Paul McCallum's sterling Grey Cup performance has accomplished two things _ put him in the record books and wiped away the memories of a bitter loss in 2004.
McCallum nailed all six of his field-goal attempts as the B.C. Lions beat the Montreal Alouettes 25-14 Sunday night, earning the Surrey, B.C., native top Canadian player in the game honours.
It also allowed him to tie Don Sweet, Sean Fleming and Paul Osbaldiston for the most field goals in a single Grey Cup game.
``I'm not one for stats like that ... I'm just happy I got a (Grey Cup) ring finally,'' McCallum said.
It's a long way from the 2004 West Division final, when McCallum, playing for the Saskatchewan Roughriders, missed an overtime field goal that allowed the Edmonton Eskimos to win.
Some Saskatchewan fans pelted McCallum's house with eggs, dumped manure in his yard and threatened to burn his home.
A year later, he refused to take a pay cut and was signed by B.C.
``Where I was two years ago,'' he said, ``it was sort of indescribable and this year is the other (end of) the spectrum.''
Lions quarterback Dave Dickenson, who was 18-of-29 passing for 184 yards and ran for 53 more, was named the most valuable player, and seemed to acknowledge he was not an obvious choice.
``I look at the game, and I can't really think of one guy who necessarily played over their head or an outstanding game,'' Dickenson said.
``As a quarterback ... you get too much credit when you do well and you get too much blame when it goes wrong. I guess the only thing you can compare it to is a goalie in hockey.''
Dickenson did not throw for any touchdowns _ B.C.'s only major came on a one-yard run by Ian Smart _ but he ran the ball for a couple of key first downs as he marched the Lions deep into Als territory.
The win gives Dickinson his second Grey Cup ring. His first came in 1998, when he backed up Calgary quarterback Jeff Garcia, and he was described in some circles as the best QB not to have won the big game.
``I don't think I needed that,'' said Dickenson, ``but it was overdue for our organization.''
Dickenson only played in 13 regular season games because of an ankle injury and concussion, completing 238 of 338 pass attempts for 3,032 yards, 22 touchdowns and seven interceptions.
© The Canadian Press, 2007
