A gratuitous entry is great, and is expected seeing that the Grey Cup is the most coveted football prize in Canada. But is the ridiculous authoritarian military and police pomp necessary?

The Grey Cup traveled from Hamilton to Toronto (a mere 66 or so km). But to make the short trip, police first drove the trophy to a police helicopter, which flew the cup to a Hamilton airport where it was then passed on to a Canadian Forces chopper, which brought it to Toronto's Island airport, where it was then passed on to a Canadian Navy boat, which brought it to the mainland, where it was taken by an Army convoy to City Hall (run-on sentence intended).

Do Torontonians really need a weapon-laden pep rally? Does associating the long-standing, proud Canadian sporting event with "heroes" and "valour" divert attention from the fact that Canadians soldiers are dying and sending children to be tortured in Afghan prisons; the RCMP are taser-trigger-happy; and the SIU's phones are constantly ringing?

Never mind the cost. It's the over-the-top, muscle-flexing, military nature of it all that irks me. We might as well add some blue to our national flag and be through with it.