Marketing-Jive, formerly SEO-Space, was established in 2006 and since then we have noticed significant increases in both traffic and feed subscribers. If you want to promote your business to thousands of visitors who understand digital marketing, you’ve come to the right place. Sign up and start receiving qualified leads right now. Your ad will be visible on every unique page on our blog.
As many industry folks head to the city of sin, Las Vegas to attend the Pubcon event, we thought we would put together a list of must attend sessions for first timers. While something can be learned from each and every session, the sessions of particular interest include:
Kickoff Keynote Address by Craig Newmark
Social Marketing 101 - The Playing Field
This panel is an introduction about getting up to speed with the major social marketing sites. This panel of SMO promotion experts will take you from newbie to advanced in short order. Do your homework before you hit this session though. Study the basics of Reddit, Netscape, Delicious, Digg, Facebook, and LinkedIn.
Moderator: Joe Laratro Speakers: Rand Fishkin, CEO, SEOMoz Neil Patel, CTO, Advantage Consulting Services, Inc. Michael Gray, President, Atlas Web Service Cameron Olthuis, CEO, Factive Media
PPC Marketing 101
A bottom up look at pay-per-click advertising on today's major platforms. This is a mid-intro to medium skill level session.
Moderator: Christine Churchill Speakers: Christine Churchill, President, KeyRelevance TJ Kelly, , Looksmart Mona Elesseily, Director of Marketing Strategy, Page Zero Media Andrew Beckman, President, SearchAdNetwork
Reputation Monitoring and Management
If you are not talking with your customer base your customer base will be talking about you. This session will look at ways to monitor, manage, and influence your reputation within the blogosphere and press.
Moderator: Todd Friesen Speakers: Geoff Livingston, CEO, Author of "Now is Gone", Livingston Communications Cameron Olthuis, CEO, Factive Media Andy Beal, Internet Marketing Consultant, Marketing Pilgrim LLC Ted Murphy, Founder / CEO, IZEA
Universal and Personal Search - This Changes Everything
The 10 little blue link SERP ain't what she used to be. Today's SERP is more complex than ever. This session will examine today's SERP with it's images, media, stock quotes, weather, and other entities. How does this radically change SEO?
Moderator: Jake Baillie Speakers: Gordon Hotchkiss, President, Enquiro Search Solutions Bill Slawski, Director of Internet Marketing, KeyRelevance Greg Boser, President, WebGuerrilla LLC
Link Baiting - 96 Different Strategies
Link baiting is a topic that makes some people snicker when they hear it. However, the complexities and subtleties are fascinating. Did you know that there are 12 types of links? Moreover, there are eight types of link bait to get those 12 types of links? That means there are 96 different strategies to get links. This session will look at the eight and the 12.
Moderator: Jake Baillie Speakers: Todd Malicoat, Independent Marketing Consultant, Meta4creations, LLC Andy Hagans, Strategiest, Text-Link-Ads Bill Hartzer, Search Engine Optimization Manager, Marketnet, Inc.
Analytics, Tracking Performance - Beyond the Page View
From simple page view measuring to conversion tracking, this session will look at the process to see what your site is really producing and how. This session features two top-notch vendors and two top-notch consultants, which should make for an intriguing mix.
Moderator: Joe Laratro Speakers: Steve O'Brien, Vice President, Internet Solutions Marketing, Unica Corporation John Marshall, CTO, Founder, Market Motive Scott Orth, Director of Internet Marketing Strategies, GTS Services
SEO Design and Organic Site Structure
Site design is critical for quality indexing and rankings. There are pit falls that are not apparent. This session will take a top down approach to designing a modern website.
Moderator: Todd Friesen Speakers: Mark Jackson, President / CEO, VIZION Interactive, Inc. Lyndsay Walker, Web Analytics Coordinator / SEO Specialist, WestJet / Lyndseo Paul Bruemmer, Director Search Marketing, Red Door Interactive Alan K'necht, Founder & President, K'nechtology Inc.
Special Event - Google Reception with the Google Engineers
Mix and mingle with the brains behind the search engine. This is your chance to pick the brains of the top Google engineers. A variety of Google engineers will be available to answer questions and chat in this fun and informal setting. Got a nagging question about your site? Want to learn more about a particular Google advertising program? Think you have a brain-teaser that even a Google engineer won’t be able to solve? Come to the Google Reception and hang out with the engineers.
