40th Grey Cup
Encyclopedia
The 40th Grey Cup
game was the Canadian Football
Championship held on 29 November 1952. The Toronto Argonauts
defeated the Edmonton Eskimos
21-11 at Toronto's Varsity Stadium
.
opened the game with a ceremonial football kickoff, where Edmonton Mayor William Hawrelak
held the ball, and Toronto Mayor Allan Lamport
was watching nearby.
Hometown coach Frank Clair
and his team enjoyed a decisive victory despite trailing in the first quarter. Edmonton coach Frank Filchock
was dismissed soon after his team's defeat.
First quarter: Normie Kwong
earned a touchdown
for Edmonton at the 13:05 mark, the only score of the first quarter.
Second quarter: Toronto took the lead when it earned six points from a touchdown by Nobby Wirkowski
at 3:06, and a conversion by Red Ettinger, who would score again that quarter with a 3-point field goal
at 11:35. Billy Bass earned Toronto's second touchdown of the quarter at 13:28, converted again by Ettinger. Edmonton was left scoreless in this quarter which ended with a 15-5 Toronto lead.
Third quarter: Kwong's second touchdown of the game occurred at 10:24 and converted by Bill Snyder, the only points recorded in this quarter. Toronto continued to lead 15-11.
Fourth quarter: Edmonton was shut out in the final quarter as Toronto's Zeke O'Connor touched down at 9:40, followed by a conversion from Ettinger.
's Toronto flagship station, CBLT, paid CAD
$7,500 to the Canadian Rugby Union
for the rights to broadcast the game. The broadcast was only available locally on CBLT which had only begun broadcasts less than three months earlier. Live network television connections with other CBC
stations were not available until 1953, although kinescope
films of the game were produced for movie theatres and other television stations.
A technical failure prevented viewers from seeing 29 minutes of the game video. This interrupted the telecast during much of the third quarter, although commentator audio was still transmitted. Images were restored into the final quarter when CBC technicians repaired the link at the CBC's tower which received the feed from Varsity Stadium. The reported cause of the transmission relay failure was a vacuum tube
worth $1.85. Despite this setback, this inaugural Grey Cup broadcast was reported to have had the most viewers of any Canadian television production to that date.
Grey Cup
The Grey Cup is both the name of the championship of the Canadian Football League and the name of the trophy awarded to the victorious team. It is Canada's largest annual sports and television event, regularly drawing a Canadian viewing audience of about 3 to 4 million individuals...
game was the Canadian Football
Canadian football
Canadian football is a form of gridiron football played exclusively in Canada in which two teams of 12 players each compete for territorial control of a field of play long and wide attempting to advance a pointed prolate spheroid ball into the opposing team's scoring area...
Championship held on 29 November 1952. The Toronto Argonauts
Toronto Argonauts
The Toronto Argonauts are a professional Canadian football team competing in the East Division of the Canadian Football League. The Toronto, Ontario based team was founded in 1873 and is one of the oldest existing professional sports teams in North America, after the Chicago Cubs and the Atlanta...
defeated the Edmonton Eskimos
Edmonton Eskimos
The Edmonton Eskimos are a Canadian football team based in Edmonton, Alberta. They currently play in the West Division of the Canadian Football League . Edmonton is currently the third-youngest franchise in the CFL, although there were clubs with the name Edmonton Eskimos as early as 1895...
21-11 at Toronto's Varsity Stadium
Varsity Stadium
Varsity Stadium is a collegiate football stadium that is home to the Varsity Blues, the athletic teams of the University of Toronto in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. While the present structure was built in 2007, it is in fact the third major incarnation of the stadium that has occupied the same site...
.
Game highlights
An audience of 27 391 watched as acting Canadian Prime Minister C. D. HoweC. D. Howe
Clarence Decatur Howe, PC , generally known as C. D. Howe, was a powerful Canadian Cabinet minister of the Liberal Party. Howe served in the governments of Prime Ministers William Lyon Mackenzie King and Louis St. Laurent continuously from 1935 to 1957...
opened the game with a ceremonial football kickoff, where Edmonton Mayor William Hawrelak
William Hawrelak
William Hawrelak was a politician in Alberta, Canada, the longest-serving mayor in Edmonton's history, and a candidate for election to the Canadian House of Commons.-Early life:...
held the ball, and Toronto Mayor Allan Lamport
Allan A. Lamport
Allan Austin Lamport, CM was Mayor of Toronto, Canada, from 1952 to 1954. Known as "Lampy", his most notable achievement was his opposition to Toronto's Blue laws which banned virtually any activities on Sundays. Lamport fought to allow professional sporting activities on Sundays...
was watching nearby.
