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Y2GREYCALGARY - It was another Canadian classic - well, at least a classic finish - another example of how time and again the Grey Cup finds a way to pull itself above the talk of deficits and ticket drives and red ink and shine as the most enthralling sporting event in our country. Once again, Canadians played a huge part in pushing the game to those heights as the B.C. Lions pulled out a thrilling 28-26 victory over the Montreal Alouettes for B.C.'s fourth Grey Cup. The top three receivers were Canadians. Lions running back Sean Millington, who set the tone for the Grey Cup champions with 94 yards in the first half over, through and around various members of the Alouettes, was named the outstanding Canadian. No quibble there. But the truth is the most valuable Canadian on the Lions might have been wide receiver Don Blair, who, in a most un-Canadian-like manner, opened his mouth in an interview and aired all the Lions dirty laundry back in October. Blair's revelations sparked a team meeting and was responsible for a new relationship and understanding between new coach Steve Buratto and his staff and the players. The problem: Blair and the other members of the offence felt offensive co-ordinator Joe Paopao wasn't letting them loose enough, not putting them in positions where they could best use their talents. The Bombers weren't winning and the frustration grew. "It was not a criticism of Joe," said Blair. "We believed we had the talent, but we felt the offence was too conservative. We weren't being allowed to do the things we needed to do. "As individuals, how can you come together if you don't believe in what you are doing? We got in games and we just got too conservative. We just wanted to be put in positions where we could do the things we could do. "At that point, we reached an all-time low." Blair admitted Sunday the timing for his outburst might not have been the best. The growing unrest hadn't been addressed internally at that point. "The (reporters) asked the right questions. I chose to answer the questions honestly," said Blair. "Who knows if the impact would have been the same." Blair also felt more comfortable speaking out with Steve Buratto, who had replaced Greg Mohns as coach, in charge. "There was an unspoken rule that if you said anything out of line (under Mohns), you'd be looking for a job," said Blair. "Steve came in and had the attitude, 'if you've got issues, the door is always open.' Steve dealt with it. The offence had a big meeting and discussed the issues. "I think the turning point was having a coach who was willing to listen to what we had to say and not take it personal," said Blair. The changes didn't have an immediate effect, but the foundation was put in place for the Lions to begin turning things around. Though they turned out to be losses, games against Montreal and Edmonton in September indicated the turnaround had begun. "I said after the losses to Montreal and Edmonton that they added a little sand to our soul," said Buratto. "Those games helped us to get better and helped us to find ways to win those games (later in the season). The Lions turned things around to finish 8-10 and roar into the post-season. The 28-year-old Blair, the Ottawa native who was a former Hec Crighton winner with the Calgary Dinosaurs, had his worst regular season since 1997 in all the turmoil and getting switched to wide receiver by Buratto after playing slotback. But he is used to coming up big in big games. He scored four touchdowns with the Dinos in the 1995 Vanier Cup. He didn't disappoint Sunday Sunday was no exception as he delivered one of the games of his life - maybe the game of his life - as he led the Lions with six catches for 87 yards. "Our argument all along was it doesn't matter if you're 18-0 or 8-10," said Blair. "It's winning when it counts. We were talking all week about momentum and how it can put you in a position to do great things." The Lions can do a couple of great things. Play football. And talk. Summary CFL GREY CUP AT CALGARY
FINAL 1ST 2ND 3RD 4TH TOTAL
--- --- --- --- -----
MONTREAL 3 0 7 16 26
BC 8 4 0 16 28 FINAL
SCORING SUMMARY
1ST QUARTER:
BCL - SINGLE, LUI PASSAGLIA 51 YD OFF A MISSED FIELD GOAL, 4:10. BC 1-0
BCL - TD, DAMON ALLEN 1 YD RUN (LUI PASSAGLIA KICK), 7:49. BC 8-0
MON - FG, TERRY BAKER 19 YD, 11:38. BC 8-3
2ND QUARTER:
BCL - SINGLE, LUI PASSAGLIA 42 YD OFF A MISSED FIELD GOAL, 0:17. BC 9-3
BCL - FG, LUI PASSAGLIA 23 YD, 11:10. BC 12-3
3RD QUARTER:
MON - TD, JOCK CLIMIE 1 YD PASS FROM ANTHONY CALVILLO
(TERRY BAKER KICK), 6:49. BC 12-10
4TH QUARTER:
BCL - TD, ROBERT DRUMMOND 44 YD RUN
(LUI PASSAGLIA KICK), 0:55. BC 19-10
MON - FG, TERRY BAKER 51 YD, 4:30. BC 19-13
BCL - TD, DAMON ALLEN 1 YD RUN (2-POINT CONVERT FAILED), 8:59. BC 25-13
MON - TD, MIKE PRINGLE 5 YD RUN (TERRY BAKER KICK), 11:18. BC 25-20
BCL - FG, LUI PASSAGLIA 29 YD, 13:35. BC 28-20
MON - TD, BEN CAHOON 59 YD PASS FROM ANTHONY CALVILLO
(2-POINT CONVERT FAILED), 14:16. BC 28-26
ATT: 43,822
Net offence is yards passing, plus yards rushing, minus team losses such as yards lost on broken plays. Individual Rushing: Mtl -- Pringle 20-115, Calvillo 4-16, Haskins 1-0; B.C. -- Drummond 10-122, Millington 17-99, Allen 9-39. Receiving: Mtl -- Climie 6-97, Cahoon 2-73, Alexander 2-39, Heppell 1-16, Haskins 1-10, Pringle 1-7; B.C. -- Blair 6-87, Drummond 3-41, Millington 3-38, Jackson 3-33, Oliver 2-24, Graham 1-11.
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