In the Pit

 Last Friday we attended our fourth, and final, CFL game of the season, heading up to Ottawa for a much too short stay. I had seen a game at Ottawa with my friend Sanford years ago, but my return visit had waited way too long. It was a notable trip because 1) Erik joined a small circle of my friends who have attended games at more than one CFL stadium, and 2) Kevin tied me for seeing a game at his 8th (of 9) CFL stadiums. The REDBLACKS are really bad this year, although they're fighting yard (just seriously undermanned), but a good time was had by all. One end of the stadium was missing, replaced by a huge pit. We thought that maybe they were expanding the stadium (it only held 25,000, which is not the smallest CFL stadium, but pretty close), but instead they removed 2500 seats (still not the smallest CFL stadium at 22,500, but getting closer), but instead they're carving off the space for a new arena for the women's hockey team. One of the things about seeing a game in Ottawa, which is cool, is that they are very mindful of the space in a beautiful downtown so they're not tearing anything down to build parking lots (how Sanford and I ever found a place to park last time is a mystery lost to time). Anyway, the space for the new women's hockey arena (and I'm glad they are getting one) had to come from somewhere. It left a huge pit just beyond one of the endzones, and kicks would fairly routinely clear the fence and enter the pit, the ball disappearing.

When a kick would sale over the wall the crowd could cheer, but if a kick would hit the wall and bounce back the crowd would boo. Like I said, the REDBLACKS are pretty bad, so the fans were looking for something to cheer.

If a ball would disappear, the scoreboard would lead a chant of "In . . . The . . . Pit," followed by a song called "in the pit."  Classic CFL.

The Legend

 One of the things I was most looking forward to on the Winnipeg trip was to visit the Bud Grant statue outside of the Blue Bombers stadium. As I've discussed way too often, my first introduction to the CFL was, year ago, decades ago, discovering that Bud Grant, then the coach of the Minnesota Vikings, had begun his career coaching in the CFL. Inexplicably, no one at the stadium seemed to understand where his statue was located - they kept directing me to statue for another head coach on the other side of the stadium - which left me a little grumpy, which was stupid on my part because they're doubtless all volunteers. Still, he's Bud Grant FFS! My only defense if that I'm old and my legs are a constant source of great pain, which, I guess, also speaks to my love of the CFL, as these trips are definitely a physical challenge for me. For future reference, he's at the back of the stadium, next to the Blue Bombers store. We didn't get to the statue until after the game, and then I couldn't get back into the store to buy merchandise, which was a very poor business decision  on their part because I would have naturally bought out the store.

Bud Grant is one of only three individuals - along with Warren Moon and Marv Levy - who are enshrined in both the CFL Hall of Fame and the NFL Hall of Fame. In addition to his one NFL title, he won four Grey Cups with the Blue Bombers during his ten years coaching north of the border. And, by all accounts, he was a great guy. My friend Jack and I often lament that we never made it to one of his famous yard sales before he passed.

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.

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.

Joining the Club

 There's the Circle of Excellence - that is, people I've dragged to CFL games, and that is 20 right-thinking individuals - and then there is the Inner Circle of Excellence - that is, people that I've dragged to multiple Canadian cities for CFL games, and that, until this summer, included only three people: Kevin (after this month, eight of nine possible sites), Sanford (two, almost three), and Andy (three). Now, however, the Inner Circle is expanding. Cyndi travelled with us on the first leg of the Manitoba/Saskatchewan Doubleheader of Excellence, and now she can claim two CFL cities (Montreal and Winnipeg). She'll be joined at the end of the month by Erik with two (Montreal and Ottawa).

Cyndi, of course, added her own energy to the trip, expanding Kevin and my usual routine of exploring every diner in the new city. Here she is dragging us to the Winnipeg Zoo, a brilliant idea on a 95 degree day, right before the Blue Bombers game (obviously, not concerned with her aged friend's failing legs). Sadly, she escaped from the dinosaur.