Hometown coach Frank Clair
Frank Clair
Frank James Clair was a coach in the Canadian Football League, nicknamed "the Professor" for his ability to recognize and develop talent. Clair is the 3rd all-time winningest head coach in the CFL with 147 wins and the winningest head coach in the post-season with 27 vistories...
and his team enjoyed a decisive victory despite trailing in the first quarter. Edmonton coach Frank Filchock
Frank Filchock
Frank Joseph Filchock was an American and Canadian football tailback/quarterback and coach. As a consequence of a famous scandal regarding the 1946 NFL Championship game, he was suspended by the National Football League from 1947 to 1950 for associating with gamblers.-Early career:Born in 1916 in...
was dismissed soon after his team's defeat.
First quarter: Normie Kwong
Norman Kwong
Norman Lim "Normie" Kwong, CM, AOE is a former professional athlete, sports executive, and was the 16th Lieutenant Governor of Alberta...
earned a touchdown
Touchdown
A touchdown is a means of scoring in American and Canadian football. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchdown by advancing the ball into the opponent's end zone.-Description:...
for Edmonton at the 13:05 mark, the only score of the first quarter.
Second quarter: Toronto took the lead when it earned six points from a touchdown by Nobby Wirkowski
Nobby Wirkowski
Norbert Wirkowski is a retired American and Canadian football player and coach. He is best known as quarterback of the Toronto Argonauts...
at 3:06, and a conversion by Red Ettinger, who would score again that quarter with a 3-point field goal
Field goal (football)
A field goal in American football and Canadian football is a goal that may be scored during general play . Field goals may be scored by a placekick or the now practically extinct drop kick.The drop kick fell out of favor in 1934 when the shape of the ball was changed...
at 11:35. Billy Bass earned Toronto's second touchdown of the quarter at 13:28, converted again by Ettinger. Edmonton was left scoreless in this quarter which ended with a 15-5 Toronto lead.
Third quarter: Kwong's second touchdown of the game occurred at 10:24 and converted by Bill Snyder, the only points recorded in this quarter. Toronto continued to lead 15-11.
Fourth quarter: Edmonton was shut out in the final quarter as Toronto's Zeke O'Connor touched down at 9:40, followed by a conversion from Ettinger.
Grey Cup's first telecast
This was the first Grey Cup match to be televised as CBC TelevisionCBC Television
CBC Television is a Canadian television network owned by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the national public broadcaster.Although the CBC is supported by public funding, the television network supplements this funding with commercial advertising revenue, in contrast to CBC Radio which are...
's Toronto flagship station, CBLT, paid CAD
Canadian dollar
The Canadian dollar is the currency of Canada. As of 2007, the Canadian dollar is the 7th most traded currency in the world. It is abbreviated with the dollar sign $, or C$ to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies...
$7,500 to the Canadian Rugby Union
Canadian Rugby Union
The Canadian Rugby Union may refer to:*Football Canada, the governing body of amateur Canadian football in Canada, previously known as the Canadian Rugby Union from 1892 to 1967....
for the rights to broadcast the game. The broadcast was only available locally on CBLT which had only begun broadcasts less than three months earlier. Live network television connections with other CBC
CBC Television
CBC Television is a Canadian television network owned by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the national public broadcaster.Although the CBC is supported by public funding, the television network supplements this funding with commercial advertising revenue, in contrast to CBC Radio which are...
stations were not available until 1953, although kinescope
Kinescope
Kinescope , shortened to kine , also known as telerecording in Britain, is a recording of a television program made by filming the picture from a video monitor...
films of the game were produced for movie theatres and other television stations.
A technical failure prevented viewers from seeing 29 minutes of the game video. This interrupted the telecast during much of the third quarter, although commentator audio was still transmitted. Images were restored into the final quarter when CBC technicians repaired the link at the CBC's tower which received the feed from Varsity Stadium. The reported cause of the transmission relay failure was a vacuum tube
Vacuum tube
In electronics, a vacuum tube, electron tube , or thermionic valve , reduced to simply "tube" or "valve" in everyday parlance, is a device that relies on the flow of electric current through a vacuum...
worth $1.85. Despite this setback, this inaugural Grey Cup broadcast was reported to have had the most viewers of any Canadian television production to that date.