Keynote Coffee Chat With Matt Cutts of Google On the Hot Seat
Bring a pile of questions with you. This is a pure question and answer session with the master Google company guy, Matt Cutts.
Moderator: Brett Tabke Speakers: Matt Cutts, Software Engineer, Google Inc.
Video Search Engine Listings and Optimization
Optimizing for video, universal, and pod casting engines is vastly different than a stock text based engine. From embedded meta data to optical character recognition you have to learn a new set of techniques.
Moderator: Robin Liss Speakers: John Coronella, Internet Marketing Consultant, OnlineMarketer Brett Tabke, CEO, WebmasterWorld.com Gregory Markel, owner, Infusecreative
Competitive Intelligence
When evaluating and planning your own direction, knowing your sector's finer points is mission critical. It's difficult to look at your competitors without leaving tracks. It can be a challenge, but is extremely important to manage your own reputation. This panel will look at a number of issues surrounding competitive intelligence being probed by the competition and probing the competition yourself.
Moderator: Jake Baillie Speakers: Jake Baillie, Managing Director, STN Labs Andy Beal, Internet Marketing Consultant, Marketing Pilgrim LLC Larry Mersman, Vice President, Trellian
Wow there are some great sessions. What was I thinking when I decided not to attend? Well for all attending enjoy!
I was just checking some news about my favorite search engine ASK. As I was reading through the data I was amazed at the diversity of their parent company InterActiveCorp (IACI). The company operates diversified businesses in sectors being transformed by the Internet, online and offline. Barry Diller the CEO has been pretty successful since 1995. I mean it's not a fluke that IAC owns and operates more than 60 global brands such that include:
IAC Property
URL
Description
Ask.com
Ask.com
A leading search engine on the Web, Ask.com combines world-class search technology with one-of-a-kind search tools to help people get what they are looking for faster.
Chemistry.com
Chemistry.com
the first relationship site to recognize that chemistry is essential to an enduring, romantic relationship.
Citysearch
Citysearch
Citysearch is a leading local search service, providing the most up-to-date information to over eight million people a month on businesses, from restaurants and retail, to travel and professional services.
CollegeHumor
CollegeHumor
leading entertainment website appealing to a core audience of young males. The site delivers daily comedic content, including videos, pictures, articles and jokes, both created by the CollegeHumor staff and submitted by users
Domania
Domania
Domania provides innovative customer acquisition and retention products to banks, mortgage lenders and realtors
Evite
Evite
free social planning site featuring invitations, social networking, local information and event listing.
GetSmart
GetSmart
a leading financial services marketplace that offers borrowers access to a range of home loan products from a network of more than 250 lenders.
Gifts.com
Gifts.com
gift shopping website, offering consumers a suite of interactive, personalized services that enable them to be better, more organized gift givers.
HSN
HSN
originator of the electronic retailing concept in 1977, HSN is a global multichannel-retailing giant offering thousands of products to enhance all aspects of its customers’ lives.
LendingTree
LendingTree
LendingTree provides access to mortgages and refinance loans, home equity loans/lines of credit, auto loans, personal loans, and credit cards.
Match.com
Match.com
Match.com has redefined the way people meet and fall in love and is credited with more marriages than any other site. Today, more than 15 million people around the world participate in the Match.com community.
Pronto.com
Pronto.com
comprehensive comparison-shopping engine. Pronto.com’s proprietary hosted search index contains more than 60 million products from over 60 thousand online merchants.
RealEstate.com
RealEstate.com
Offering consumers a better way to buy or sell a home through a comprehensive suite of real estate services, tools and content as they progress through their home buying or selling process.
ServiceMagic
ServiceMagic
leading online marketplace connecting homeowners with prescreened and customer-rated home service professionals.
Shoebuy.com
Shoebuy.com
one of the largest retailers on the Internet focused on all categories of footwear and related apparel.
Ticketmaster
Ticketmaster.com
the world's leading ticketing company, operating in 20 global markets, providing ticket sales, ticket resale services, as well as marketing and distribution.
udate.com
udate.com
designed for people seeking fun and friendship online, as well as for those returning to the dating scene after the end of a previous relationship.