Paris of the Prairie

 One of the great moments on our recent Manitoba/Saskatchewan CFL Trip of Excellence, was stopping by Montmartre, Saskatchewan. I'm famous/infamous for, in the days leading up to a trip, doing research on "odd things to do in _______", which led us to the Eifel Tower replica in the small, dusty town of Montmartre.  When we turned of the Trans-Canada Highway and Kevin's GPS told him that we would go straight for ten miles on a dirt road before turning onto another dirt road, he said, somewhat seriously, "are you sure you want to do this?" I replied, "Are you asking me?" As all of my travelling companions know, my answer is always a definitive yes. Years and years ago, when I was travelling with my friend Michelle for Champlain, we'd always joke that I should wear a WWMD (What Would Michelle Do?) bracelet and she should wear a WWGD (What Would Gary Do?) bracelet for guidance on ours trips. The joke being that they were both useless, since Michelle would naturally do nothing and would definitely sign off on anything. Anyway, we travelled on and found the Eifel Tower, which was a wonderful side trip. I wish that more had been open in town, because I would have loved to explore a bit and show Montmartre some love, both emotional and financial. I'll stop by again on my next trip to Saskatchewan.

Here's a view of the Eifel Tower, with Kevin and the sleepy town of Montmartre in the background.

And here's the backstory. The short version of the story is that over a century ago a group of folks from the suburbs of Paris decided to try and their lot in the new world (one wonders what was happening in the suburbs of Paris in the 1890s that made the unknown plains of Saskatchewan seem like a much better option). A century later, the town still had a clear sense of their French roots, and decided to raise the money to put up a replica of the Eifel Tower. They are/were very coureagous and plucky folks.

Taco In A Bag

 Yesterday we made it back from the Manitoba/Saskatchewan CFL Doubleheader of Excellence. So, expect to see several posts detailing this DOE. I'll start with a quick post: the long-awaited Taco in a Bag. We came across this delicacy last year at the Calgary Stampeders game, but that was the day when, although it was June, the game was so cold - pouring rain, forty mph wind, temperature of 40F - that all the exterior food shops were closed almost immediately because of the cold. So, between seeing the Taco in a Bag on the way in - and halftime, when we stumbled up to the concourse to regain feeling in our hands - the TIAB shop closed down (and I don't blame them, because it was bitter and the folks didn't need to sit there freezing to death). In the meantime, however, the Taco in a Bag had reached mythic proportions in our popular imagination, so much so that when we researched new stadiums the first thing we would do is try to locate stands that sold the TIAB. Thankfully, the Winnipeg Blue Bombers delivered on this delicacy.

It's sort of like a Frito Pie, if you're fortunate enough to get that reference. 

 

Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame

 Tomorrow we're taking off for another Canadian adventure (Blue Bombers/Roughriders doubleheader with my friends Kevin and Cyndi), and I still haven't finished posting stories from the last Canadian adventure (Hamilton trip with my cousin Nick). In between writing (fitfully), trying to organize the house, planning the move (we do now have an apartment), and working through retirement stuff (as I opined to a friend, I think retirement will be relaxing, but retiring is stressful). Anyway, let me get down some thoughts and upload a few pictures from out lovely stop at the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame. On a drive across Canada years ago, my friend Kevin and I spotted a sign for the Hall, and I promised myself that I'd get back there. Well, it took too many years, but I decided to take advantage of the Hamilton trip to keep that promise to myself (it was facilitated by the fact that I was driving west from Hamilton to drop down into Michigan. Getting to St. Marys, Ontario was a bit of a challenge, although part of that was caused by some traffic work. The traffic wench took me all over the place as I drove through some lovely Canadian farmland (it felt like I had dumped off the interstate in Ohio and was trying to find the original Bob Evans farm), but I really liked the drive. I highly recommend visiting the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame, and might try to overcome the logistical nightmare of making it back for Joey Votto's celebration when he makes it.

It's a non-descript little building tucked away in St. Marys, but it holds a treasure trove of goodies.

