I had to work today so had set the PVR to record the Riders vs. Stamps Western Final CFL game. I also strategized how to not accidentally hear the score before I got home – no glimpses at Facebook on my smartphone, no checking Twitter at my break, only trying to make the most generic of small talk with patrons, making sure the radio was off in the car when I went back at lunch, telling Shea to rewind the game to the start when I got home (about the halfway point) so I wouldn’t accidentally see or hear the score.
I still had a couple big hints…
– The Leader Post sent out a text alert with the half-time score and I opened my phone when I heard it come in, thinking it was a text from Shea who was braving some icy roads to come back from a birthday party in Weyburn. Luckily, I managed to not really register what it said (although in hindsight, I think I did see the score: 22-6 – but not who was winning – although as soon as the Riders got to 7 points, I felt pretty good about how the game would go in the first half!)
That was my only close call while still at work.
But then, as the game was still in the third quarter (at least for Shea and I who were an hour behind the rest of the province), our phone started ringing and when I saw it was my parents (who we’ve invited to a Grey Cup party at our house next Sunday), I figured they were calling to celebrate with us. “DON’T ANSWER IT!” I yelled to Shea knowing my dad’s first words, before we could say otherwise, would be “Go Riders Go!” or something along those lines and he was much less likely to call if they’d lost.
But again, as with the half-glimpsed text from the LP, it was a bit of a relief to kinda sorta know the likely end result. Years and decades of watching the Riders has conditioned me to know they usually manage to lose and break your heart in every way possible.
Next week – they’re going to play in the Grey Cup for the third time in five years in a storyline-laden event that features the return of former Rider notables Kent Austin, Henry Burris and Andy Fantuz; the chance for the Riders to be the third team in a row to win the Grey Cup at home and most notably from a personal standpoint, the first time I’ll be in Regina when they host a Grey Cup (in 1995, I was in England as an exchange student; in 2003, I was in Calgary.)
Having a new baby puts a crimp in our style but hopefully Shea and I can take in at least a few of the festivities during the week (and I can resist the urge to buy one of those last lonely single seat tickets bouncing around on Ticketmaster!) 😉
As my dad would say, “Go Riders Go!”
