Ottawa celebrates the Redblacks Grey Cup win
The Grey Cup is the championship trophy in the Canadian Football League. Photo: James Morgan
Gray skies didn’t stop thousands from welcoming the Grey Cup to Ottawa on Tuesday. The Ottawa Redblacks won the Canadian Football League’s (CFL) championship trophy last Sunday, defeating the Calgary Stampeders 39-33 in overtime in Toronto, the host city for this year’s game. Crowds lined Bank Street in The Glebe to celebrate the Redblacks big win. It’s the first time an Ottawa team has won the Grey Cup in 40 years. In 1976, it was the now-defunct Roughriders. Canadian football is like American football, but with a few differences. The Canadian field is larger, a team has 12 players instead of 11, and there are three downs instead of four. The Grey Cup was commissioned in 1909 by the Earl Grey, then the Governor-General (representative of the British Crown in Canada) as the annual football championship trophy and remained in use after the CFL was officially organized in 1958.
The Sons of Scotland Pipe Band led the Grey Cup victory parade. Photo: James Morgan
The parade was pretty informal. Redblacks players reached out to fans along the route. Photo: James Morgan
Big Joe is the Redblacks mascot. Photo: James Morgan
The Ottawa Redblacks Cheerleaders marched down Bank Street. Photo: James Morgan
Players waved to fans. Photo: James Morgan
The Ottawa Fire Services Band. Photo: James Morgan
Frosty the Football Fan. Photo: James Morgan
A proud fan waved the Redblacks flag. Photo: James Morgan
This Redblacks fan made his own Grey Cup. Photo: James Morgan
A nostalgic fan. The Roughriders were Ottawa’s pro football team from 1876 to 1996 and won the Grey Cup nine times. Photo: James Morgan
