ON THE MARK.

WHEN THE HALFTIME SHOW ECLIPSES THE GAME ITSELF.

Nobody was talking about Chad Kakert or Ricky Foley or Ricky Ray or Scott Milanovich or the rest of the Toronto Argonauts and their Grey Cup victory over Calgary.    Instead, all the talk surrounded Justin Bieber, Gordon Lightfoot, Carly Ray Jepson and Marianna's Trench.   Yes, the Halftime show at the Grey Cup was roundly criticized by some as a hodgepodge of Canadian talent that underwhelmed the viewing audience, causing some louts to even boo Mr. Bieber in his home province.   Perhaps it's because he's a multi-millionaire 18 year old pop star.  Maybe it's the get-up he wore to greet Prime Minister Stephen Harper that had people booing his lack of respect for the Office of the Prime Minister.(See photo)
http://cdn.popdust.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/JustinBieberOverallsCanadaPrimeMinisterInstagram.jpg

The idea of booing one's own is nothing new to Canadians.  Bobby Orr, from Parry Sound Ontario, would be lustily booed every time he touched the puck at Maple Leaf Gardens.  Of course, he played for the hated Boston Bruins at the time.  Larry Murphy, a Leaf defenseman back in the mid 90s, was blamed for Toronto's woes  and could not escape the boo-birds at the Gardens, of which there were many.  Murphy ended up in the Hockey Hall of Fame, alongside Orr and Phil Esposito, who was booed along with the rest of Team Canada '72 as they exited the ice following a loss to the Russians in Vancouver.   Even the Argonauts of old would be poorly treated by their fans if they failed to live up to expectations (which was often). 
 I can only imagine what the rest of the world thinks of Canadians after they booed Bieber.   I can tell you this much:  Had "The Beebs" been playing halftime at the Super Bowl, nobody would dare boo him.   It's all about respect, and more than a few Canadians showed very little towards the kid from Stratford Ontario.

If you were to ask me to list my 12 favorite Gordon Lightfoot songs, and then choose one that I'd want him to play at halftime, "Canadian Railroad Trilogy" would not be on that list.  I would've gone with any of these:
Sundown
If You Could Read My Mind
For Lovin' Me
Carefree Highway
Alberta Bound
Early Morning Rain
Go Go Round
Cotton Jenny
Rainy Day People
Beautiful
Summer Side of Life
Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald

I wonder if they gave Lightfoot his choice of songs, or they told him they wanted "Trilogy" because of it' significance in Canadian history.   Whatever the reason, he looked miscast, lonely and offered no stage presence whatsoever.  Massey Hall it was not.    In fact, the entire halftime show lacked any pace or flow.
As for the game, same thing.   Good on the Argos for winning, but when the Stamps offense consists of a weak-armed Kevin Glenn and Jon Cornish trying to run into a D Line that knows what's coming, there's not much hope.   Calgary coach John Hufnagel called for an end-around with the Stamps on the Argo three yard line.  He also ran Cornish on first down just about every time, until it was obvious the Argos had it figured out.   As a result, the game didn't have the excitement I had hoped for.  The Argos had it well in hand by halftime, and I was flipping back and forth between that game and the New Orleans-San Francisco NFL game, which was a lot more exciting.

Next year, the CFL should poll it's fans many months ahead of the Grey Cup.  As this question:  Which act would you like to see at the Grey Cup?  Give 8 or 10 options and let the fans decide.   If the top acts are already spoken for (and if poll the fans well in advance, you can "book" the act before they get booked on tour) then you've got options and you can say you were actually listening to your fans.  I understand that acts like the Tragically Hip, BTO, Nickelback and others are well-worn and overexposed at these events, but hey, if that's what the fans want, give it to them.   I'm not sure the fans wanted Justin Bieber this year.

On Friday night, the McMaster Marauders were no match for the Laval Rouge et Or at the Vanier Cup.  Mac was beset by injuries and Laval was bent on revenge after losing last year's Vanier Cup to Mac.  Besides, while McMaster really WANTED to win their second title in a row, Laval HAD to win.   They had circled the date on their calender back in the summer, and they were determined to make up for last year's loss.   They did that, in spades.

Prior to the Grey Cup, downtown Toronto was busy as 19 thousand fans showed up to see the Raptors find yet ANOTHER way to lose a ballgame.  This time it was coach Dwane Casey's stubborn refusal to bench Andrea Bargnani, despite one of the worst shooting performances I have ever seen by a pro.  He went 2 for 19 from the floor, yet Casey kept him out there in both overtimes against San Antonio.  He had two open looks in the OT periods, and clanged both of them.   Not since Utah's Thurl Bailey in 1986, has a player taken that many shots and scored less than 5 points.   So, what do you do with Bargnani?   I mean, Ed Davis was on the bench with 15 points and 14 rebounds while Bargnani was on the floor shooting 1 for 15 at the time.  No wonder the Raptors lose so often.   How much longer can they keep putting the big Roman on the floor?   Not much.

 Kudos to Rory McIlroy, who destroyed an elite field at the Dubai World Championships.   McIlroy reeled off five straight birdies on the back nine and won going away.   I can hardly wait to see him and Tiger Woods battle next April at Augusta.  Tiger wasn't in the field at Dubai, but he would've had to have played some awesome golf to match McIlroy who shot 66-67-66-66 to win by two over Justin Rose, who fired a final round 62 to make it somewhat close.  McIlroy has now won 5 tournaments in 2012, and is a lock cinch to win Player of the Year honours.   He will be the man to beat EVERY week in 2013.