It's time for a little retro-post. We are quickly coming upon the three year anniversary of Enquiro's discovery of Google's Golden Triangle a.k.a the Golden Triangle of Search. Yes, Google's Golden Triangle was discovered about three years ago by Enquiro during one of our earliest eye tracking research studies back in 2004/2005.
For those not familiar with the Golden Triangle as it pertains to search, the Golden Triangle is a distinct area of intense eye scan activity that is shown in the top left section of a search engine results page.
We have released a couple of eye tracking whitepapers that discuss the Golden Triangle intimately as it pertains to Google, Yahoo and MSN. We believe it’s very important for marketers to understand the nuances of perceived relevance as it can play an important role in the day-to-day decisions being made so we took the data and boiled it down into some real life strategies for the marketer to boost the performance of your campaigns.
Wow three years already, time flies when you're having fun.
Just a reminder that SEMPO is looking to hear from you. That's right you. SEMPO is encouraging you to participate in SEMPO's 4th annual market survey, which is recognized as a leading industry study. This survey is open to everyone.
The purpose of the State of the Market survey is help show where the Search industry is, how it has grown, how it is expected to grow, and trends for the future. This is a great opportunity to share your thoughts on SEO and paid search.
Why should you take the survey?
Taking the survey will actually stimulate you to think about the resources you devote to SEO and paid search - which is a valuable exercise in itself.
First dibs - you will receive the preliminary survey results before they are released to SEMPO's membership.
Support the SEM industry - this survey is highly regarded as a valuable resource for the industry.
Click here to participate and for further information. Click here to complete the survey now.
There's a great post over at TechCrunch on the rankings of social media sites comparing October 2007 with October 2006. You'll notice the huge jump by Facebook which was made available to the general public in May of this year. There are some interesting sites that have experienced explosive growth over the past year.
Here's something that caught my eye. eMarketer projects that online advertising spending will pass C$3.0 billion (US$2.44 billion) by 2011—roughly tripling its value in 2006. We all know that Canada is one of the leading countries in terms of online savvy and Internet usage. Yet as Gord Hotchkiss pointed out a few months back, Come on Canada, It’s Time to Clue into Search! advertisers have been slow to come around to the benefit of SEO, Search and online advertising.
Well it looks like that is starting to change.
Image courtesy of www.emarketer.com
In fact for $695, you can purchase a 21 page report on Canada Online Advertising. Would anyone from emarketer.com care to send me a copy gratis so that I may review the findings?
It's been a while since we posted anything on widget marketing. But then we came across this great article from USA Today.com. The article begins by discussing the success that iLike has had by using widgets. Try this on for size:
In May, iLike had 3 million registered users of its music website. After its widget became available on Facebook, it ballooned to more than 10 million users on Facebook, 15 million overall. And iLike is now growing to the tune of 3 million users per month. I'd say that is a pretty successful use of widgets.
Widgets are simply pieces of embeddable code that can be found on one site, and embedded in another that can be used to promote your own site or blog. They can be things like a slideshow, calculator, or any other mini-application that users can add to their website or blog. Widgets have become popular with users of online communities as a result the business of marketing via widgets is a great way for site owners (including B2B sites) to promote their content and business. Marketers are using widgets to advertise their products and services. Earlier this month, MySpace and Facebook expanded their services for targeted ads, including widgets designed by marketers. When you think about it a widget could be anything. Check out Google Gadgets for some examples. According to reports, "As the popularity of widgets grows, so does their potential as a source of revenue. Ads on social networks are expected to haul in $1.2 billion worldwide this year and $1.9 billion in 2008, says researcher eMarketer."
According to the report from USA Today, Social networks have taken note of widget popularity:
• On Nov. 1, Google (GOOG) created a consortium of social-networking sites, including LinkedIn and Friendster, that could expand their ability to advertise. Google won't try to make money from the OpenSocial network right away but hasn't ruled out the possibility of eventually inserting ads into the applications.
• On Nov. 5, MySpace — the largest social network, with 110 million users — expanded its program for letting marketers tailor their pitches using personal details on users' profile pages. Many of those details were gleaned from widgets used by its members. More than 50 marketers have signed up, including Procter & Gamble and Taco Bell.