I knew they would celebrate Jackie Robinson, as he played for Montreal before being called up to the major leagues. It was a moving tribute, and his comments about being treated like a man (and not as a "colored man") echoed Miles Davis's reflection on spending time in Paris, far away from an intensely racist America.

There was, happily, a real recognition of First Nation players.

I didn't expect to find Sparky Anderson, the manager of the Big Red Machine of the 1970s enshrined, but he played and managed in Canada.

I knew there would be a celebration of Joey Votto, and it's just a matter of time before he's enshrined in the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame (and almost certainly at Cooperstown as well).

The cap from Votto's three homer game (which tied the record for most homers in a game by a Canadian player).

And, finally, St., Marys is a lovely little town. Nick and I stopped by a nice little place for a great lunch. I'd definitely like to return in the future.

Yet More CFL Excellence

 Unlike spending fifty-five painful years rooting for the Minnesota Vikings, watching the CFL and attending CFL games only brings happiness. I guess the closest that the Vikings-induced pain would be being a Hamilton Tiger-Cats fan, as they currently are nursing the longest streak since their last Grey Cup win (it was last century/millennium). Maybe this is why all of my friends who I introduce to the CFL automatically become Tiger-Cats fans - I mean, how can you not love them? They have a cool (and non-sensical) team song and a band and a sing along in the fourth quarter and cool uniforms, FFS! This was the third time that I've attended a game at Hamilton, and if it weren't a ten hour drive I probably would have just gotten season tickets by now. Although, using that logic, why I haven't purchased Alouettes season tickets is even more of a mystery since I dragged nineteen people to Montreal games to the twenty-plus games I've attended there. One time I pitched the idea to my friends, with the notion that we'd buy two season tickets, I'd go to everyone and they'd cycle in and out. Shamefully, they didn't understand the brilliance of the scheme.

While I usually cringe a selfies, here's a nice one that my cousin Nick took at the game. I was so happy to meet him for the game (he's now the 20th person I've dragged to a CFL game). Unfortunately, the Tiger-Cats suffered a last second heart-wrenching loss to the Montreal Alouettes (which seems to be a Hamilton thing, sadly). 

The Original Tim Hortons

 As you know, one of my core beliefs is that while trips may be defined by the big framing events, they are made the smaller, spontaneous events, such as visiting the original Tim Hortons in Hamilton, Ontario. We were in Hamilton for a Tiger-Cats game (more on that shortly), and it seemed completely and unquestionably necessary to visit the original Tim Hortons. Happily, I have a small army of friends and family who put up with my quests.

For those of you who know your Tim Hortons lore, the franchise was started by a retired NHL player. Here's my cousin Nick outside of the first Tim Hortons, still operating, and insanely busy, even today.

And they even have a mini-Tim Hortons museum. As I often propose in my film reviews: Highly Recommended.

On the Road One Last Time

 This summer sort of reminds me of the stretch right before I took off to spend a year in Abu Dhabi in that I seem to be, quite rightly, spending a lot of time with friends (that summer featured my drive with Sanford from Vermont to Oklahoma, and the trip Steve and I made down to New Orleans to pester Andy). This year features four CFL games (in four different Canadian cities), but I'm also planning to drop down into the Midwest after this Hamilton trip to see family and friends before we head out of the country. Here's a picture my cousin Nick snapped of some utterly ancient guy in an epic Bo Levi Mitchell jersey at a little hole in the wall Mexican place in Hamilton.

These trips are really hard on me physically, as I'm simply in pain all the time. However, spiritually, I'm reinvigorated and loving the adventures.

Loyal Fans

 Usually, when I'm crashing in my friend Kevin's spare room on Thursday night in the summer, we always follow a dinner at one of various and sundry restaurants and a trip to Al's for ice cream, we head back to watch the Phillies (KA's favorite team). However, this last Thursday the Phillies were off, so what were our options? Well, as true CFL fans, the obvious thing was to watch a recap of the 2025 Grey Cup (which, of course, we watched live in the very same room in November). 

