The Argos won the 100th Grey Cup on Sunday. We watched it at a Cineplex movie theatre, a very workable and fun (and huge screen) venue for a sports event  For my American friends who don’t know what I’m talking about, the Grey Cup is the championship game in Canadian football. Canadian football is kind of like American football but the guys are smaller and the field is bigger and, oh yeah, there’s only 3 downs so there’s none of that grinding out a running game business that makes NFL football so boring technical. When I was a youngster I was a big CFL fan. I followed the Argos when Joe Theismann (he went on to play in that other league too, didn’t he?) handed off to Leon McQuay, who slipped and fumbled the championship away. Other favourite players were Sonny Wade in Montreal and George Reed in Regina and Tom Wilkinson in Edmonton. It looks like the Canadian league is enjoying a resurgence these days. I hope the excitement of the 100th Grey Cup season carries over to next year. It was lots of fun watching the hometown Boatmen win big, even though by the half it was pretty clear who was going to win.

I have a couple requests for the CFL mandarins. Get an anthem singer who can belt that puppy out the way it ought to be sung. I’ve had it with pop performers trying to turn an anthem into a pop tune. And did we have to have Justin Bieber and Carly Rae Jepson? Really? Bring back the high school marching bands, that’s what I say. I’m done with the glitz and the light shows and all that jazz. Leave all that for the NFL, thanks.

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Here in Toronto, the news has been all Rob Ford all the time. I guess it isn’t every day your mayor is forced out of office for conflict of interest. It’s pretty easy to pile on Mr. Ford at this time, but I’m going to refrain from doing that here. All I really have to say about the whole sad business is that Toronto municipal politics appears to be broken, divisive and unable to get on with basic tasks like building transit, and the situation seems to have become worse rather than better. I’d like to see some positive ideas and voices emerge from this mess that will revitalize City Hall.

I’m going to leave off tonight with The Count Basie Orchestra, featuring Mr. 5X5, the most fabulous Jimmy Rushing, singing After You’ve Gone…