• On Nov. 6, Facebook unfurled new advertising initiatives. Marketers will be able to create their own profile pages. They'll also be able to target Facebook members with ads based on the details it collects about community members' likes and dislikes. That information could allow Facebook to sell ads that are potentially more effective and possibly more lucrative to the website. Coca-Cola and Blockbuster were among several dozen marketers who signed on.
It's true that there is no limit what marketers and developers can use widgets to do. If I were you, I'd be jumping on the bandwagon pretty soon.
I don't know about you, but when I think about innovation, I think about Google. Google (GOOG) is the world's leading search engine... maybe not in all markets, but in most, Google is the search engine of choice.
But what is most exciting about Google is their desire to make the world a better place. In just over nine years, Google has made a definite impact on how the world advertises their products and services online. For better or worse Google has redefined advertising models. They have become wealthy with their AdWords and AdSense programs. They have taken products, acquired organizations and their products and released them to the public for free consumption (think of Google services such as Google Analytics, Google Docs and Gmail just to name a few). The common theme here is the innovation and creativity that goes into these product and service releases. Google always has a plan.
So it was no surprise as Google announced that they are going to be investing in alternative energy. According to Reuters,
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Google Inc said on Tuesday the Web services and online advertising group plans to spend hundreds of millions of dollars to help drive the cost of electricity derived from renewable energy below coal prices.
The project, dubbed Renewable Energy Cheaper Than Coal, is hiring dozens of engineers and targeting investment financing at advanced solar thermal power, wind power, enhanced geothermal systems and other new technologies, Google said.
Google plans to be one of the project's first customers, employing the power to run its massive computer data centers while selling back excess energy to the electricity grid.
The goal of the project is to help drive down the cost of electricity made from renewable energy. According to Google co-founder Larry Page, "We see a plausible path to much lower energy costs and we just want to get people working on that now...". Google just doesn't think like other organizations do. It's not just about making money and improving share price. It's about changing the world and making a difference. Google is the sixth largest company in the US based on market value. You don't earn that distinction in less 10 years by not being innovative.
According to the report from Reuters, Google's investment in this renewable energy push "comes as oil prices near $100 a barrel and coal, which generates 40 percent of the world's electricity, faces regulatory and environmental pressures that may boost prices.
"If they can do it cheaper than coal, then that's the Holy Grail," said Mark Manley, alternative fuels analyst at Natixis Bleichroeder. "If they figure it out, it will take off."
If anyone can accomplish this, Google just may be able to. They have the resources, the creativity and the courage to attempt this feat. Of course there will be no shortage of nay-sayers, as many analysts will report on Google not being able to make a dent in the energy market. The difference between these nay-sayers is that they're writing about it, Google is actually doing something about it. That in itself is pretty impressive.
As Facebook popularity continues to soar, marketers are looking for ways to leverage the social network as a viral promotional tool to market their products. Of course there are going to be success stories and some not so successful stories. Case in point, Molson Breweries recent promotion they ran on Facebook.
The promotion in which they dubbed the The Molson Canadian Nation Campus Challenge focused on the theme of “Be the #1 party school in Canada”. Why was this an unsuccessful promotion for Molson? Well in response to growing criticism from universities and parents, Molson has pulled this controversial photo contest on Facebook. This is a great example of the challenges that companies face in trying to pitch their products on new social media.
According to a story in the Globe and Mail,
Molson's online marketing campaign, in which students were encouraged to post pictures of themselves partying on campus, was “misinterpreted” as promoting irresponsible drinking, said Ferg Devins, a vice-president at Molson Coors Brewing Co.
After a Globe and Mail article ran Friday, the brewer decided to end the contest one week early, he said.
“The whole realm of social media – there's lots to learn,” he said. “It's really a new area. We're probably groundbreaking and leading in a lot of things we've been doing.”
Social networks tend to be frequented by users with like interests and hobbies. As a result these online communities tend to have a lot of trust between members. It may be a matter of time before users of these social communities stop being as trusting due to the participation of advertisers and marketers in the same environment. People are sick of having products pushed at them all of the time. They create these social networks to vent and rant about their experience with marketers and businesses and their satisfaction or (lack-there-of).
