Grey Cup Parade

Growing up in Newfoundland the CFL seemed like a myth.  Of course I'd heard the existed but I'd never actually met anyone who supported a team or seemed to care about it in the least.

Things didn't get much better in any of the other cities I've lived in in Canada.  I guess I knew that the BC Lions existed while I lived in Vancouver though they didn't seem to be as significant a sporting venture as the Canucks - who just happened to be having a particularly good season the year we lived there.

In Montreal I eventually learned that I'd lived about a block a way from the stadium in which the Alouettes played.  While I lived there I had no idea where the Alouettes played.

The impending arrival of the then unnamed Ottawa franchise seemed to be of little consequence to the locals.  I can't recall even a single person I spoke to expressing either interest or disgust at the thought of there being a team there.  It just didn't seem to rate in the face of the LRT talks or Senators trade speculation.

Of course, in Nova Scotia, though there is university football, the CFL seems as distant to life as it did in Newfoundland.  It just wasn't on anyone's radar.

When we arrived in Regina last year we immediately got to see that the CFL certainly does have a fan base, and it seems to be based in Saskatchewan.

You can't go out in Regina without encountering people wearing Riders gear.  Hats and jackets are probably the most common forms of attire, but mitts, scarves, and jewellery aren't uncommon.  And lets not forget the provincially issued Riders license plates.

This overwhelming level of support means that even when it's -21 (or -33 when the wind chill is taken into account) fans done up to the max will be in attendance for a Saturday morning Grey Cup Parade.

The parade route was lined with people of all ages.  We saw dozens of strollers and more adults in snow pants than I've ever seen anywhere else.  There were also quite a number of cars with handicap parking badges parked in intersections facing the parade route.  I think it's fair to say that those in attendance were a pretty representative cross section of the Regina population.



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And though it took a while to get to us, we did eventually to get to see the horse-drawn championship trophy.

If anyone had asked me as a child if I would one day stand in frost-bite capable weather for over an hour to see any of this I likely would have laughed (or the very shy child equivalent of public laughing).  Apparently, spending a year in Regina has a strange effect on people.