CALGARY - Members of the Grey Cup-winning team Sunday will all earn
a huge championship ring for their efforts. They'll also receive a
nice chunk of cash.
Players on the winning side will receive $16,000 each in addition to their ring. But, wait, there's more.
The Montreal Alouettes and Saskatchewan Roughriders, who meet
in this year's title game, both finished atop their respective
divisions, earning a $3,300 bonus for each player. They also secured an
additional $3,500 for winning their conference finals.
So
a member of the Grey Cup championship squad will walk away with a cool
$22,800 in playoff bonus money. Now, that might not sound like much in
today's world of millionaire pro athletes, but consider that the CFL's
minimum salary is $41,000 and many of its players earn less than
$100,000 annually.
Players on the Grey Cup-losing side receive $8,000, giving them a total of $14,800 in playoff bonus money.
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HONOUR FOR MCLEAN: Paul (Mac) McLean, a longtime producer at TSN,
will be inducted posthumously into the Canadian Football Hall of Fame's
football reporters wing Sunday. McLean was selected by the Football
Reporters of Canada.
Over his 18 years with TSN, McLean was the driving force behind the
creation of TSN's Friday Night Football, and helped to rejuvenate the
CFL and increase its popularity among fans all across the country.
"It is wonderful to see Mac recognized by his peers in this way,"
Paul Graham, Executive Producer of Live Events for TSN, said in a
statement. "Mac had a tremendous amount of passion and respect for
Canadian football.
"His vision and enthusiasm pushed all of us associated with Canadian
football to be better broadcasters. Ultimately his work helped to
revitalize the league at time when it needed it the most."
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PRIOR MEETING: The Montreal Alouettes and Saskatchewan Roughriders
will square off Sunday in the 97th Grey Cup. While it will mark the
first time the Riders and Als have met in a championship, it's not the
first time the two communities have met to decide a Canadian football
crown.
The Montreal AAA (Winged Wheelers) defeated the Regina Roughriders
22-0 on Dec. 5, 1931 at Molson Stadium. Saskatchewan (Regina) has
appeared in 16 Grey Cup Games since 1923, six times against Hamilton
(Tigers and Tiger-Cats), and four times versus the Ottawa Rough Riders.
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TORCH RUN: Former CFL offensive lineman Sandy Annunziata will
participate in the Olympic torch run through Niagara Falls, Ont., next
month.
Annunziata, who played in the CFL with Edmonton, Winnipeg and
Toronto, will take part in the event Dec. 20. He spent 11 years in the
league, capping his career with consecutive Grey Cup championships ('04
with the Argos, '05 with the Eskimos).
"I am both humbled and proud to carry the Olympic torch," he said in
a statement. "It's an honour I plan on sharing with my family and my
community."
Annunziata is currently a city councillor in Fort Erie, Ont.
