OK, here goes... haven't read anything else since I've been back, so excuse me if I tread on already covered ground. And of course you saw it on TV, with commentary and replay, so there's nothing about the game I can tell you that you didn't see. So I'll focus on the rest of it...
I like the mix of public transit and football. In Edmonton, most people take the LRT (a train) to the stadium, so you're on a train that gradually fills to capacity with fans, and it's a good atmosphere builder. Plus taking the train allows you to drink more. I guess we've got the Barton bus...
This goes without saying, but Edmontonians are, on the whole, extraordinarily good people. They remind me of Hamiltonians, just with bigger mustaches and more money. And even if they hate Ontario, they don't tell you that every chance they get like some Calgarians do. My work/travel itinerary didn't allow me to mingle much before and after the game, but everyone was real decent. Of course, I was wearing only a Ticat cap and not a fun-fur tiger suit like a guy sitting near me.
A few dozen times during the night, Esks fans (I assume seeing my Ticat hat) said, not to me but in a voice louder than the conversation they were having "Edmonton traded the wrong QB to Hamilton". When I pointed out that Maas has struggled as well, a few said they figured that you couldn't compare the two, because Maas has no one to throw to in Hamilton while Ray has a blue chip corps. Well, they do have Tucker but...
Lots of people kinda looked at me like you would a cat in the mall, as in, "hmmm, a Ticat fan, wonder what that is doing here" or like you would a rare breed of dog on the street, as in "hmmm a Ticat fan, I know they exist but it not's something I've ever seen - wonder if I should point it out to the kids".
Decent enough atmosphere at the game - not great like I remember, but good enough. Stadium looked to be about 60% full - they announced 36K+, but I don't know. A few thousand fans stand in the wide aisle behind the end zone the whole game, near the beer window, so maybe if they were in seats...
As I approached the stadium, a guy walked up and asked me if I needed a single - I said yes, so he gave me one - free. So good so far!
Outside the stadium, a local radio station was giving away free bottles of water, which you could then bring into the game. Yes Woody, you heard that right - outside water. No pat down, no cavity search, you could just walk right in waving your free water. Probably because...
When you walk through the gates, the first thing you see is a wall of beer. Dozens of people wearing big trays with thirty or so cups of draft in them. Beer as far as the eye could see - no variety, just standard ball game beer, $4.75 a small draft, coldish and waiting to be consumed.
Grabbed a dog and beer, went to my free seat, surprised to find it was in the second row from the field, around the twenty yard line. Cool.
Well, not totally cool because...
Commonwealth is a decent place to watch a game, but the running track around the outside gives the first seven or eight rows Skydome-like sightlines. Five or six feet above the turf (grass there) and fifty or so feet from the field. And if you've got fifty feet of empty space between the fans and the field, the game day experience people are gonna fill it with dog and pony shows. There's the fifty or sixty co-ed collegiate-type cheerleaders. Man, do I not like collegiate-style cheerleaders. Yeah, make a freaking human pyramid between me and the game, hold up three foot by three foot pieces of cardboard with the word GO on it, fake-smile like hell, and see how long you can hold that pose. But do it after the game. Please. Then there is the two mascots - well, at least the football-shaped guy made me chuckle at first. Firemen and kids throwing footballs. Miscellaneous people of unknown purpose looking for and waving at their friends in the stands. Oh, and the contest winners in the hot tub - OK, admittedly it was kind of good when the young women first stripped down, especially the one in the bikini, but you know what happens when a half dozen twenty-something girls in bathing suits and cowboy hats drink waaaay too much over a course of three hours - that's right, they forget it's not them you're there to see and hear. There's those advertisement things that ring the field. Then the players, the coaches (the bench is at the sidelines), the injured players in street clothes, various other personel, the benches themselves, the gatorade table, and so on and so on. All between you and the field. I'm pretty sure there was a game going on behind all that, but I wasn't always sure. I'm not really as bitter about any of this as I might sound, and I could have moved and sat anywhere, but hey, I was on assignment. And speaking of Gatorade...
I was pleased to see AJ Gass just play a solid, clean football game. Really. I considered him to be a dirty player and chest-thumping moron for years, but I sat behind the Edmonton bench and saw no hint of that last night. He was all business, focused, just went out and played. Two thumbs up for him. But man, does that dude drink a lot of Gatorade - never seen anything like it. Gatorade every time he's off the field, gatorade brought onto the field between plays - he needs one of those novelty beerhat helmets with a couple of gatorate bottles strapped to the top. Either he'd sweat profusely in a freezer or he's got a hollow leg.
Got to witness the Vaughn 1000th catch, which I'd hoped for. And, like I hoped, it was on a big play, making it extra good. It was announced to the crowd, got a semi-standing ovation, and the game went on.
Random game thoughts ... Hats off to the O-line for playing real hard - they were pushed around a bit but played HARD. Nice start for Lumsden - fun to watch him bounce off tacklers and keep running. Peterson - want to not like the guy because of the easy ones he drops, but got to give him credit - he's been our best rec this year. Morreale - like the way he steps up when someone needs to. Loved the reverse to Ralph, and the noise in the stands from the people that came expecting Ralph to cower in fear after last week. Maas - thank dog, I really, really, really wanted to believe that he'd get it together and the team as a whole would look more like what we thought we had as a result. Boreham - well, a mixed bag as usual, but he hit the important one when all the pressure was on.
Love to see guys get up with a big clump of real grass and muck stuck to shoulder pads or face mask - well, that's not really about the game.
With a few minutes left, went to the other side of the stadium, nearest the LRT, so I could bolt after and make it to the airport. Unlike skydome, stands are on a decent slope, so sightlines MUCH better up high - just like home in my lofty perch at IW. But, given what was happening on the field, a few in the crowd were a bit more surly over there. Standing at the top of the aisle, I felt a bit more like a mouse seeing a cat in a mall. After Boreham's winning kick, a drunk guy walking by (purposely?) stomped on my toe as he walked past. I was wearing boots, so he just bounced off, but I figured it was time to go. Missed the last seventeen seconds and the single. Everyone on the train platform and train were good, asking me if I was from Hamilton, wishing me well, telling me how much the Eskimos Svck.
Re: my previous comments about Eskimos and winning. Talking in a pub the night before to some solid fans, reading the local paper, and listening to sports radio, I get a sense that Esk fans have been spoiled by success. They don't expect to lose, they haven't ever lost, and maybe they don't know how to lose. Not saying that's all bad, but it's so different from Hamilton and this forum. They talk about the guys on the wall of fame and how these guys (coach and RR mostly, but other guys too) are not worthy of wearing the Green and Gold. An interesting mix of deep pride in being an Edmontonian, a strong connection between city and team, and frustration about being a fan of a team that is actually going to miss the playoffs like other teams do. But then, as stand up as I found all that, the vibe on game day was a bit different - they too have lots of fans that just want to act out and scream that the team svcks, and the coach f-in svcks, and the QB svcks, and anything else that pops into their mind svcks.
Anyway, to the airport and home... well, not quite. You know how, sometimes, in some cicles, as a grown man wearing CFL gear you feel that people are looking at you like you're into monster trucks or wrestling or something (not that's there anything...). Well, I never got that feeling anywhere in Edmonton, except at the airport. Big time - aw, who cares.
If you got this far, well, damn, thanks for stickin in there. Hope it was worth a read. Good trip, good win, good day. Go Cats.