Recreating the historic Grey Cup ‘Mud Bowl’
Posted November 19, 2012 4:44 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
With the Toronto Argonauts one win away from bringing home the Grey Cup, local celebrities and media personalities combined to recreate one of the most memorable final games in CFL history.
The 38th Grey Cup between the Argos and the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, was nicknamed the “Mud Bowl” after the field was destroyed by weather and a bulldozer.
Despite the conditions the Argos went on to win 13-0.
That game was recreated on Monday at W.A. Porter Collegiate Institute in Scarborough by student alumni, local celebrities and personalities in the media including 680News, Sportsnet and CityNews sports anchor Hugh Burrill.
Original “Mud Bowl” MVP Nick Volpe was also on hand for the recreation and told CityNews the game brought back memories.
“It was worse when we played because there was more mud and it was a lot thicker but the results are about the same,” he said. “If you look at the picture, you can’t see anybody’s number so it was just as bad.”
The school’s field was flooded to recreate the historic conditions of that 1950 game.
George Mavraganis, principal at Porter, told CityNews the event is a great way to unite students and the community.
“(It’s)not only the kids. The staff, the community, the alumni behind this whole project – it’s huge for them,” he explained.
“We’ve been part of the ‘Huddle Up’ program and ‘Level the Playing Field’ program with the Argos for now two years. We’re going places in terms of football but we’re going places in terms of school spirit and bridging that gap with the community.”
Mavraganis said the school will be getting a whole new field in conjunction with the Argos and Rona in the new year.
And when the mud had settled at the recreation on Porter field, the Argos had won 14-0.
