The Eastern and Western Conferences, which had carried on as separate and autonomous entities since the founding of the CFL in 1958, agreed to a full merger prior to the start of the 1981 season.  With the merger, the Eastern and Western Football Conferences were dissolved and renamed as the East and West Divisions.  The merger authorizes the CFL to have full authority over decisions, including the adoption of a full interlocking schedule for both divisions. Teams played each other twice, once home and once away, regardless of division. Other than during the CFL's U.S. expansion era of the mid-1990's, the Legaue's teams have played at least one game home and one away versus every other team in the League since the 1981 season.  On the field, The East was so weak this season that the Calgary Stampeders, despite being the West's fifth place team, finished with a better record than the second place Ottawa Rough Riders. Ottawa nevertheless upset the Hamilton Tiger-Cats and qualified for the Grey Cup despite winning only five games in the regular season finishing seventh overall.  The ensuing controversy over having a 5-11 team playing in the Grey Cup played a large part in eventually persuading the league to implement a cross-over rule permitting a fourth place team in one division to qualify for the playoffs in place of a third place team in the other division with a weaker record.  As a result of the existing rules, the Montreal Alouettes made the playoffs with a 3-13 record, while the 9-7 Saskatchewan Roughriders failed to make the playoffs due to a fourth place finish.  In the first round of the playoffs, Ottawa took care of Montreal 20-16, while the BC Lions beat the Winnipeg Blue Bombers 15-11.  In the Division Finals, the Ottawa Rough Riders upset the heavily favored Hamilton Tiger-Cats 17-13, while the Edmonton Eskimos took care of the BC Lions, setting up the match-ups for the 69th Grey Cup.  The 69th Grey Cup was played on November 22, 1981, at the Olympic Stadium in Montreal, Quebec in front of 52,487 fans.  The Eskimos (14-1-1) defeated the Rough Riders 26-23, in a closely matched thriller despite being a 22.5 point favorite going into the game.  Ottawa unexpectedly built up a lead of 20 to 1 at halftime on touchdowns by Jim Reid and Sam Platt and two Gerry Organ field goals.  Edmonton would fight back in the second half with two touchdown runs by quarterback Warren Moon, and one by running back Jim Germany.  The most controversial play in this closely fought game came in the last 4 minutes. Ottawa tight end Tony Gabriel, playing with torn knee ligaments, caught a vital 20-yard pass while Eskimo defender Gary Hayes literally hung off his back. But, completely unexpectedly, the referee called pass interference penalties on both players, wiping out the gain. Gabriel was stunned and argued his case on field. Ottawa soon lost possession of the ball and lost the game. Gabriel, his
knee finally disabling him and denied this last moment of greatness, would not play again.  Dave Cutler kicked the game winning 27-yard field goal with seconds left on the clock.  Future US Congressman J.C. Watts was Ottawa's quarterback. He won the Grey Cup Most Valuable Player (Offensive) award, while Neil Lumsden would take the Most Valuable Canadian.