In Riderville these days

I wonder if it’s possible to live in Saskatchewan and not know what is happening to the Saskatchewan Roughriders football team. Last night, the Riders won the Grey Cup – the ultimate prize in the Canadian Football League. Saskatchewan’s last Grey Cup win was in 1989, so we were long overdue for a victory. After the game, it seemed as if all of Regina was out celebrating on one of our main thoroughfares. Albert Street traffic came to a near standstill, while fans ran down the street high-fiving those of us in our cars. It was great fun.

I found it hard watching the game because it looked for a time that Saskatchewan might get beaten by the Winnipeg Blue Bombers. I must have knitted about four feet of a scarf while the game progressed.

Other than the nail-biting excitement, Benoît, my son, and I had fun spending the late afternoon and evening at my parent’s house. We have followed this same routine for the past three Sundays as we progressed through the Western semi-finals, then finals and ultimately, the Grey Cup yesterday.

This afternoon, the Riders arrived home with the Grey Cup in tow. 8,000 people went to the football stadium to greet the team – we are a hardy bunch. The weather rarely interferes with our plans and certainly not with our celebrations.

With the wind chill factored in, the temperature registered -36C. Tomorrow, in weather much the same as today, there will be a parade down Albert Street. I think I’ll watch on television rather than brave the cold, but maybe that will change if my football-loving son convinces me otherwise. But first, he’ll have to convince me to pick him up at school over his lunch hour. No wonder he keeps offering me some of his Hallowe’en stash of mini Kit-kat chocolate bars!

Go Riders! (and back to non-football related posting tomorrow. I promise!)