1987 East Final: Toronto Argonauts @ Winnipeg Blue Bombers

[Will]

Some offseason entertainment posted by Tom Elder. The 11-6-1 Argos go into Winnipeg Stadium to play the 12-6 Blue Bombers and shock Winnipeg 19-3 to advance to the Grey Cup. Winnipeg had stars such as Tom Clements, Willard Reaves on offense and defensive stars such as James West and Tyrone Jones. Toronto's offense was less heralded featuring Schenley award winner Gil Fenerty and Darrell Smith (no K yet). On defense Toronto had HOFers Rodney Harding and Willie Pless.


The teams were scoreless after one quarter before Gilbert Renfroe was intercepted by Roy Bennett. The Blue Bombers could not put the ball into the endzone however, and Trevor Kennerd opened the scoring to put Winnipeg up 3-0.


Toronto came right back with a scoring drive of their own. Renfroe hit Darrell Smith deep with a pass that took the ball within the Winnipeg 5 before Renfroe scored the TD on a sneak to put Toronto up 7-3.


The low scoring affair continued through the third quarter, however Toronto was able to control the ball for 11 minutes and this was the quarter where Winnipeg had the wind at their back. The Argos led 12-3 early in the 4th quarter when Winnipeg started to self-destruct.


Winnipeg was driving the ball downfield with a chance to make the score 12-10, but Clements was intercepted by Argos safety Jake Vaughan in the redzone. Vaughan was on the seat of his pants at the time. The Argos didn't score on that drive, but had snuffed out a potential Winnipeg score.

Another fateful play for Winnipeg came late when Darryl Sampson fumbled a Hank Ilesic punt deep within his own territory. Tony Johns scored a TD to put the Argos up 19-3. This was the final score, but not before Tom Clements threw 2 more interceptions.

1987-1991 would see the Argos and Winnipeg meet in the playoffs each year, with Winnipeg winning 3 of those games and Toronto winning 2. Of course, the Argos defeated Winnipeg 24-23 in the 2022 Grey Cup.

[AngeloV]

[FONT="]Some offseason entertainment posted by Tom Elder. The 11-6-1 Argos go into Winnipeg Stadium to play the 12-6 Blue Bombers and shock Winnipeg 19-3 to advance to the Grey Cup. Winnipeg had stars such as Tom Clements, Willard Reaves on offense and defensive stars such as James West and Tyrone Jones. Toronto's offense was less heralded featuring Schenley award winner Gil Fenerty and Darrell Smith (no K yet). On defense Toronto had HOFers Rodney Harding and Willie Pless.


The teams were scoreless after one quarter before Gilbert Renfroe was intercepted by Roy Bennett. The Blue Bombers could not put the ball into the endzone however, and Trevor Kennerd opened the scoring to put Winnipeg up 3-0.


Toronto came right back with a scoring drive of their own. Renfroe hit Darrell Smith deep with a pass that took the ball within the Winnipeg 5 before Renfroe scored the TD on a sneak to put Toronto up 7-3.


The low scoring affair continued through the third quarter, however Toronto was able to control the ball for 11 minutes and this was the quarter where Winnipeg had the wind at their back. The Argos led 12-3 early in the 4th quarter when Winnipeg started to self-destruct.


Winnipeg was driving the ball downfield with a chance to make the score 12-10, but Clements was intercepted by Argos safety Jake Vaughan in the redzone. Vaughan was on the seat of his pants at the time. The Argos didn't score on that drive, but had snuffed out a potential Winnipeg score.
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[FONT="]Another fateful play for Winnipeg came late when Darryl Sampson fumbled a Hank Ilesic punt deep within his own territory. Tony Johns scored a TD to put the Argos up 19-3. This was the final score, but not before Tom Clements threw 2 more interceptions.
[/FONT]
[FONT="]1987-1991 would see the Argos and Winnipeg meet in the playoffs each year, with Winnipeg winning 3 of those games and Toronto winning 2. Of course, the Argos defeated Winnipeg 24-23 in the 2022 Grey Cup.
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So what you are saying is that Tom Clements threw 3 INT's in addition to the 30 he threw in the regular season. If that's not worthy of the MOP award for that season, I don't know what is. He threw as many picks in that EF as his team scored points. Great last game of a career.

Will, I think you set me up for this post.

[Will]

Winnipeg had a really good receiving corps that was probably neutralized by the weather and field conditions. The broadcast also, at one point, mentioned that Willard Reaves was banged up heading into this game. He could have been a factor, but that Argos team was very good against the run too. Both the Argos and Bombers attempted 35 passes and the Argos only ran Fenerty 13 times. Darrell Smith also came up clutch with 128 yards receiving.

[primetime31]

Man, those were the days! The '87 team was one of my favourite Argo teams ever even though they didn't win the Grey Cup. Loved Gill Fenerty and that excellent linebacking corps. Too bad that Gilbert Renfroe went off the cliff a couple of seasons later cos they had something special going.

[OV Argo]

Man, those were the days! The '87 team was one of my favourite Argo teams ever even though they didn't win the Grey Cup. Loved Gill Fenerty and that excellent linebacking corps. Too bad that Gilbert Renfroe went off the cliff a couple of seasons later cos they had something special going.

