13th Man

 You have to lose this statue outside the Roughriders stadium, which celebrates the endless passion and devotion of Saskatchewan fans: the 13th man.

During relative slow points in CFL games, I'll often launch into a discussion of all the ways that the CFL is clearly and inarguably better than the NFL (which I'm sure I've discussed previously on this blog, so I won't repeat myself - at least this time). Now I can add a statue celebrating the 13th man, which is clearly better than any US discussion of the importance of the 12th man. 

Roughriders

 While these two guys have obviously seen better days, the Roughriders (Grey Cup Champions last year) are still percolating along quite nicely. Their stadium is quite nice. A couple days earlier, when we were talking to a Blue Bombers fan at the Winnipeg Zoo, and recounting our plans, he proposed that we'd really like Regina and the Roughriders game, although we'd discover that in every single area it would be slightly worse than the similar experience in Winnipeg. I don't know if I'd agree with him, but I appreciated the smack talk from two bitter rivals.

Yes, I bought a Roughriders straw hat, mainly because of the wilting heat and broiling sun. Also, we also clearly supported end endless tsunami of Saskatchewan merchandise being purchased.

Movies in 2026 226

 

The Sheep Detectives (Kyle Balda, 2026)

Not every movie that you see is one that you would have normally chosen to watch, obviously, but that doesn't mean that it was a bad time. Last night Janet wanted to watch The Sheep Detectives, and while I was not that enthusiastic, it was a pretty fun movie. If you're reading this post you already know more about the movie than I do, so I won't repeat the story. I definitely enjoyed it more than Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey (which I'm obviously continuing to dump on - and the characters were more fully realized).

True Fans

 By definition, true fans are fans that travel, that is, they attend both home and road games. As we were waiting for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers game to start we were impressed by the number of Toronto Argonauts fans there were in the stadium, and that takes some effort because the Bombers routinely sell out (essentially, you need to start your planning early - months ago I was looking for tickets on a pre-sale on the first day that tickets were available, and the picking were already sparse). We were sitting there when I turned to Kevin and said, "Dude, we sat behind that guy in Toronto!" It says something about how often you go to games and how much you pay attention when you recognize not only players, but also fans. Anyway, the Argos fans showed out.

While all of this is true, what can you say about folks who have gone to over thirty CFL games, all of them, by definition, road games? 

The Moment

 This was the moment in the third quarter of the Hamilton Tiger-Cats vs. Saskatchewan Roughriders game when the fun finally began to disappear behind the stadium. It was a brutally hot game - in the upper 90s when the game began - and it was at this moment when we realized that we might actually survive. It's almost like the inverse of last June's Calgary game, where it was so cold that we just about froze - in both instances, we came out of the game vowing to go back, because the weather was so daunting that it didn't give us a clear picture of what it's like to see a game there. The fans were enthusiastic, but I think everyone was in survival mode.

Some idiot, it could be anyone, obviously, although in this case it's me, didn't bother to think about which side of the stadium was in the sun - which didn't seem like an issue when I bought the tickets several months ago.

Being Green

 There are certain facts or statistics that all sports fans can recite, almost unbidden, about their favorite teams. For example, all Vikings fans can tell you that although they've never won a Super Bowl (going 0-4), they have actually won a championship. The first four Super Bowls were essentially exhibition games, sort of like a college football bowl game that doesn't have national championship implications. So, the Vikings lost Super Bowl IV, but had already clinched the NFL championship by beating the Cleveland Browns (hence, they were the last NFL champions before the official merger). Similarly, every true Buffalo Bills fan can tell you that the only NFL team to lose to a CFL team is, not surprisingly, the Buffalo Bills (it's complicated, like all relationships, because it was an exhibition game, at least for the Bills, but it fell right in the middle of the CFL season - I wish I knew more about this, because the rules are pretty different, including number of players on a side, so I have no idea how the rules worked for that game). And after that too lengthy preamble, the actual point of the post: every Saskatchewan Roughriders fan can tell you that the majority of all CFL merchandise purchased is Roughriders merchandise; essentially, that there are more Saskatchewan t-shirts and hats and jerseys and onesies, etc. sold than the rest of the CFL combined. I thought that this was just mythology, but it's actually true. If you understand the fanaticism of Buffalo Bills fans, you'll understand Roughriders fans.

Here we are in the Saskatchewan Roughriders store, hours before the game. Check out the long line of green-clad football fanatics buying more green merchandise. It's a beautiful thing. And, yes, I did my part and bought some Roughriders merchandise.

The Last Whammy Bar Trip?

 As I'm wont to opine, there are things I won't miss about Vermont and things that I will definitely miss about Vermont. In the latter category is out wonderfully odd little community here in Calais (although it will be much worse for Janet, as she's been here longer and is much more deeply embedded in the community). This would include weekend nights at the Whammy Bar, the room in the back of the Maple Corners Store that magically transforms itself into a bar on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday nights. It's a Friday night tradition for us, and that will be tough to leave behind.

My friend Marcelle finally made it out to the Whammy Bar on Saturday, and she absolutely loved it. He she is rocking some Winnipeg merch which Kevin brought back from the Blue Bombers Trip of Excellence.

Kevin, a Whammy Bar veteran, holding forth on life and maybe the CFL but definitely on music.

There was an absolutely killer local bluegrass band. There's an open mic night on Thursdays, and bands on Fridays and Saturdays. Even if we're gone, there's no reason why you can't stop by!!