Ridgway To Speak With Williams On Sunday

TSN’s GREY CUP SUNDAY
Pre-Game Show Features Ridgway, Fans, Grassroots Football and More on November 29



– Brian Williams goes one-on-one with former Saskatchewan Roughriders kicker and 1989 Grey Cup champion Dave Ridgway in an exclusive interview –

– GREY CUP SUNDAY also includes a tribute to Calgary’s history of passionate fans, profiles on GREY CUP players and a feature on halftime headliners, Blue Rodeo –



Toronto, ON (November 25, 2009) – TSN celebrates the glory and the grandeur of the Grey Cup with a series of special features throughout the day during the GREY CUP SUNDAY pre-game show on November 29, beginning at 1 p.m. ET leading up to the 2009 GREY CUP. CFL ON TSN’s Brian Williams and CFL Insider Dave Naylor explore the compelling stories behind some of the leagues greatest milestones and achievements.



In one feature, Williams examines one of the greatest Grey Cup games ever played in league history – the 1989 GREY CUP, with the Saskatchewan Roughriders defeating the Hamilton Tiger-Cats 43-40 on Dave Ridgway’s game-winning field goal. In celebration of the 20th anniversary of the Roughriders’ come-from-behind Grey Cup win, Williams sits down with Ridgway in an exclusive interview at his private residence in Southern Indiana and takes a look back at the big game. The feature also includes interviews with some of Ridgway’s former teammates, including Kent Austin, TSN’s Glen Suitor and former Hamilton Tiger-Cats Mike Kerrigan and kicker Paul Osbaldiston. This is Ridgway’s first interview regarding the game since he was not in attendance for the official 20th anniversary celebration in Saskatchewan earlier this year.



Another feature pays tribute to the CFL fans in Calgary, as Williams looks back at the 1948 Grey Cup, when 250 passionate Stampeders fans took a train from Calgary to Toronto and set the benchmark for all Grey Cup week celebrations to follow. Williams explores the lore that surrounds the 36th Grey Cup, which includes stories of square dances and chuckwagons at Union Station and men on horseback inside the Royal York Hotel. Williams also sits down with Alberta lieutenant-governor Norman Kwong, who reminisces about his journey to Toronto on the train as an 18-year old fullback with the Stampeders.



Naylor examines the growing number of young men from immigrant families playing grassroots football in Canada, with an increasing number of these players making it to the CFL. Naylor speaks to Canadian football scouts, who suggest that the ethnic communities are enhancing the growth of the sport in the Canada.



TSN then takes a close look at Saskatchewan defensive end John Chick to find out how he maintains his high level of play in the often violent sport of football despite wearing an insulin pump to control his type-1 diabetes.



In another GREY CUP SUNDAY feature, TSN follows Blue Rodeo members Jim Cuddy and Greg Keelor as they return to their Toronto high school to relive their days as members of the school’s football team. Blue Rodeo will perform during the Pepsi Max Halftime Show as part of Sunday’s big game on TSN.



In addition, GREY CUP SUNDAY includes two documentaries titled ROAD TO THE GREY CUP, chronicling how the Roughriders and Alouettes made their way to this year’s championship game.



GREY CUP SUNDAY also features seven vignettes that follow recent Grey Cup champions, as they take the coveted championship trophy to schools, hospitals, their hometown and even home for Christmas. As well as a Brian Williams sits down with CFL Commissioner Mark Cohon to examine some of the league’s key issues.