by GABRIEL MORENCY

Canada's most-watched sporting event takes place this Sunday in the nation's capital and surprisingly enough, it is not the "McCain Skins Curling Challenge," as most of those south of the border would believe.

While most Canadians would not be able to recognize Casey Printers if he rang their doorbell, they will be watching his B.C. Lions take on the Toronto Argonauts in the 92nd edition of the Grey Cup. And it's not just Canadians who will be tuned in, as Sunday's game will be seen and heard in over 176 countries. Not only is the game available in over half of the United States' 108-million television households, it will be heard on the American Forces Network in places such as Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as being seen across Europe on the Sky satellite service.

The CBC could not be any happier to have the country's two largest English markets in the Grey Cup final, as was evident to anyone who heard Chris Cuthbert and Chris Walby's multi-orgasmic call of the Argo-Alouette division final. They almost made Harry Neale and Bob Cole sound neutral. The Toronto Sports Network, otherwise known as TSN, is a private entity and can be excused for their Southern Ontario bias. What's the CBC's excuse?

Shinny for the masses

The McDonald's travelling caravan hits Montreal this Friday night at the Maurice Richard arena. For 20 bucks, you can watch the likes of Roberto Luongo, Simon Gagné, Pierre Turgeon and José Théodore play a contact-free game of shinny. Now, before you smack down a hard-earned vinny to let the clueless, spoiled, out-of-touch anti-cappers who are sucking the life out of an already fragile game know where they can stick their Sher-Woods, remember that every dollar taken in is given to children's charities and that these players are giving back to the community instead of cashing in overseas - unlike nearly 300 of their union brethren.

Game over

The final hurdle in the Expos leaving has been cleared, as the arbitrators ruled against the minority-owners consortium's claim that Jeffrey Loria and Major League Baseball conspired to kill baseball in Montreal. While romantics had hoped that somehow the team could be saved, the local owners were only interested in the money. Maybe they should have taken Loria's $15-million cash settlement offer after all.

Cool sports

With this being the "Winter Sports" edition of the Mirror, we thought that we would offer a couple of suggestions on how you can stay active this winter.

1. Skiing is cool, but snowboarding is cooler. Nothing beats hand-planting the fence rail in front of shocked onlookers as you pull off feats you thought were only imaginable. But if you don't have disability insurance, a safer bet may be EA Sports' SSX 3, where you can conquer larger-than-life mountains on runs that are designed for not only freeriding but racing as well. Imagine the possibilities!

2. The NHL's players are locked out, but nothing is stopping you from lacing up your old Bauers and hitting the rinks. Nothing is more Canadian than playing shinny in -24C weather. In fact, it should be required of all incoming immigrants!

3. If outdoor sports aren't your thing but you want to get off the couch this winter, you can try one of many indoor soccer, basketball or flag-football leagues that are in action across the city. The Catalogna Soccerplexe has leagues available for all ages and levels.

Pigskin Prognosticator

B.C. and Toronto have played twice this year, with each winning by scores of 31-10 and 22-16 on their respective home fields. So there is not a lot to take from the regular season match-ups. Casey Printers or Dave Dickenson will give the Boatmen a tougher test than Montreal's combination of Anthony Calvillo and Ted White did. John Avery picked a good time to come alive, as he only had 34 yards in the Eastern final but clinched the victory with a 25-yard score. Antonio Warren can also make opposing defences pay if they drop eight men back to stop the league's most potent passing game.

With the game being played only hours away from Hogtown, Toronto will have a large contingent on hand hoping to see the Argonauts' first Grey Cup Championship since the Doug Flutie days. They will be excited, but ultimately disappointed. B.C. 27 Toronto 25

Sunday, Nov. 21
Detroit (+7.5) at Minnesota: Detroit
St. Louis (-1.5) at Buffalo: Buffalo
Denver (-4.5) at New Orleans: New Orleans
San Diego (-4.5) at Oakland: Oakland
San Francisco (+8.5) at T.B.: San Francisco
Atlanta (-2.5) at New York: Atlanta
Morency season record: 16-11

Sports Rage with Gabriel Morency is vented weeknights 11 p.m.-2 a.m. on TEAM 990 AM. This column appears bi-weekly. Comments: sportsrage@team990.com