They're calling it Cyber Monday. CNN had an interesting article on the fact that online retailers may log record sales today. Comparing the success of "Black Friday" for bricks and mortar retailers, the online retailers are preparing for Cyber Monday where it is expected that 72 million shoppers will go online looking for post-Thanksgiving discounts. According to the CNN report, one-day sales are expected to exceed $700 million.
Would someone care to tell me what people are spending this money on? A number of reports suggest that the economy in the US is not as strong as it should be, yet online shoppers are going to spend a record amount of money. We sure are living in a material world. The CNN report goes on to state:
With plenty of online discounts to bag this year, online sellers are projected to have a record-breaking sales day on Monday.
ComScore Networks estimates that Cyber Monday sales will surpass $700 million to make it the heaviest online spending day on record.
"Online retailers will certainly be paying close attention to what happens on Cyber Monday, which will provide an even clearer indication of what lies ahead for the rest of the season," ComScore Chairman Gian Fulgoni said in a statement.
"While [the $700 million in sales] would make it the heaviest online shopping day on record, we can expect to see even stronger days ahead as the 2007 shopping season progresses into December," he said.
The most sought-after deals today are on video games like the Halo 3 and gaming systems like Nintendo'sWii and Sony's PlayStation 3. Industry experts said price-conscious shoppers this year will also surf the Internet for sales on furniture, home appliances, electronics and clothing.
Is it simply because of the discount or is it just because people like spending money that they just don't have? I would like to know how much of this $700 million the credit card companies will be receiving?
As we mentioned the other day, ComScore released the latest search engine market share numbers based on activity in the US. To no one's surprise Google gained market share while the other big four engines remained constant. So while Google is still the dominant force in the search engine market are they the dominant search product when it comes to search results? The answer? It depends. It truly depends on the type of search that you do, your intent when you perform your search, what type of search that you do (research, purchase intent, vanity search, fun search etc.)
So we polled a few search users to see what their engine of preference was based on the type of search. The goal was to see which search engine results they favored (based on Search Engine). The options were: Google, Yahoo, Windows Live, and ASK. Here's what we found:
Product Search (General)
This involved searching for things such as a digital camera or mobile phone. The top engines in order of favorite where:
Yahoo
ASK
Google
Windows Live
A bit of a surprise here with Google finishing third. Yahoo's shopping results, product reviews and the like seemed to be an attraction to those polled.
Product Search (Specific)
This involved searching for a branded product of interest... a Toyota Tacoma, an Apple iPhone etc. Compare a search in the four engines for the query "Apple iPhone".
ASK
Windows Live
Yahoo
Google
ASK's results included images, latest news, shopping comparisons, and additional search options. Google in contrast presented a Universal Search results page that included news stories. Entertainment Search
This involves searching for information on bands, tour dates, movie releases etc. While the test that we did was not an official research project, we simply asked some friends to perform specific queries in the various search engines and comment on which results they felt were the most relevant. This was an interesting category as ASK was the clear favorite.
ASK
Google
Yahoo
Windows Live
Famous Person Search
This involved searching for an athlete, actor or musician.
ASK
Google
Yahoo
Windows Live
Geographic Search
This involved searching for a destination, specifically a city.
ASK
Google
Yahoo
Windows Live
Try a search for "Seattle" and see which engine you prefer. Of those polled, many did not like the fact that Google was displaying Wikipedia listings so high in the results.
Information Search (General)
This involved searching on a general topic of interest such as a things to do in Seattle, apple pie recipes etc.
Google
Yahoo
ASK
Windows Live
Our "test group" found that for a general information search Google still has the most relevant results.
The study although not anything official provided some interesting insight as to what some people think of the search engine results. Of surprise was the fact that ASK topped a number of the categories. Not surprising for me personally as I love ASK results (depending on the type of query I perform.) It will be interesting to see how users react to the changes made to the results pages in the future. ASK had a great year in 2007, maybe they will be able to lure more users away from Google. Windows Live needs work, although they have began to focus more on their search product.
If we look to where the results were five years ago and to where they are in 2007, all of the engines have improved the relevancy of the results. This can only get better for the user. Our fun little poll is not meant to change your use of your search engine of choice, but it does point out that depending on the type of query you perform, Google may not always be the best search engine to use. Again it gets back to the query that you use, you intent, your past experience an a plethora of other factors that come into play.