Yep; an all-time Argo LB corps; Fenerty one of the all-time best Argo RBs as well, IMO; too bad both Gil the Thrill and Renfroe (double gills for the double blue) did not become Argo fixtures for years, but those long star Argo career types don't happen that often. Glenn Kulka was a force at DE for the Argos for a couple of seasons back then. Ravi would likely recall why Tank Landry was traded away by Obie the following season? - but they did get a great D-lineman in Harold Hallman in return. Which Argo D was better 87 vs. 88 ? (88 had added ex-EE safety Laurent Deslauriers who was a real talent, plus Carl Brazley, another great one, had returned from an NFL stint in their 87 strike season (when Pinball also played) in the secondary)

Also loved the all white Argo jersey - with double blue piping and the boat logo on the shoulder (where it belongs as opposed to the sleeve) - of that time !

And Bombers stadium jam packed / SRO - those were the CFL days indeed !

[Will]

Over the course of the season, the '88 D was better.

[OV Argo]

Over the course of the season, the '88 D was better.

Deslauriers & Brazley were 2 outstanding talent additions over the 87 version; ending up having to roll with Ben Zambiasi - long-time Ticat, and a great OLB - at MLB - I'd take Landry any day.

[OV Argo]

Over the course of the season, the '88 D was better.

88 D gave up an average of only 18.1 points per game.

We've had this discussion before on all-time best Argo Ds; and hard to say/compare with the different eras or styles of play; factors like what kind of offences they faced; how good their own offence was at scoring and maintaining possession of the ball.

71 GC D = 17.7 ppg allowed

77 - on a sub-500 team = 16.6

83 GC winners = 20.5

97 GC team with a Flutie offence owning the ball lots = 18.2


So ... ?

[ArgoRavi]

Yep; an all-time Argo LB corps; Fenerty one of the all-time best Argo RBs as well, IMO; too bad both Gil the Thrill and Renfroe (double gills for the double blue) did not become Argo fixtures for years, but those long star Argo career types don't happen that often. Glenn Kulka was a force at DE for the Argos for a couple of seasons back then. Ravi would likely recall why Tank Landry was traded away by Obie the following season? - but they did get a great D-lineman in Harold Hallman in return. Which Argo D was better 87 vs. 88 ? (88 had added ex-EE safety Laurent Deslauriers who was a real talent, plus Carl Brazley, another great one, had returned from an NFL stint in their 87 strike season (when Pinball also played) in the secondary)

Also loved the all white Argo jersey - with double blue piping and the boat logo on the shoulder (where it belongs as opposed to the sleeve) - of that time !

And Bombers stadium jam packed / SRO - those were the CFL days indeed !

From what I recall, Landry ended up on the wrong side of Obie for some reason and that's why he was sent packing. I think that Landry had his off-field issues but he was certainly talented. Sadly, both Hallman and Landry passed away far too early.

[Will]

88 D gave up an average of only 18.1 points per game.

We've had this discussion before on all-time best Argo Ds; and hard to say/compare with the different eras or styles of play; factors like what kind of offences they faced; how good their own offence was at scoring and maintaining possession of the ball.

71 GC D = 17.7 ppg allowed

77 - on a sub-500 team = 16.6

83 GC winners = 20.5

97 GC team with a Flutie offence owning the ball lots = 18.2


So ... ?

The 2007 Argonauts D only allowed 336 points (18.2/game) as well. Great secondary that team had: Parker-Wheaton-Steinauer-Carter/Winters-Younger.

[ArgoRavi]

The 2007 Argonauts D only allowed 336 points (18.2/game) as well. Great secondary that team had: Parker-Wheaton-Steinauer-Carter/Winters-Younger.

That 2007 defence was probably the best of the Stubler era. Unfortunately, the offence, with Michael Bishop as starting QB, wasn't good enough.

[Will]

That 2007 defence was probably the best of the Stubler era. Unfortunately, the offence, with Michael Bishop as starting QB, wasn't good enough.

I know this sounds a bit silly given the team has a 30 year GC drought, but losing the East Final in 5/6 seasons is not a good look, but one that rarely gets discussed.

[ArgoRavi]

I know this sounds a bit silly given the team has a 30 year GC drought, but losing the East Final in 5/6 seasons is not a good look, but one that rarely gets discussed.

Losing the divisional final is bad enough but it's even worse when you lose at home, like the Argos did in 2005 and 2007. Those losses still sting.

[AngeloV]

Losing the divisional final is bad enough but it's even worse when you lose at home, like the Argos did in 2005 and 2007. Those losses still sting.

And 1984, 1988, 2013, 2021

[Scooter McCray]

...But winning the last 7 Grey Cups they have appeared in dating ba k to 1991....That is priceless.
That is an incredible accomplishment. If the Argos were any other pro team in the city that stat would be burned into the memories of the population by all media, and regailed every year. But it's the Argos and only those on this site are aware.

[ArgoRavi]

...But winning the last 7 Grey Cups they have appeared in dating ba k to 1991....That is priceless.
That is an incredible accomplishment. If the Argos were any other pro team in the city that stat would be burned into the memories of the population by all media, and regailed every year. But it's the Argos and only those on this site are aware.

Conversely, the Ticats have won just three Grey Cups over the past 58 years, which is quite astonishing when you think about it.

[ArgoRavi]

And 1984, 1988, 2013, 2021

All of those losses still leave me with a sick feeling when I think of them. Don't forget about 1986, AV, although we would all love to.

[AngeloV]

All of those losses still leave me with a sick feeling when I think of them. Don't forget about 1986, AV, although we would all love to.

Oh my, how did I leave that one out. Probably because of the stupid 2 game total point format.