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| Date | November 27, 1983 | ||||||||||||||||||
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| Stadium | BC Place Stadium | ||||||||||||||||||
| Location | Vancouver | ||||||||||||||||||
| Most Valuable Player | Offence:Joe Barnes, QB (Argonauts) Defence:Carl Brazley, DB (Argonauts) | ||||||||||||||||||
| Most Valuable Canadian | Rick Klassen, DT (Lions) | ||||||||||||||||||
| National anthem | Carroll Baker | ||||||||||||||||||
| Referee | Lorne Woods | ||||||||||||||||||
| Attendance | 59,345 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Broadcasters | |||||||||||||||||||
| Network | CBC,CTV,SRC | ||||||||||||||||||
| Announcers | First Half:Pat Marsden,Frank Rigney,Leif Pettersen. Second Half:Don Wittman,Leo Cahill,Ron Lancaster. SRC: N/A. | ||||||||||||||||||
| Ratings | 8,118,000 | ||||||||||||||||||
The71st Grey Cup was the1983Canadian Football League championship game played atBC Place Stadium inVancouver between theToronto Argonauts and hometownBC Lions. The Argos narrowly defeated the Lions 18–17, claiming their first Grey Cup victory in 31 years.[1]
Toronto Argonauts (18) - TDs,Jan Carinci,Cedric Minter; FGs,Hank Ilesic; cons.,Ilesic; singles,Ilesic (2).
BC Lions (17) - TDs,Mervyn Fernandez,John Henry White; FGs,Lui Passaglia; cons.,Passaglia (2).
The 1983Grey Cup marked the first championship game where weather was not a deciding factor, as the final was held indoors for the first time at the newBC Place Stadium inVancouver, which opened earlier in the year.
Most notably, however, 1983 marked the end of the longest championship drought in the history of Canadian football's most successful team. TheToronto Argonauts, winners of a record 10 Grey Cups, had not sipped from the silver chalice since1952.
The Argos faced a difficult task. Not only did theBC Lions have a noisy, partisan crowd behind them, but Toronto's star quarterbackCondredge Holloway was battling the flu. Holloway did manage, however, to complete a 14-yard touchdown toss toJan Carinci in the second quarter to put the Double Blue on the board.
Trailing 17-7, Toronto coachBob O'Billovich elected to go withJoe Barnes at pivot in the second half. Slowly Barnes got the Argo offence going, but his efforts bore little fruit asHank Ilesic missed three consecutive field goals. Two were good for singles, however, allowing Toronto to cut its deficit to eight points.
When Ilesic finally split the uprights on a 43-yard attempt in the fourth quarter, it put the Argos within striking distance. Then, with four minutes remaining, Barnes executed one of the most important drives in Argonaut history. He hitPaul Pearson with a pass at the BC 45, but the ball was pried loose and popped into the air. In a most fortuitous return of the famed Argo Bounce, the ball miraculously landed in the hands of receiverEmanuel Tolbert, allowing the Boatmen to retain possession and continue their drive.
Barnes went to work again, completing a pass to Tolbert at the BC 25 and another to Pearson on the three. With 2:44 left in regulation, Barnes flipped the ball to a wide-openCedric Minter in the end zone, giving the Argos their first lead of the game. The subsequent two-point convert attempt fell incomplete.
Leading by one, Toronto forced BC to punt on its next possession, allowing the Argos to run out most of the clock. BC'sRoy Dewalt had one last chance to throw aHail Mary pass with one second remaining, but his prayer wasn't answered and long-suffering Argonaut fans took to the streets in jubilation.
BC scored its points on touchdown passes by Dewalt toMervyn Fernandez andJohn Henry White.Lui Passaglia also kicked a 31-yard field goal.