Buratto calls Lions "squirrelly"

By Jim Morris

CALGARY (CP) - Tackle Chris Perez wore his sunglasses and tossed rainbow passes to lumbering offensive linemen running sloppy routes into the end zone.

Linebacker Carl Kidd talked a blue streak, bending the ear of anyone unfortunate enough to come within listening range.

Placekicker Lui Passaglia stood around and grinned a lot.

Tight?

Oh yes, these B.C. Lions certainly were tight Saturday in their last practice before the biggest game of the CFL season, Sunday's Grey Cup against the Montreal Alouettes (6 p.m. EST, CBC).

Coach Steve Buratto watched it all, then shrugged.

"This is the squirrelliest bunch of guys that I've ever been around," said Buratto, a man so relaxed he makes Perry Como look stressed.

"They were playing squirrelly today, about like they have been for the last six weeks."

B.C. has won four straight games, including playoff victories over Edmonton and Calgary, and five of their last six.

For Perez, who joined the Lions in an off-season trade with Winnipeg, the last practice before a big game is the best day to be a football player.

All the preparation is done, the films studied.

"These are the days you live for and relish," said Perez, who won a Grey Cup ring in 1996 with Toronto.

"It seems like for ever since I was in a game like this. You wake up and you just get excited and you can't wait until tomorrow."

In September, when the Lions bickered among themselves and Buratto was trying to right a ship abandoned by former coach Greg Mohns, few people thought they still would be playing football in November.

They clinched the West's last playoff spot with a losing 8-10 record.

"We were the team that barely made the playoffs," said slotback Don Blair. "We have nothing to lose.

"We're going out there to lay it on the line."

The Alouettes were the early favourites to win the Grey Cup.

Montreal topped the East with a 12-6 record, have explosive running back Mike Pringle, who galloped to a league-leading 1,778 yards, and beat the Lions in both meetings this season.

After practice Saturday one reporter told linebacker Daved Benefield it had become "trendy" to pick B.C. to win.

"Oh, we're trendy now. I've always wanted to be trendy," said Benefield, a man best described as eccentric.

"I don't think we were really expected to be here. There's no sense in being tight. Why be tight now?"

Passaglia, 46, ends a 25-year CFL career playing in his fifth Grey Cup and looking for his third ring.

Long after the other players left the field he remained, soaking up his last practice.

"I'm just taking it all in but really concentrating on what I have to do," said Passaglia. "I'm going to look back after the game is over and remember the week.

"It stays there for a while, the sights and sounds."

After a week of sun and warm temperatures, dark, threatening clouds hung over McMahon Stadium.

The forecast calls for a mixture of sun and cloud, with a high of 6 C and winds gusting to 40 kilometres.

Blair said bad weather might favour the Lions.

Pringle is coming into the game with a pulled hamstring.

The B.C. backfield features 1,000-yard rusher Sean Millington, voted the CFL's top Canadian, and Robert Drummond, who is a threat running and catching passes.

"They're dealing with a little bit of a beaten up back and we have two horses in the stable," said Blair. "That could be an advantage for us."

Quarterback Damon Allen, who has been named the MVP in two of the three previous Grey Cup games he's played in, laughed when asked if he'd have any trouble sleeping Saturday night.

"I've been dreaming all week, peaceful dreams of victory," he said.

"It's going to be a great day to be a Lion."