It’s my Parting Shot for The Fearless Predictor’s last stab at picking a C-F-L winner…..

Prior to the playoffs starting, I said it would be a Winnipeg-Toronto Grey Cup Game – and, lo and behold, that’s what we have! I also said before the playoffs that the Blue Bombers would win – even before Chad Kelly got hurt in the East final, leaving the Argonauts with journeyman veteran Nick Arbuckle as their starting quarterback for the C-F-L Championship game!

Here’s the thing, it’s not a guarantee that the Bombers will win big over the Argos just because of the East titleists Q-B situation. Go back to 2007 and the Saskatchewan Roughriders getting a big break when Winnipeg quarterback Kevin Glenn was severely injured in the East final and couldn’t suit up in the Grey Cup against the Green and White. Well, Kerry Joseph played one of his worst games of the season, but was barely good enough to lead the Riders to a 23-19 victory over the Blue Bombers – who were under the direction of current Toronto head coach Ryan Dinwiddie at quarterback. The difference there is that Dinwiddie had never been a C-F-L starter whereas Arbuckle has been! The Argonauts could give the Bombers a tougher contest than many expect, just because of that!!

There’s even more history to consider – over the years, the Argos have won all seven head-to-head Grey Cup meetings over Winnipeg, the last coming in 2022 when Chad Kelly took over from McLeod Bethel-Thompson in the second half. Plus, Kelly and Cameron Dukes were at the controls this season as Toronto won both games over the Blue Bombers!

Now that the history is out of the way and the caution flag has been thrown up, let’s get serious now!

The Argonauts will be competitive, but I fear they won’t get the necessary big plays on defence and on special teams that they will require to overcome their weakened offence! I also think the Bombers realize that they need to win a third Grey Cup out of the five straight appearances in order to have a positive legacy before veteran players like Collaros, Demski, Lawler, Bryant, Neufeld, Jefferson, Jeffcoat, Bighill, Alexander and others decide to retire! They might all do that if Winnipeg wins on Sunday – which I believe they will, by more than a field goal!

No matter the result, I will have a more successful post-season with predictions than in the regular season when I was a tad over 58 per cent. Four-out-of-five is 80 per cent while three-out-of-five is 60 per cent! Either way, go West and go Bombers!!

That’s my Parting Shot. I’m Les Lazaruk…and it turned out nice again!