The front of this card I find a little bland, a little ... grey. It shows the 'coveted cup' named after the 4th Earl Grey, and Governor General of Canada from 1904-1911 who commissioned the trophy in 1909.
The Grey Cup is both the name of the trophy and the championship game
(between the winners of the east and west division playoffs)
The trophy has a silver chalice attached to a large base on which the names of all winning teams, players and executives are engraved. In 1947 a fire destroyed the clubhouse of the Toronto Argonaut Rowing Club and many of the trophies and artifacts in the clubhouse melted or were damaged beyond repair but the Grey Cup survived by catching onto a nail when the shelf upon which it sat collapsed. The trophy has been broken on four other occasions: in 1978, when it was dropped by celebrating Edmonton Eskimos players; in 1987, when an Eskimos player sat on it; in 1993, when another Eskimos player head-butted it; and finally in 2006, when the trophy broke away from its base as the BC Lions celebrated their victory. The CFL commissioned a replica of the trophy in 2008.
After the 2012 Grey Cup game the trophy will run out of room for any more names and the base will be redesigned but will remain similar in shape to its current design.
This prepaid card features the Grey Cup on one side and the stamp shows the Cup with two players showing old and new uniforms.
This prepaid card features the Grey Cup on one side and the stamp shows the Cup with two players showing old and new uniforms.
The One Hundredth Grey Cup will be played this afternoon in Toronto, which may seem an odd choice as Toronto is not exactly a football loving town. But the first Grey Cup was held in TO. There have been weeklong festivities celebrating this 100th anniversary. And the fact that the Toronto Argonauts will be playing at home against the Calgary Stampeders is extra sweet for those who care about such things. |
The stamps (valued at 61¢) feature the logos of the eight teams in the CFL
the top row represents the western division: British Columbia, Edmonton, Calgary, Saskatchewan
the bottom row represents the eastern division: Winnipeg, Hamilton, Toronto, Montreal
the teams second from right on each row are paying in Sunday's game
Stamps vs Argos
Aaaaaarrrrrgooooos!!
update: the Toronto Argonauts won and the cup was once again broken.
this time one of the handle was broken off during the celebrations.
the teams second from right on each row are paying in Sunday's game
Stamps vs Argos
Aaaaaarrrrrgooooos!!
update: the Toronto Argonauts won and the cup was once again broken.
this time one of the handle was broken off during the celebrations.
A brilliantly timed post with great stamps to treasure.I had heard of the Stanley Cup and the Rosebowl but not this one. Let us know who wins.
ReplyDeletegame is at 6pm EST,
DeleteI'll update.
Very nice designs on the card and stamp.
ReplyDeleteThat is a cup with a nine lives. I laughed at all those playing inflicted accidents, a familiar tale, I don't think any of ours have ever been head butted. Nice mini sheet, sporting logos are so interesting.
ReplyDeleteI didn't realize that Canadian football went back that far in history. I couldn't help thinking of tea and wondering why the trophy was in a rowing clubhouse.
ReplyDeletethe tea was named after the 2nd Earl Grey
Deleteand the rowing club members were also involved in other [amateur] sports
Oh dear, a player headbutted it! I laughed too. Great sheet of stamps.
ReplyDeleteThank you for participating!
Oh, football. First I thought there would be a link to tea, then rowing, then ice hockey. I finally got there. As you can tell, I am no sports fan, but I do like the stamp. I hope they've taken out some insurance for the trophy.
ReplyDeleteUh - go Stamps go? I mean, they spanked our BC Lions pretty hard in the west semi-final last week, so I can't really
ReplyDeletecheer for them wholeheartedly, but as a born-and-bred Westerner, there's no way I could EVER cheer for any team from Toronto!
Oh well - I'm going to see the latest James Bond flick this afternoon instead of watching the Grey Cup game anyway.
I don't understand this hatred for my beleaguered city ;)
DeleteI'm also not much bothered who wins...
I had to read until the end and see the last picture to understand that it is about football ;-)
ReplyDeletea little mystery is always good to keep the reader engaged :)
DeleteStamps are pretty cool I reckon, too lazy to collect them tho'. We have some cute Hobbit stamps out here at the moment....
ReplyDelete