Saskatchewan Pride

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!