As our friends to the south celebrate ThanksGiving and watch football, fans in Canada are getting ready for the football event of the year, the 2007 Grey Cup. The Canadian Football League's version of the SuperBowl is set to take place this Sunday in Toronto. The 95th Annual Grey Cup will be presented to either the Saskatchewan Roughriders or the Winnipeg Blue Bombers. This is very exciting for me as I am a long-time Rider fan. When I was looking for information about this year's Grey Cup, I went to my favorite search engine ASK and found some of the latest news about this year's event.
The game is sold out and unlike many of the SuperBowl's that take place should be an exciting game. Lenny Kravitz is the half-time entertainment which should be great. Unfortunately for Winnipeg fans their starting quarterback broke his arm and is out for the Championship game. It was funny watching a Thanksgiving repeat of David Letterman yesterday where he has Canadian Eugene Levy on as a guest. Levy was hilarious as they were making fun of the Canadian Football League because it only had eight teams and two of them (at the time of this taping) were named "Roughriders (as were both Saskatchewan's and Ottawa's teams at the time). Well make fun of the CFL all you want, the product on the field (with the exception of the officiating at times) is a very entertaining product. More so than the SuperBowl.
Here's a look at past Grey Cup Champions:
Year
Winner
Loser
Score
1909
University of Toronto
Toronto Parkdale
26-6
1910
University of Toronto
Hamilton Tigers
16-7
1911
University of Toronto
Toronto Argonauts
14-7
1912
Hamilton Alerts
Toronto Argonauts
11-4
1913
Hamilton Tigers
Toronto Parkdale
44-2
1914
Toronto Argonauts
University of Toronto
14-2
1915
Hamilton Tigers
Toronto Rowing
13-7
1916
No game held (World War I)
1917
No game held (World War I)
1918
No game held (World War I)
1919
No game held (World War I)
1920
University of Toronto
Toronto Argonauts
16-3
1921
Toronto Argonauts
Edmonton Eskimos
23-0
1922
Queen's University
Edmonton Elks
13-1
1923
Queen's University
Regina Roughriders
54-0
1924
Queen's University
Toronto Balmy Beach
11-3
1925
Ottawa Senators
Winnipeg Tigers
24-1
1926
Ottawa Senators
University of Toronto
10-7
1927
Toronto Balmy Beach
Hamilton Tigers
9-6
1928
Hamilton Tigers
Regina Roughriders
30-0
1929
Hamilton Tigers
Regina Roughriders
14-3
1930
Toronto Balmy Beach
Regina Roughriders
11-6
1931
Montréal AAA
Regina Roughriders
22-0
1932
Hamilton Tigers
Regina Roughriders
25-6
1933
Toronto Argonauts
Sarnia Imperials
4-3
1934
Sarnia Imperials
Regina Roughriders
20-12
1935
Winnipeg Winnipegs
Hamilton Tigers
18-12
1936
Sarnia Imperials
Ottawa Rough Riders
26-20
1937
Toronto Argonauts
Winnipeg Blue Bombers
4-3
1938
Toronto Argonauts
Winnipeg Blue Bombers
30-7
1939
Winnipeg Blue Bombers
Ottawa Rough Riders
8-7
1940*
Ottawa Rough Riders
Toronto Balmy Beach
8-2
1940*
Ottawa Rough Riders
Toronto Balmy Beach
12-5
1941
Winnipeg Blue Bombers
Ottawa Rough Riders
18-16
1942
Toronto RCAF
Winnipeg RCAF
8-5
1943
Hamilton Wildcats
Winnipeg RCAF
23-14
1944
Sainte-Hyacinthe and Donnacona Navy
Hamilton Wildcats
7-6
1945
Toronto Argonauts
Winnipeg Blue Bombers
35-0
1946
Toronto Argonauts
Winnipeg Blue Bombers
28-6
1947
Toronto Argonauts
Winnipeg Blue Bombers
10-9
1948
Calgary Stampeders
