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Canadian football

Canadian football is a form of football played chiefly in Canada in which two teams of twelve players each compete for territorial control of a field of play 110 yards (100.6 m) long and 65 yards (59.4 m) wide, attempting to advance a prolate spheroid ball into the opposing team's end zone. In Canada, the term "football" is used to refer to Canadian football and American football collectively, or either sport specifically, depending on the context. The two sports have some shared origins and are closely related; there are, however, significant differences: see comparison of Canadian and American football for details.

Rugby football in Canada had its origins in the early 1860s, and over time, the unique code known as Canadian football developed. Both the Canadian Football League (CFL), the sport's only major professional league, and Football Canada, the governing body for amateur play, trace their roots to 1884 and the founding of the Canadian Rugby Football Union. Several currently active teams have similar longevity.

The CFL's Grey Cup championship is the country's single largest sporting event and is watched by nearly one third of Canadian television households. Amateur play is widespread at junior, high school, collegiate, and senior levels: the Canadian Junior Football League and Quebec Junior Football League are large leagues for players aged 18-22, many post-secondary institutions compete in Canadian Interuniversity Sport for the Vanier Cup, and senior amateur leagues have grown in popularity in recent years. Great achievements in the sport are enshrined in the Canadian Football Hall of Fame.

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Selected article

The 93rd Grey Cup game was held on November 27, 2005 at BC Place Stadium in Vancouver, British Columbia to decide the champion of the 2005 Canadian Football League season. The West Division's Edmonton Eskimos battled the East Division's Montreal Alouettes in a thrilling match, with Edmonton coming out on top by a score of 38 to 35 in overtime to earn their thirteenth Grey Cup championship. Edmonton's Ricky Ray and Mike Maurer were named Grey Cup Most Valuable Player and Grey Cup Most Valuable Canadian respectively, while Éric Lapointe scored two touchdowns for Montreal.

It was the eleventh Grey Cup played between the Eskimos and Alouettes, the fourteenth hosted in Vancouver, and the first time in 44 years that a Grey Cup went into overtime. It was the first Grey Cup to be available in high-definition television.

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Selected biography

Lui Passaglia (born June 7, 1954 in Vancouver, British Columbia) was a record-setting placekicker in the Canadian Football League. After playing wide receiver and kicker/punter for Simon Fraser University, he was drafted by the CFL's BC Lions in 1976. He went on to kick and punt for the Lions for a record 25 years, appearing in a record 408 regular season games, and scoring the most points in regular season play (3,991).

In addition to setting many other records, he was a West Division All-Star nine times, and a CFL All-Star four times. Passaglia won three Grey Cup championships (1985, 1994, and 2000), and was named Grey Cup Most Valuable Canadian twice (1985 and 1994). His last-second winning field goal in the 1994 Grey Cup was named the greatest play in BC Lions history.

After retiring in 2000, he was the director of community relations for the Lions. He was inducted to the Canadian Football Hall of Fame in 2004. In 2006, he was voted one of the top 50 players in CFL history (#30) in a poll conducted by sports television network TSN.

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