With the CFL season starting, and the expansion of our CFL fantasy league, the preparation is intense. It also now looks like we're adding a game in Ottawa to our already full slate of games in Hamilton, Winnipeg, and Regina.

A CFL Life

 You know that you live a very rich and fun - or unimaginably silly - life when it's still April and you open your Ticketmaster app and you already have tickets for Hamilton Tiger-Cats, Winnipeg Blue Bombers, and Saskatchewan Roughriders games. Come on, that's some serious CFL love.

Thanks for coming to my TedTalk.

Movies in 2026 107

 

My Winnipeg, (Guy Maddin, 2007)

By way of preparation for July's CFL Trip of Excellence to Winnipeg/Saskatchewan, it's not surprising that I felt moved to watch Guy Maddin's beautiful/disturbing/funny/sad film, My Winnipeg. I'd heard about Guy Maddin for years, but for some reason I had never managed to watch any of his work. I'm definitely going to make up for that cultural/cinematic shortcoming. I saw My Winnipeg described as a "docu-fantasia," which, even though I've never seen the term before, seems to fit beautifully. It's a very personal reflection on growing up/getting away from/going back to Winnipeg. It's almost indescribable, but in a wonderful way. It also features Ann Savage (who we all remember from the definitive film noir Detour) as Maddin's mother. Essential viewing, and not simply for those attending a Blue Bombers game in July.

July CFL Excellence

 The second CFL Trip of Excellence is becoming a reality. My cousin Nick and I are meeting in Hamilton in June for a Tiger-Cats game (he's already reserved the rooms, and now we're just waiting for the single game tickets to go on sale for I purchase a couple of nice seats on the 55 yard line). This will be followed up by the long-discussed Winnipeg Blue Bombers and Saskatchewan Roughriders doubleheader in July. The plane tickets have been purchased - flying into Winnipeg and flying out of Regina (in between we're renting a car for the long drive in between) - and the rooms have been reserved. Again, we're just waiting for the individual game tickets to go on sale. Kevin and I will be attending both games, and Cyndi is joining us for the first part of the trip. In doing so, CB will join the inner circle of true CFL fans who have attended games with me at more than one CFL stadium (joining Kevin, Andy, and Sandy). After that trip, the only outlier in my quest to have visited every CFL stadium will be Victoria and to a BC Lions home game. I guess that will have to wait until the summer of 2027 when/if I'm back for a visit.

Oskee Wee Wee

 This summer's CFL Trips of Excellence are coming into view. In June I'll be heading to Hamilton to meet my cousin Nick for a Tiger-Cats game. Not only will this be his fir CFL game, it will also be his first time out of the country. Not surprisingly, he's super excited. Obviously, he now has to learn the Tiger-Cats official fight song, otherwise he won't blend. I, of course, both know that Song of Excellence, but have enough Tiger-Cats swag to blend effortlessly. This will be my third Tiger-Cats game, which I'm definitely looking forward to. Hamilton is a great place to see a game, with great fans and a nice stadium. It also houses the CFL Hall of Fame, which somehow I've never visited (although that will change this summer).

The plane tickets were purchased yesterday for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers & Saskatchewan Roughriders doubleheader, so obviously there will be much more discussion of that soon enough.

Boys in Toronto

 Andy sent this picture along the other day, which was a very pleasant surprise. It's Kevin, Andy, and I in Toronto on our truly excellent Hamilton Tiger-Cats and Toronto Argonauts doubleheader from a couple years ago. We (that is, mainly, Kevin) had mastered the Toronto mass transit system, and thus getting to the Argonauts game was a lot easier than my last traffic-stalled visit to the stadium.

It's really difficult to express how joyous that trip was, although the looks on our faces might give you some indication. Getting away with such great friends is such an extraordinary gift. As I get older, and, well, I'm already like a thousand year old, I appreciate these adventures more and more.