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The dramatic elements surrounding the CBC's coverage of the Grey Cup game on Sunday may outstrip the entertainment value of the conflict on the field. After 55 years, the CBC will wrap up its relationship with the CFL on Sunday. The Grey Cup will be the network's last CFL telecast, the end of the road.
A less emotional issue for the network will be the quality of the game. The Saskatchewan Roughriders are two-touchdown favourites to defeat the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, who will use backup quarterback Ryan Dinwiddie because Kevin Glenn was injured in the East final against the Toronto Argonauts last week.
If the game is one-sided, will the CBC succeed in making its final telecast compelling and memorable?
"I was worried about it," host Elliotte Friedman said. "But then I started calling players on teams that have been knocked out. They say that if Winnipeg's offensive line gives Dinwiddie time, he's going to be okay. He showed no fear when he came in last week. He was 4-for-4 for 80 yards. And this guy had the highest passing efficiency rating of anybody in NCAA Division One football."
Studio analyst Greg Frers wonders whether the Roughriders' sudden role reversal — to favourites from underdogs a week ago — could make them vulnerable.
"They're coming into this with a completely different psyche," Frers said. "They're hearing the media say they're shoo-ins. It will be interesting to see how they handle all that."
Less of a question will be the quality of CBC's production. The technology will be basically the same as last year. About 30 cameras will be used, compared with eight for a regular-season game. The Cablecam, brought in for the two previous Cups, has been constructed above the Rogers Centre field.
The Cablecam has become standard technology for big U.S. football games, but CBC executive producer Joe Scarcelli says the California-based company gets a special kick out of doing the CFL championship game.
"It allows them to show off their equipment a little more effectively, because of the motion in the backfield and the size of the field," he said.
For audio enhancements, additional microphones will be placed close to the field to record the sounds of the game. The CBC has requested that a player from each team be miked.
With TSN taking over as the CFL's sole TV rights holder in 2008, the CBC is determined to wrap up the season in good form. The end of an era has not been lost on the TV crew members.
"I'm definitely thinking about it," said Frers, a former CFL defensive back. "This could be the last year I work in television. Who knows what may lie ahead?"
The CBC's sports lineup on Sunday will start with the Chicago Bulls-Toronto Raptors telecast at noon EST, followed by the Grey Cup pregame show at 3:30 p.m.
One feature, about nine minutes in length, will look back at the CBC's Grey Cup history. It will include interviews with former play-by-play announcers. Another feature will probe the issue of violence in football.
"We talked to players and former players about the fine line between intimidation and dirty play," Scarcelli said. "You want to hurt people, but you're not out to injure people."
Mark Lee and Chris Walby will call the game. Khari Jones will provide sideline analysis. The reporters will be Steve Armitage and Brenda Irving.
Frers and Jones are sticking with heavily favoured Saskatchewan. Jones has the score 17-13; Frers, 24-10.
Coverage around the Cup: CBC at 2:30 p.m. EST tomorrow, Walby's Warriors, plus an interview with CFL commissioner Mark Cohon; Grey Cup preview, CBC, at 5:30 p.m. tomorrow; Countdown to Grey Cup, TSN, 7 p.m. tomorrow, repeated at 9 a.m. Sunday; highlights of the CFL players' awards show, TSN, 3:30 p.m. on Sunday.
The Cup telecast (standard definition) will available in 62 million U.S. households through a network of cable channels. The DISH Network will provide an HDTV telecast to 12 million U.S. homes.
More Sens, Habs
National distribution of Ottawa Senators and Montreal Canadiens games will increase on CBC over the next two months, says Scott Moore, the head of CBC Sports.
"It's pretty clear we will be riding their coattails in the playoffs," Moore said. "We hope the Toronto Maple Leafs make it, too, but Ottawa and Montreal are good bets."
- Tomorrow night, the Leafs-Phoenix Coyotes game will be seen in Ontario and West. Philadelphia Flyers-Senators will be carried in the Ottawa Valley and East.
