Stampeder

 The summer 2025 CFL Doubleheader of Excellence trip is coming together. The dates are chosen and the plane tickets are purchased: a Thursday Edmonton Elks game paired with a Saturday Calgary Stampeders game. We haven't purchased the tickets yet because individual tickets haven't gone on sale yet, or at least they weren't last week. That left the most important part of the process: purchasing appropriate CFL swag for the games. I mean, we don't want to look like visiting yokels (or proto-fascists) from south of the border. This was made more difficult was that the original plan was a Winnipeg Blue Bombers and Saskatchewan Roughriders doubleheader, which meant that I had already purchased excellent Blue Bombers and Roughriders jerseys. Oh well, they won't go bad, and they'll just wait patiently for that trip down the road (after this summer I'll have seen games at six of the nine CFL stadiums, so obviously I'll have to eventually complete the circuit). My Stampeders jersey arrived yesterday. My friend Kevin accuses me, quite rightly, of being irrational in love of the CFL and my pursuit of associated swag, but I was somewhat logical with my Stampeders purchase because I chose the jersey of the player who had just signed a free agent contract elsewhere, so I got it for half-off. In the end, any money I saved went back into the CFL coffers (much better them than the NFL) because of the challenge of purchasing an Edmonton Elks jersey (more on that later). Soon I'll have enough jerseys that when we live overseas I'll be able to wear a different one every day (and twice on selected days) and either pass as Canadian or earn the reputation as that odd expat who lives down the lane.

I also chose  this James Vaughters jersey because he is originally from Georgia (and played college football at Stanford), and it reminded me of my time teaching at GPC in Atlanta. He recently signed a free agent contract with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers (one of my four favorite CFL teams - truthfully, I should just say one of my nine favorite CFL teams). Over the years he's also had a cup of coffee with the New England Patriots, San Diego Chargers, Chicago Bears, Atlanta Falcons, and Pittsburgh Steelers - which, to me, makes him a classic CFL story.