1948 GREY CUP . . . THE STAMPEDER SPECIAL – By Daryl Slade
This book is about the 1948 Calgary Stampeders, the city’s first-ever team to make it to the Grey Cup, their 12-7 victory over Ottawa Rough Riders to complete an undefeated season, and the festival tradition Calgary fans started that year in Toronto. The book traces the many years of the Calgary Stampeders’ failures to get past the Western final to the revamping of the team following the 1947 season. It started with the hiring of Calgary oilman Tom Brook as president in January 1948. Brook hired former Winnipeg Blue Bomber and NFL player Les Lear as coach, with the goal of nothing less than a Grey Cup victory. Lear found the best American imports available and young Canadians from Vancouver to Winnipeg, and took the new-look Stampeders to training camp. He whipped the players into the best-condition of all teams in Western Canada and the team went through the season with 12 consecutive victories. The conditioning paid off as Calgary won five games in the final minute. Calgary then defeated Saskatchewan Roughriders in the two-game west final.
As Calgary had never been to the Grey Cup before, the whole city got behind the team and planned the biggest party ever in Toronto. They loaded a train with 250 fans, 12 horses, First Nations Chiefs, griddles to make pancake breakfasts on the streets, a band and many dignitaries. More than 70 fans also flew to Toronto for the game and they all took part in the inaugural festival that has become synonymous with the Grey Cup ever since. There was also a legend that a horse was ridden into the prestigious Royal York Hotel, but lack of any evidence leaves the debate wide open. Stamps scored a legendary sleeper play touchdown on a pass from Keith Spaith to Norm Hill in the second quarter and another TD on a run by Pete Thodos in the fourth quarter to erase a 7-6 deficit, then left the rest to the defence which took advantage of many of Ottawa’s nine turnovers. Stampeders returned to Calgary to a parade in front of 30,000 of Calgary’s 104,000 population. The book covers two banquets after returning and includes a 50-year reunion in 1998 when 12 of 13 surviving players relived the legendary victory and the accompanying festivities.
