Four-Ninths of a Bucket List

As with most folks, I guess, one of the most important items on my bucket list (although, truthfully, I don't believe in buckets lists, which are mainly an excuse to not follow your dreams) is to see a game in every CFL stadium. This year I'll be adding a third and fourth site, bringing me up to four of the nine teams in the league. Along with my most excellent friend Sanford Zale (creating a Canadian version of our infamous Trip of Excellence to Oklahoma) will be watching the Ottawa REDBLACKS host the Winnipeg Blue Bombers on Friday 5 July and then the Toronto Argonauts host the BC Lions on Saturday 6 July. I suggested adding the 4 July game at Montreal wherein the Alouettes are hosting the Hamilton Tiger-Cats, but Sanford absurdly and irresponsibly said no. From there I'll be moving westward, with 2020 being the Winnipeg Blue Bombers and Saskatchewan Roughriders year, 2021 the Edmonton Eskimos and Calgary Stampeders year, and then finally all the way to British Columbia to watch the Lions play in 2022. By then the CFL should have expanded to include the Atlantic Schooners and I'll have to reverse field and head east, which might not happen until 2023. I may be moving from Vermont's Leading CFL Fan to America's Leading CFL Fan.

It's better to look at the cities than the icons themselves to make sense of the trip. The trip both benefits from the peculiarity of the CFL schedule, but it's also held hostage by it. So, the Winnipeg/Saskatchewan and Edmonton/Calgary years might end up being switched if the CFL schedule-maker doesn't set up something as easy is this year's Ottawa and Toronto games being on consecutive nights.