The 2001 Grey Cup

Montreal, PQ - As Canadians gear up for the 89th edition of the Grey Cup, celebrations have already begun in Montreal - this year's host for the CFL's championship. The big game will see Cowtown's Stampeders squaring off against the Winnipeg Blue Bombers in what will surely be a test of wills and gluttony as Canadians break out the beer and potato chips. A new Ipsos-Reid/CTV/Globe and Mail survey shows that almost half of (47%) Canadian adults - or about 11 million people say they will be watching the game live or on television this Sunday.

• Those most likely to say they will be watching are residents of Manitoba (87%) and Alberta (63%).
• Men (56%) are much more likely than women (38%) to be watching.
• Middle aged Canadians (50%) are slightly more likely to say they will be watching than younger (43%) and older (46%) Canadians.

As the battle between the world's Slurpee capital and Canada's oil patch heats up, Canadians are divided about who will win. Nationally, 42% of Canadians say they think the Stampeders will win while 32% say the Grey Cup will be the property of the Bombers. Among those who plan on watching the game, the two teams are in a dead heat - 46% say Calgary will win and 46% say Winnipeg will win. Nonetheless, the fans in each city have already begun talking trash.

"Our guys will definitely trample the Bombers", says Tim Olafson, Senior Vice-President at Ipsos-Reid and die hard Stampeders fan. "Come Sunday night everyone will know why they call them the BLUE Bombers".

Curtis Johnson, Senior Vice-President of Ipsos-Reid in Winnipeg disagrees. "The Bombers are going to blow the lid off the Big O", said Johnson from underneath his remarkably thick bearskin parka. "It's no surprise that we will put those ponies out to pasture."

On the whole, Calgarians are not as strongly behind their team as Winnipeggers are behind theirs. Only 73% of Calgarians say the Stamps will win compared with 91% of Winnipeggers who say the Bombers will win. Regardless of what fans are hoping for, the team that will get to drink from Lord Grey's Cup will be decided this Sunday at Montreal's Olympic Stadium.

These are the findings of an Ipsos-Reid/CTV/Globe and Mail poll conducted between November 20th and November 22nd, 2001. The poll is based on a randomly selected sample of 1000 adult Canadians. With a sample of this size, the results are considered accurate to within 177 3.1 percentage points, 19 times out of 20, of what they would have been had the entire adult Canadian population been polled. The margin of error will be larger within regions and for other sub-groupings of the survey population. These data were statistically weighted to ensure the sample's regional and age/sex composition reflects that of the actual Canadian population according to the 1996 Census data.

Tim Olafson Senior Vice- President Ipsos-Reid - Calgary (403) 237-0066	Curtis Johnson Senior Vice- President Ipsos-Reid - Winnipeg (204) 949-3100
Tim Olafson	Curtis Johnson