Ottawa looks like a winner

In 1867, the Ottawa Football Club began its long and storied history.

In 1925, the Ottawa Rough Riders won their first Grey Cup championship by a 24-1 margin over Tammany's Tigers of Winnipeg at home in Lansdowne Park. They wouldn't win another one until the only two-game series in Grey Cup history decided it in 1940.

From 1941 to 1949, the Rough Riders won a remarkable forty-five games with only thirteen losses and two ties. However, they won no Grey Cups.

Ottawa had a forgettable stretch during the 1950s, but they came back to win three Grey Cups in four tries in the 1960s. Led by quarterback Russ Jackson, Ottawa would win Grey Cups in 1960, 1968, and in his final game in 1969.

In the 1970s, they won the Grey Cup two more times, once in 1973 and the other the 1976, with a 23-20 victory over Saskatchewan with Tony Gabriel's touchdown catch in the waning moments of the game. It would be affectionately -- or begrudgingly, depending on which league you're a fan of -- known as "The Catch."

After such great success in the 1960s and 1970s, the Rough Riders would go through some lean years during the 1980s, never posting a winning season.

The 1981 season, though, was one most Ottawa fans will never forget. After finishing 5-11 in an injury-plagued regular season, the Rough Riders beat Montreal and upset Hamilton in the East division final. In the Grey Cup final at Montreal's Olympic Stadium, the Rough Riders were on their way to upsetting the juggernaut Edmonton Eskimos, but an Eskimos rally killed Ottawa's Cinderella playoff run.

The 1985 season would be the last playoff appearance for the Rough Riders' franchise. After being bought and sold to a number of owners during the 1990s, the last of which was Chicago millionaire Horn Chen, the Ottawa Football Club ceased operations in 1996.

In 1998, a grassroots effort started by Mickey Green called "Revive the Pride" was organized to try and bring CFL back to Ottawa.

Two years later, Internet entrepreneur Grant White showed interest in bringing a franchise to Ottawa, but backed out last summer, blaming the CFL board of governors for stalling the process.

Ottawa football fans remained optimistic in their bid for a return to football in Canada's national capital, as did the newest CFL commissioner Michael Lysko. The new commish wasn't too happy with the way White handled the fiasco, but nevertheless was optimistic that the CFL would come back to Ottawa.

With the way Montreal is selling tickets for the 2001 Grey Cup, and how the Alouettes' franchise is doing there (Montreal and Ottawa are only two hours apart), he's considered Ottawa as a host of the 2002 Grey Cup championship.

But if Ottawa were to receive a new franchise, they would need an investor, or a group of investors, to shore up cash to start things up.

Enter Brad Watters, part owner of the National Lacrosse League's Ottawa Rebel, Toronto Rock, and expansion Montreal Express.

He and six investors made known their intentions at a meeting in Toronto on Wednesday, and Watters is fully confident that he can bring football back to Ottawa.

There have been questions of an expansion draft, a lease at Frank Clair Stadium (formerly Lansdowne Park), and an exact time frame that the CFL will be back in Ottawa, and it has been made known that all three would not be a problem.

There's also the issue of naming the team: former owner Horn Chen still owns the intellectual rights to the Rough Rider name. Would they be called the Rough Riders again, or would the franchise have to get a new name?

Whatever the case, Ottawa is all but back in the Canadian Football League. All that is needed now is a vote of confidence.