This was the 83rd edition of the prestigious Grey Cup and it took place during a time of turmoil within the Canadian game with instable ownership putting the Canadian Football League on life support. The early and mid-1990’s saw the CFL take the brave decision of expansion, not in Canada but in the United States. Part of the reason behind this grand and bold plan was to reignite the Canadian game and bring growth to what seemed to be a dying sport. The idea behind the expansion into America was to serve markets within certain states which were lacking an NFL franchise, however there was no thought and not much research behind the strategy. The problems were that because the Canadian Football field is wider and longer it was difficult to put the pitch into stadiums that were there to serve American Football solely. Furthermore the Canadian player quota system had to be scraped to entice American teams to join. Many franchises in America were created between the short lived years of the American experiment, which began with Sacramento Gold Miners in 1993, then after came the likes of Shreveport Pirates, Memphis Mad Dogs and who could forgot the Las Vegas Posse (maybe most as they only lasted 1 season, as did a number of other franchises). In spite of what could be perceived as a failed strategy, came a franchise who to an extent left a great legacy, the Baltimore Stallions. Formed ready for the 1994 season under the name Baltimore CFLers, they reached the Grey Cup that year as East Division champions, losing in the final 23-26 to BC Lions. Having survived one season the franchise appeared to be a success so Baltimore under a new name, Baltimore Stallions went again in 1995 and achieved something that will never be completed again, an America team winning the Canadian Grey Cup. The 1995 Grey Cup was played at Taylor Field in Regina, home to the Saskatchewan Roughriders, the smallest place to host a Grey Cup, but without question the city with the most passionate fans. This was proven when the people of Saskatchewan got right behind the 83rd Grey Cup, despite the Roughriders failing to make the play-offs finishing 6th in the North Division with a 6-12. However this event was all about the Baltimore Stallions and the Calgary Stampeders and America versus Canada, this was sure not to disappoint, not least because of the testing weather conditions facing the teams. This was the reason why the 83rd Grey Cup earned the name of the Wind Bowl. So how did the game break down, well Don Matthews the Stallions coach had a major advantage along with the rest of the American teams to begin with as they were able to operate without any roster restrictions which the Canadian franchises had to follow. This allowed Matthews to build a class team above any other and this showed during the game against the Stampeders. Chris Wright started the scoring off playing an 82-yard punt to Carlos Huerta, putting the Stallions 7-0 before the Stampeders came back to edge the 1st quarter through 2 field goals by English born Mark Mcloughlin. Doug Flutie added to this early in the 2nd quarter to leave Calgary 13-7 up. However from then on Baltimore dominated by scoring three field goals plus a touchdown (Carlos Huerta FG x3 & Alvin Walton TD), to give them a 10 point lead (23-13) at the end of the 2nd quarter. The 3rd quarter involved 1 touchdown for either side, firstly Calgary through Flutie, Mcloughlin with the conversion, then Baltimore replied through Tracy Ham (Huerta with the conversion). The 4th and final quarter ended with Baltimore tightening their grip on the game through two more field through Carlos Huerta who battled the windy conditions. The Grey Cup ended 37-20 in favour of Baltimore and their quarterback, Tracy Ham received MVP. The victory was seen as one of the greatest in Canadian Football history as that was Baltimore’s 18th in the whole season, something that has and possibly never will be matched again. Although after this historic season the American experiment was over with the franchises in the States folding and Baltimore becoming an NFL franchise after the Cleveland Browns relocated. This resulted in the re-launch of the Montreal franchise which was seen as a great move which helped restore some national pride back into Canadian Football, as the failed American experiment was seen to be taking some patriotism away. Nevertheless one of the Grey Cups which help define the direction of the game.
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