Winnipeg

WINNIPEG, Manitoba -- Ever since the Baltimore CFLs arrived here Thursday, they had been under siege.Criticized in the local news media for everything from their etiquette to their choice of hotel, the CFLs had the last word yesterday.It belonged to Don Matthews."Let's blow this burg," the Baltimore coach said as players filed out of the locker room after a giddy 14-12 victory over the Winnipeg Blue Bombers. "You know what? Those other guys have to live here."When the CFLs awoke yesterday, they were greeted with a banner headline in the Winnipeg Free Press that said, "Baltimore ain't got no couth."

WINNIPEG, Manitoba -- As if 57-10 were not evidence enough, the Baltimore CFLs will try today to prove again the balance of power in the Canadian Football League's Eastern Division has been relocated to the south.They will make their case at 32,000-seat Winnipeg Stadium against the Winnipeg Blue Bombers in the Eastern final, one slippery step from the Grey Cup. Given the recent history of the division, there is no better place for the 13-6 CFLs to make their point.The 14-5 Blue Bombers have been to the Eastern final all eight years they've been in the division.

QuarterbacksWinnipeg's Matt Dunigan played only11 games because of a knee injury, but still threw for 31 touchdowns (and 16 interceptions). Baltimore's Tracy Ham had 30 TDs and 13 intercepts in 17 games. Dunigan, the most prolific single-game passer in pro football history with his 713-yard performance in Week 2, averaged 360.4 passing yards a game to Ham's 255.7. Dunigan did not look sharp in last week's semifinal win over Ottawa. Ham had a good game against Toronto, and his best game against Winnipeg three weeks ago.Edge: evenRunning backsWinnipeg's Blaise Bryant is out with ligament damage in his left knee and has been replaced by former NFL runner Keith Woodside.

WINNIPEG, Manitoba -- I'm sitting in a bar called Pockets in downtown Winnipeg. Outside, snowflakes the size of crab cakes blanket the city.Gale-force winds rip in from the prairie. The forecast for the next day is "snow and blowing snow." It's the kind of storm that would paralyze Baltimore for a week.Gerald Bazylewski waves his hand."This isn't a storm," he says. "This is first snow."First snow.Usually, Winnipeg gets hit by Halloween.This year, the heavens held out until Nov. 17."Now everyone can go inside for six months," Bazylewski says, hoisting a beer and laughing.

Home-field advantage for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers is 40 mph winds blowing off the Canadian prairies and an aura of invincibility at Winnipeg Stadium.The question of the week in Baltimore is, how much will it be worth in Sunday's Eastern final?"Not 47 points," Shar Pourdanesh, Baltimore's left tackle, said yesterday.That was the margin of victory when the CFLs inflicted a 57-10 beating on the Blue Bombers on Oct. 29.Familiarity breeds confidence in this case. Starting with a 45-43 exhibition win on June 29 in Baltimore, the CFLs have played the Bombers three times in their inaugural season and beaten them twice.

WINNIPEG, Manitoba -- The weather is turning nasty, snow is in the forecast and the ground crunches with every step.It's exactly the way the Winnipeg Blue Bombers like it.The Bombers are about the only people in Manitoba who want to spend November in Winnipeg. They love the lousy weather, and they can't wait to welcome visitors.The Bombers are where they want to be, at home, and facing a challenge they want to meet, settling a score with the Baltimore CFLs.The score to be settled is that nasty 57-10 matter of Oct. 29. The Bombers have lived with the mental scars of that thrashing for the past three weeks.

They've tricked high school girlfriends and college professors, so why not the CFLs? The halftime score was 37-0 over Winnipeg. John Earle wanted his twin brother, Guy, to share in the fun.So, they switched jerseys.That's right, switched jerseys.Offensive linemen all look alike, anyway. The Earles, 26, also sound alike and play alike.Who would know if John was wearing No. 63, and Guy No. 60? Each is a guard. Each weighs 300 pounds.That's right, 300 pounds. Big boys. Big eaters. The kind who return home at holiday time, and inspire panic in the grocery stores of Hazlet, N.J."

WINNIPEG, Manitoba -- The Winnipeg Blue Bombers are worried.Their concern is not about the Baltimore CFLs, but more so about themselves.A team that won nine more games than its opponent, as was the case when Winnipeg faced the Ottawa Rough Riders yesterday, shouldn't be so hard-pressed for victory.On the strength of six field goals by Troy Westwood, the Bombers beat the Rough Riders, 26-16, setting up an Eastern Division final showdown with the CFLs.The Bombers are either not as good as their regular-season record of 13-5 would indicate or the Rough Riders aren't as bad as their 4-14 mark.

One more time with goose bumps and rain slickers?To the surprise of absolutely no one, Baltimore learned its opponent in the Canadian Football League's Eastern Division final on Sunday will be the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, who beat the Ottawa Rough Riders, 26-16, yesterday.It means a budding rivalry that started in the stifling heat of a Winnipeg July, and careened through a raucous October rout in Baltimore, will conclude in the frozen playoff air of Manitoba.The winner of that best-of-three series gets to go indoors for the Nov. 27 Grey Cup at B.C. Place, a domed stadium in Vancouver, British Columbia.

Caught up in the emotion of the moment, Winnipeg quarterback Matt Dunigan started heaving footballs into the stands last week during a 35-28 victory over Toronto that clinched the Eastern Division title.The score was 35-11 when Dunigan rained four footballs on fans at Winnipeg Stadium. Once Blue Bombers coach Cal Murphy noticed, he promptly informed Dunigan the giveaway would cost him $200, at $50 a ball."Well, make it $250," Dunigan said, grabbing a fifth, "because here goes another one."