I was there. I was at
the game last week. Yes, THAT game. I was fortunate to be sitting at Mosaic
Stadium to watch the Grey Cup championship, for what turned out to be a
once-in-a-lifetime game. To be there,
with over 40,000 Rider fans, and watch the Riders win the Grey Cup at home was
the best fairy-tale ending any Rider fan could ask for. And while there is much to be said about
Darian Durant’s great game, Geroy Simon’s first Grey Cup touchdown, Kory
Sheets’ perfect catch when Darian fumbled the foot ball, and just how well the
entire team played that game, and how our green hearts filled with pride
watching them play, there was something else that happened at the game that I
have never experienced before and may never again experience. There was a special energy which filled the
stadium and you just had to be there to feel it. The energy that filled the stadium was so
intense, you would almost think it would have had a green glow to it.
When it became clear that we were going to win the game,
emotion and pride showed in the faces and actions of the fans throughout the
stadium. Some people broke down and
cried, others cheered until their voices gave out and others just stood and
watched, almost unable to believe that
our collective dream had been realized – and at home, to boot. After
it was all over, I didn’t want to leave.
I wanted to stay there until the last player had left the field. As I looked around, I realized that many
other fans felt the same way. Few were
leaving the stands, savouring the moment, making it last just a little
longer. If my husband hadn’t insisted on
leaving because he was cold, I’m sure I would have been one of the last fans to
leave. It was such a special
moment. And that energy – I wanted to bask
in it as long as I could and I know that most Rider fans felt the same.
I think part of the feeling in the stadium that night came not
only from the win, but from years of cheering on a team who rarely won the
championship, and of growing up in Saskatchewan where you were a fan of the
Roughriders, whether or not you watched football. When I was a child, my Dad
came home with new truck. The truck was
green and white, and across the side of the box were the words “Big Green
Machine”. I remember asking him what
those words meant and he replied that the words referred to our football team, and
this was part of a promotion the automobile company was doing. He said a small portion of the money for the
vehicle went to the Riders. I asked him why he had bought that truck because he
never watched football and he was a huge hockey fan. He replied, “I know. I don’t even understand the game, and I don’t
understand how the scoring works. But it’s our team, and we have to support them”. That, I think, says it all. It explains how every person who is born and
raised in Saskatchewan feels. Whether you follow football or not, everyone
knows where the Riders are in the standings and whether they won or lost their
last game. That is why Rider fans are
found everywhere across the country, they take that part with them when they
leave the province. If you ever lived
in Saskatchewan, chances are great that you are a Saskatchewan Roughrider fan.
I think it was that
which created that incredible energy last Sunday, that thing that is almost a
birthright to us. It was Rider pride
bursting at the seams, filling every inch of Mosaic Stadium. It is something I will never forget and am so
glad I was there for the 2013 Grey Cup game in Regina. Go Riders!
Loving our Riders . . . it's a good thing!
