Ottawa Hosts The Tournament Of Champions

Men's Tier two: Seeing Red

With four teams dropping from tier one, the quarter final competition stiffens up. The first battle pits legend vs. legend. Barry Hutton and his Hamilton Eh! Team vs. Ed Laverty and his Ottawa Silver Bullets. The chess board is in place as these qb's begin to move their pieces. As expected, a shoot out ensues. Despite a valiant effort, the Eh! Team's 8 man roster runs out of gas as Laverty mates Hutton in the fourth. Bullets 39, Eh! Team 30. Next up, the fallen Edmonton Raiders get set for their war with the Hamilton Red Eyes. Despite losing their quarterback to injury, Edmonton puts up a respectable 14 points in a hard fought battle. It's not enough, however, as Hamilton pumps in 33 of their own to advance forward. A surprise tier dropper, the Burlington Piranhas ready themselves for Ottawa's Vikings. With a rubber armed/injured quarterback, (play for less teams next year Hayes!!) the Piranhas are upset by the controversial Vikings. Two well traveled teams take the stage next. The Winnipeg Eagles vs. The Moncton Bulldogs. In this one, the Eagles tamed the Bulldogs 26 to 20.

Monday morning brought us clearer sky's and semi finals. The Eagles and Bullets took to the stage. This back and forth effort resulted in the Bullets grounding the Eagles with a 27 to 24 victory. The Red Eyes carried their strong play to the Vikings, giving them a 27 to 6 humbling.

On to the turf and on to the Finals. 59 year old pivot Ed Laverty and defensive specialist, and out right legend, Bryan Hughes, prepared their Silver Bullet crew for battle. Hungry for victory and seemingly always hungry for blood, the ever aggressive Hamilton Red Eyes stormed the field. Long drives, big plays and big hits, are among the many facets that made this game the only exciting final on the turf. Though it was a fairly even contest throughout, the Hamilton Red Eyed ended up making the fewer mistakes as they captured gold, winning the Men's tier two National Championship 35 to 22. Congratulations gentlemen and get well soon…………

Click here for men's tier two "BB" results

Hamilton Red Eyes, 2002 Mens National Champions

Ottawa Silver Bullets, Men's 2002 National Finalists