Nov
Classic QB showdown set to go
The best thing about this game should be the quarterback who wins it.
Because you just know how today’s East Final between the Eskimos and Alouettes is going to go. Punch, counter-punch. Clock-eating drive versus drive. Precision air strike versus air strike. Anthony Calvillo to Jamel Richardson. Ricky Ray to Kelly Campbell. Calvillo to Ben Cahoon. Ray to Kamau Peterson. Defensive coaches inside Olympic Stadium will simply have to avert their eyes.
When a game of this magnitude boils down to a classic duel between top-notch veteran quarterbacks, the memories last even for those who only watch it. But if you happen to be one of those pivots, you’ll only want to remember this game for a long time and the right reasons.
“I remember when I was starting off and all the pub when Matt Dunigan and Doug Flutie used to go against each other,” began Calvillo. “People are like, ‘OK, here are the top two quarterbacks going against each other, so it’s going to be a great game.’ I always wanted to be in that position and here we are. I mean, it took me a long time to get here and I want to continue to stay here. So I get chills just thinking that we’re going to go out there and compete to earn a shot to play for the Grey Cup and we’re playing against great competition.”
The respect is mutual.
“We’ve had some battles,” said Ray. “Every year I’ve been in the playoffs we’ve lined up against Anthony and had to win a big game. There are some good quarterbacks in this league and Anthony is one of those guys that any time you get a chance to beat him or play in the same big game with him, it’s always going to be a battle out there.”
They have met in three Grey Cups, and while Edmonton holds a 2-1 advantage, each has been MVP and both have filled the air with footballs.
In 2002, they combined for 77 pass attempts and 584 yards. In 2003, 69 attempts and 672 yards. And in 2005, 88 attempts and 720 yards. The latter game has the most relevance to this one, since it was played inside B.C. Place.
Look at those stats and the impressive ones they compiled this year, and expectations for a fabulous airshow are not unwarranted.
Calvillo at age 36 had a career year, chucking 43 TD passes in 17 games, the most in the CFL. He was inspired and empowered by the improving health of his wife, who was diagnosed with cancer last year. Ray, meanwhile, came back off the 2007 season-ending shoulder injury to throw for a league-high 5,663 yards. They led the loop in
completion percentage too, with Ray first at 69.8 per cent and Calvillo next at 69.2.
The only other quarterback who deserves a mention in the same breath is Calgary gunslinger Henry Burris, and he may do his thing in next week’s Grey Cup against one of these gentlemen. That would be fun to watch as well.
“I got a chance to experience that when I was in the other league, when Brett Favre and Daunte Culpepper and those guys used to go at it,” said Campbell. “It’s basically a shootout.
“Just to see Ricky Ray and (Calvillo) out there, it’s a competitiveness not just in the game, but it’s a personal thing. ‘I’m a better quarterback than you and I’m going to show you that today.’ It’s kind of like what me and (friend and Alouettes receiver) Kerry Watkins got going on right now. It’s fun to see the competitiveness between the two during the game.”
Calvillo and Ray are one of 24 men on the field at any given time and the jobs they do today will be affected by many things, including the protection they are afforded and the ability of their receivers to get open. But it may well come down to one or two plays, as football games so often do, and the man who makes them ought to win.
