The Yates Cup (2009)

Ladies and Gentlemen, today is the day. We said that they were the teams to beat in the league after their initial match-up in October, and lo and behold he we are again. You may be wondering why we haven't put up our usual prediction for this game. I mean, it's a championship after all, right? Well, my thoughts were this: we all (or most of us at least) watched these two play a month ago. We know how they match-up. We know Brannagan plays for Queen's, and Faulds plays for Western. Everything I could say in a preview for this one is more or less common knowledge, so I want us all to go out there and enjoy what is looking to be one hell of a game. The forecast has cleared up (rain was initially predicted), and from what I understand, it would not be even remotely unreasonable to expect a crowd of 6,000-8,000 which would be fantastic. That being said, I want all of you to head on out to Richardson today, or turn on the score at 1 (take the phone off the hook) and enjoy this great tradition. We'll both be at today's game and will be happy to offer our insights as to what happened. As for a prediction: this is going to be a phenomenal game, and I don't want to ruin it with hypotheticals. But I will give you this:

Players to Watch:
Nathan Riva (Western) - He rushed the ball approximately 50 times last game. How he holds up will have a huge effect on how the game plays out, especially since Mike Faulds' knee looks even more awful each week. If Riva has no problems rushing, then Western has an excellent chance.

T.J. Leeper (Queen's) - At risk of billing this game as a match-up between an MLB and an RB, I will explain. Leeper has been huge all season in all facets of the defence. Today he needs another huge game. Nathan Riva has been fantastic running the ball all season, and he will need to be bottled up to a manageable degree. Second, with Faulds largely immobilized due to his knee, Leeper will need to blitz effectively when he gets the chance, and break up passes when they come his way. If this happens, Queen's has an excellent chance.

There's as much prediction as you're going to get. Now, jot down those notes, and take them to the game with you. The 2009 Yates Cup is going to be a beauty.