Adding a poll to see how this will rank.
This is what I think in terms of ranking the Grey Cup wins from a general consensus, in order of the most memorable and popular to the least:
#1 – 1994: BC 26, Baltimore 23
The Lions were in a nine year drought and the city just lost Stanley Cup a few months earlier. Although with a decent 11-6-1 record but a 3rd place finish clearly made the team the underdogs. But two exciting playoff games and then playing at home made it all that more memorable. After trailing by noticeable scores of 14-3 and 20-10, the Lions pulled an come-from-behind win capped by Passaglia’s field goal so that ending made it the most memorable given the closeness of the game that was decided by the last play. The only negative aspect would be the two post-game issues that I mentioned countless times before in an otherwise purrfect win.
#2 – 1985: BC 37, Hamilton 24
The Lions were in a 21-year drought and after coming short in 1983 and 1984, the fans were so hungry and it would have been so devastating if the team came short again after a 13-3 season. But the Lions definitely rose to the occasion this time. It was helped with the fact that the win occurred during the hey days of the mid-1980’s with high attendance. As far as the game itself, while the Lions took an early 13-0 lead and played better than Hamilton in the eventual 37-24 win, the Tiger-Cats did put on a good fight by scoring two quick TD’s for a 14-13 lead in the second quarter.
#3 – 2011: BC 34, Winnipeg 23
Rebounding from an 0-5 and 1-6 records to finishing first in the west and then winning the Grey Cup at home is self-explanatory. I’m inclined to think that this might rank #2, but there it was only 5 seasons from the last championship and I don’t think the fans were was hungry as they were in 1985. Unlike 1985 and 1994, this time the Lions never trailed and while Winnipeg came close at 14-9 in the third, the Lions essentially put the game away by the middle of the fourth with a comfortable 31-9 lead.
#4 – 2006: BC 25, Montreal 14
After starting off the season 2-3, the Lions ended off with 11-2 and easily won the division and the playoff game. As great as the team was, there was somewhat of a feeling that after coming close but not winning it all in 2004 and 2005, there was a expectation of: You BETTER win OR ELSE!
#5 – 1964: BC 34, Hamilton 24
As great as it was winning the first championship, it was so long ago and most of us either don’t remember much or were not born yet.
#6 – 2000: BC 28, Montreal 26
Certainly the most Cinderella championship. After regular season records of 2-4, 5-9, and 6-10 for a final record of 8-10-0-1 for third, few people would have thought the Lions would pull it off. But they did and each of the three playoff games they scored first and always led throughout the games and never trailed, and were clearly the better team in all three games. Despite the margin of victory of 2 points was the smallest, this championship was the least popular. I mentioned that in total contrast to the mid-1980’s hey days, the 1996 to 2002 could be considered the dark ages for the Lions with the small attendance and with that, includes the 2000 win. Even having Lui retiring with a championship still wasn’t enough to make this win more popular.
Would you consider the 2011 win more memorable than the 1994 and 1985 wins?
My feeling is that in the years to come, the 2011 win will be placed in the same category as the 2006 win with a slight tiebreaker to the 2011 win given the huge regular season turnaround, but not as exciting and memorable as 1994 and not as sentimental as 1985.
And with the 2011 win, the Lions were finally able to avenge the heartbreaking loss to Winnipeg in the ill-fated 1988 GC, and have also defeated the other east division teams Hamilton and Montreal twice. The only thing that’s remaining for the Lions is the avenge the championship losses to Toronto as they have an 0-2 record with them with losses in 1983 and 2004.
In 2006 the als were lucky to even be there and we made the game closer than most predicted
