I was too tired to write a proper summary of the mind-altering NMC Regional Conference on the flight back, and today is not the day either…
Because the Saskatchewan Roughriders, the only sports team that matters, improbably won their game last week, advancing to face the BC Lions in Van Rock City here today. The event brings out the excitement I felt as a kid cheering for my home province’s only pro sports team (one, sad to say, with an unparalleled history of losing). And the game becomes a beer-soaked reunion for the heaploads of prairie boys and girls who’ve found themselves here on the wet coast. Saskatchewan’s number one export is its people, and a cliche about the Roughriders is that they have home field advantage wherever they play.
It also marks a milestone of sorts, as it will be the first time my son Harry attends a major sporting event. Years of relentless mind-control tactics have passed the Lamb Boyz passion for the Green and White on to another generation (though he’s never even watched a football game on TV, he just likes yelling the chants and singing the songs). If the programming holds up, he’ll be cheering against his hometown Lions today.
We had the same CFL Western Final here two years ago. Needless to say it didn’t go well. We can only hope for better today… knowing evil may well prevail.
Update: Well, that kind of sucked. That may have been the worst Rider performance I’ve ever seen, and I’ve seen them them lose scrimmages to themselves. And because I had the boy with me, I remained painfully sober through the whole ordeal. But if a lifetime of Green and White fandom has taught me anything, it’s to live with the agony of defeat. And the important, hanging-out-with-old-friends part was even better than I’d hoped…
apparently, lions eat gophers. yikes!
D’Arcy — I have to thank the Calgarians in charge of McMahon Stadium for the unquestioned highlight of the season — banning Gainer the Gopher, evidently for fears that he would whip the fans into an uncontrollable frenzy.
Saskatchewan is next year country, and it ain’t just cuz it’s full of farmers.
I can only assume Gainer was banned on the basis of protecting Homeland Security. The last thing we need here is a riot triggered by a giant rodent. wait. no, that’s the alberta conservative leadership race I’m thinking of…
Rugby?
As an old-skool Blue Bombers fan, I never really mind seeing the Rough Riders ridden rough like that.
Steve – Canadian football — quite like the American style, on a bigger field and three downs for ten yards as opposed to four. Generally, a more wide-open and pass-oriented game.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canadian_Football_League
Jeremy — The “Rough Riders” used to play in Ottawa. The “Roughriders” rule the prairies.
For those of you who don’t know the CFL, at one time there were two teams with the same name (albeit slightly different spellings). So you could actually have an announcer say “the score is Roughriders 10, Rough Riders 7.”
When Montreal came back into the league, the franchise ignored my suggestion that they name their team the “Riders de Ruff”… or at least cavaliers durs…)
Pardon me — at one time I did know that important distinction. I must admit that my level of engagement in the CFL hasn’t extended much beyond the annual Grey Cup party in recent years.