Ottawa Rough Riders
12-7
1949
Montréal Alouettes
Calgary Stampeders
28-15
1950
Toronto Argonauts
Winnipeg Blue Bombers
13-0
1951
Ottawa Rough Riders
Saskatchewan Roughriders
21-14
1952
Toronto Argonauts
Edmonton Eskimos
21-11
1953
Hamilton Tiger-Cats
Winnipeg Blue Bombers
12-6
1954
Edmonton Eskimos
Montréal Alouettes
26-25
1955
Edmonton Eskimos
Montréal Alouettes
34-19
1956
Edmonton Eskimos
Montréal Alouettes
50-27
1957
Hamilton Tiger-Cats
Winnipeg Blue Bombers
32-7
1958
Winnipeg Blue Bombers
Hamilton Tiger-Cats
35-28
1959
Winnipeg Blue Bombers
Hamilton Tiger-Cats
21-7
1960
Ottawa Rough Riders
Edmonton Eskimos
16-6
1961
Winnipeg Blue Bombers
Hamilton Tiger-Cats
21-14
1962
Winnipeg Blue Bombers
Hamilton Tiger-Cats
28-27
1963
Hamilton Tiger-Cats
British Columbia Lions
21-10
1964
British Columbia Lions
Hamilton Tiger-Cats
34-24
1965
Hamilton Tiger-Cats
Winnipeg Blue Bombers
22-16
1966
Saskatchewan Roughriders
Ottawa Rough Riders
29-14
1967
Hamilton Tiger-Cats
Saskatchewan Roughriders
24-1
1968
Ottawa Rough Riders
Calgary Stampeders
24-21
1969
Ottawa Rough Riders
Saskatchewan Roughriders
29-11
1970
Montréal Alouettes
Calgary Stampeders
23-10
1971
Calgary Stampeders
Toronto Argonauts
14-11
1972
Hamilton Tiger-Cats
Saskatchewan Roughriders
13-10
1973
Ottawa Rough Riders
Edmonton Eskimos
22-18
1974
Montréal Alouettes
Edmonton Eskimos
20-7
1975
Edmonton Eskimos
Montréal Alouettes
9-8
1976
Ottawa Rough Riders
Saskatchewan Roughriders
23-20
1977
Montréal Alouettes
Edmonton Eskimos
41-6
1978
Edmonton Eskimos
Montréal Alouettes
20-13
1979
Edmonton Eskimos
Montréal Alouettes
17-9
1980
Edmonton Eskimos
Hamilton Tiger-Cats
48-10
1981
Edmonton Eskimos
Ottawa Rough Riders
26-23
1982
Edmonton Eskimos
Toronto Argonauts
32-16
1983
Toronto Argonauts
British Columbia Lions
18-17
1984
Winnipeg Blue Bombers
Hamilton Tiger-Cats
47-17
1985
British Columbia Lions
Hamilton Tiger-Cats
37-24
1986
Hamilton Tiger-Cats
Edmonton Eskimos
39-15
1987
Edmonton Eskimos
Toronto Argonauts
38-36
1988
Winnipeg Blue Bombers
British Columbia Lions
22-21
1989
Saskatchewan Roughriders
Hamilton Tiger-Cats
43-40
1990
Winnipeg Blue Bombers
Edmonton Eskimos
50-11
1991
Toronto Argonauts
Calgary Stampeders
36-21
1992
Calgary Stampeders
Winnipeg Blue Bombers
24-10
1993
Edmonton Eskimos
Winnipeg Blue Bombers
33-23
1994
British Columbia Lions
Baltimore CFLers
26-23
1995
Baltimore Stallions
Calgary Stampeders
37-20
1996
Toronto Argonauts
Edmonton Eskimos
43-37
1997
Toronto Argonauts
Saskatchewan Roughriders
47-23
1998
Calgary Stampeders
Hamilton Tiger-Cats
26-24
1999
Hamilton Tiger-Cats
Calgary Stampeders
32-21
2000
British Columbia Lions
Montréal Alouettes
28-26
2001
Calgary Stampeders
Winnipeg Blue Bombers
27-19
2002
Montréal Alouettes
Edmonton Eskimos
25-16
2003
Edmonton Eskimos
Montréal Alouettes
34-22
2004
Toronto Argonauts
British Columbia Lions
27-19
2005
Edmonton Eskimos
Montréal Alouettes
38-35
2006
British Columbia Lions
Montréal Alouettes
25-14
Saskatchewan has only won the Grey Cup twice so it is pretty exciting that they are 11 point favorites to win this year. The great thing is that in the CFL you can never count anybody out. Good luck to the Winnipeg Blue Bombers and the Saskatchewan Roughriders. I will leave you with this little poem entitled "Twas the Night Before Grey Cup" (Thanks Krista...)
