Diehard Canadian football fans have converged on Vancouver to watch Sunday's highly anticipated Grey Cup final.
The Winnipeg Blue Bombers will hit the B.C. Lions' home turf at 3 p.m. PT in what's expected to be a fierce match-up between the nation's most aggressive footballers.
Not only does the 99th Grey Cup mark the end of the Canadian football season, but this year's game will also be the last for retiring B.C. tailback Jamal Robertson and Winnipeg defensive tackle Doug Brown.
Canadian rockers Nickelback will be on hand to perform at halftime, when they're expected to receive a warmer reception than they did at last week's Detroit Lions-Green Bay Packers game.
Preparation for the Grey Cup hit a snag late Saturday when crews discovered water dripping from the roof of the newly renovated B.C. Place stadium.
Howard Crosley, B.C. Place's general manager, said the leak has been patched and will be double-checked before five-million viewers tune in to watch the big show.
Given that the stadium has just undergone a $563-million renovation, business commentator Tom Mayenknecht said it was crucial for managers to address the leak.
"It's got to be a big concern for them because they do not want this to be a story after the Grey Cup that fans had rain coming on them," he told CTV British Columbia.
With the spectre of the Stanley Cup riots looming large, municipal officials in Vancouver were just as cautious ahead of the game.
There's been a lid placed on outdoor liquor sales and the city hasn't erected any large outdoor video screens like the ones that showed the Vancouver Canucks losing game 7 of the Stanley Cup finals.
Despite the precautions, the Canadian Football League said it's not worried about a possible riot because the demographic of its fan base tends to skew older than hockey's.
There was a time, however, when Grey Cup fans rampaged through the streets of Vancouver, assaulting police officers and smashing windows.
Riots erupted in Vancouver after the Grey Cup both in 1963 and 1966, leading to hundreds of arrests, said Michael Barnholden, the author of "Reading the Riot Act: A Brief History of Riots in Vancouver."
Decades later, Vancouver city officials aren't taking any changes. Security staff will be doing liquor inspections on several sites, including the family fun zone near B.C. Place stadium.
- TSN's "Countdown to Kickoff" starts at 1 p.m. ET (10 a.m. PT) on TSN and TSN Mobile TV.
- Watch the game at 6 p.m. ET (3 p.m. PT) on TSN, TSN Mobile TV and TSN.ca
With a report from CTV British Columbia's Shannon Paterson and files from The Canadian Press
