Football fans in the capital waited more than 30 years for a home playoff game.
Sunday, thousands got their wish and so much more when the Ottawa Redblacks defeated the Hamilton Tiger-Cats in the East Division final. The win means the Redblacks will make their first appearance at the Grey Cup next week.
The winning touchdown was scored by Redblacks wide receiver Greg Ellingson.
“I just hoped that I can get in front of the defender, go up and high point the ball and after that I just made number 20 a miss, you know he fell down, and it was just off to the races,” said Ellingson.
More than 25,000 fans were at TD Place for the game.
“This is the closest the city has been to a professional sports championship since 2007, when the Sens were in the Stanley Cup finals, and so I think the city is really getting behind it, said Nick Mazany-Wright.
Many others, who could not get tickets, watched from different spots around the Glebe. This included the hill next to the stadium.
“We thought it would be a good idea to camp out. We’ve done it before so thought we would do it again for the big game today,” said Ben Berthiaume.
Others packed into restaurants around Lansdowne to watch the game on the big screen.
“We live in the neighbourhood and we’ve come to see some games during the season, three or four games. We didn’t get tickets to this one so we came down to drink it in,” said Laurie Obbenheimer.
“This whole area is alive. There’s a great vibe everywhere you go and we think it’s just fantastic,” said Eddie Gillis, who was also watching from across the street.
Ottawa will face either the Edmonton Eskimos or Calgary Stampeders in the Grey Cup game next weekend in Winnipeg.