Twas the night before Grey Cup, and all through the Dome,
Not a creature was stirring, but the gophers back home.
The players were nestled and snug in their beds,
While visions of Grey Cup Rings danced in their heads.
When out on the field, there arose such a clatter,
Kent sprang from his bed to see what was the matter,
Away to his window, he flew like a flash,
Threw aside the Green Curtains, and Silky White Sash.
And what did he see with his wondering eye?
But a sea of Green Revelers and a furry brown guy.
“That looks like Dominguez, and Flick and Fantuz!”
“Its way after curfew! Do they want us to lose??”
So, out of his room and down to the field,
Coach Austin stormed out with a fury to wield.
As he went through the tunnel, the ground shook with a beat,
From the dancing and prancing of ten thousand feet.
“Hey Coach,” cried a voice, “Whatcha doing down here?”
It was Szarka and Schultz, and they were handing out beer!
Chucky and Chick were grilling up Dogs,
With Burgers being served by O’Day and the Hogs.
Crandall cooked Hot Wings, Joseph grilled steak,
While Cates, Holmes, and Hughes helped Makowsky serve cake.
“This is nuts!” Austin shouted, “It’s one-thirty AM!”
“I expected some revelry, but this is mayhem!”
Eric Tillman tapped Austin, “ You’re not Eagle Keys -”
“But I’m not Berry, or Gotta, or Gregory – so PLEASE!”
“You’re all waddling around here like Wascana geese!”
“And in need of a dance coach like Donald Narcisse.”
“Now, you’ve all had your fun, so back to your rooms.”
But then Austin’s nose picked up the barbecue fumes.
Then Green Is The Color rang out through the air,
As Congi and Boreham played Banjos with flair.
On Davis, on Johnson, on Coach Ritchie Hall,
Even old Alex Smith flashed a smile after all,
On Lloyd, on McCullough, on Hunt and on Perry,
On Kornegay, Frazier, and yes, even Kerry.
The skydome then filled with a soft greenish glow,
And the whole Rider Nation set poised for a show.
An S and a wheat sheaf then formed in the air,
And a smile took the place of Coach Kent Austin’s glare.
Then everyone there, the players, the fans,
They formed a big circle by all holding hands,
Then right in the centre appeared the Grey Cup,
Which Fairholm and Ridway and Elgaard picked up.
They handed it over to Ritchie and Kent,
Who called Kerry and Eddie, and off the Cup went.
It was passed round the field, past heroes to present,
While Gainer dug holes for the Blue Bomber Pheasants.
That music was heard coast to coast people say
And they say Rider Pride grew three sizes that day.
Everyone left there dreaming of Blue Bomber doom.
And they sent all the Banjos to Troy Westwood’s Room.
GO RIDERS GO!
Editor's note: The reference to Troy Westwood and Banjos are result of comments he made a while back. As noted in Wikipedia
He is arguably most known for his tongue-in-cheek insult of the rival Saskatchewan Roughriders' fans by calling them "banjo-pickin' inbreds." He later followed that up with a faux apology saying he didn't think anyone in Saskatchewan was actually capable of playing a banjo. These quotes inspired the Banjo Bowl.
Westwood is also known for his Mullet which he has vowed not to cut until he wins the Grey Cup.
Twitter
Facebook
LinkedIn
The game is sold out and unlike many of the SuperBowl's that take place should be an exciting game. Lenny Kravitz is the half-time entertainment which should be great. Unfortunately for Winnipeg fans their starting quarterback broke his arm and is out for the Championship game. It was funny watching a Thanksgiving repeat of David Letterman yesterday where he has Canadian Eugene Levy on as a guest. Levy was hilarious as they were making fun of the
Canadian Football League because it only had eight teams and two of them (at the time of this taping) were named "Roughriders (as were both Saskatchewan's and Ottawa's teams at the time). Well make fun of the CFL all you want, the product on the field (with the exception of the officiating at times) is a very entertaining product. More so than the SuperBowl.
