The 102nd Grey Cup game was yesterday, and although I was personally disappointed by the lack of rouges, it was a great game. It had everything. A huge hit on a punter, a thrilling fourth-quarter comeback by the Hamilton Tiger-Cats only to be quashed by a illegal block penalty on an apparent game-winning Brandon Banks punt return TD, and most importantly, a trio of quarterbacks who I assumed had died in Drew Tate and Zach Collaros, and eventual MVP Bo Levi Mitchell.
The Calgary Stampeders broke the Grey Cup, because the Grey Cup trophy always breaks
The winner of the CFL gets a trophy that falls apart really easily.
Rich Lam/Getty Images
Anyway, after winning the title 20-16, the victorious Calgary Stampeders got to celebrate with the trophy. Which didn’t quite go as planned:
(Pic: Rich Lam, Getty Images)
You see, that cup part is supposed to be on top of the other part. Like this:
Photo: Jeff Vinnick, Getty
However it did not stay that way:
Photos: Jeff Vinnick, Getty (top), Rich Lam, Getty (bottom)
Former Alabama linebacker Juwan Simpson accepted blame for the fracture, although it doesn’t seem like he did anything wrong:
“I think I’m the one that did it,” said Simpson. “I don’t know. I grabbed it and was excited, and all of a sudden, it got a little (loose.) Some glue and some duct tape and it’ll be good.“But what I find most interesting about the National Post article linked to above is that this is not the first time the Grey Cup has broken. The BC Lions broke the trophy in a similar way in 2006:
The 2006 @BCLions broken Grey Cup ... #CFL pic.twitter.com/Qh83Qe6Dve
— Mike (@MikeGT79) December 1, 2014 And the Argonauts snapped off a handle after winning the Cup in 2012:
Three times the Edmonton Eskimos have damaged the statue. An Edmonton player accidentally dropped it in 1978, then an Eskimos player sat on it in 1987. In 1993, Edmonton offensive lineman Blake Dermott headbutted it.I can’t find any evidence of the 1987 or 1993 trophy mishaps, but here’s a picture from 1978, of Edmonton center Ted Milian trying to hide the remaining part of the trophy inside his shirt. (No comment on the underwear:)
Sure, trophies break during rowdy celebrations from time to time -- Minnesota broke their Victory Bell in 2013 -- but, jeez, guys! Six times since 1978! That’s six times in 37 years! 17 percent of the time this trophy gets given to somebody, the damn thing breaks apart. Bless them for putting it back together every time, only to see it crumble again a few years later.
Perhaps Canadian football celebrations are just exceptionally rowdy and have a high tendency of trophy-breaking. But on the other hand, it seems kinda likely that the trophy for one of Canada’s biggest events and the winner of its most prestigious entirely Canadian league has major structural flaws and is kinda shoddily put-together. Which isn’t ideal.
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