Giant tackle Doug Brown has never won a championship and he will leave nothing on the field in his last hurrah.
The other x-factor will be Bomber quarterback Buck Pierce, a Lion castoff with a long history of injuries due to his physical style.
He will sell out every down to win the game and the guy is a warrior who has backed off a little in 2011 to save himself for this situation. You heard it here first — Bombers win. Next week: a wrap-up
jim@mystarcollectorcar.com