Quote:
Originally Posted by Jeff Flowerday
mhammer for a true grey cup experience you want the Riders representing the west.
There are pretty much as many rider fans in Calgary as Stamps fans and with them in the grey cup it would be an absolute party!
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Oh I've been to "Riderville, Pop. 1,000,000", and concur. Rider fans are quite simply the best the CFL has to offer. And of course, as someone whose historical allegiances are to the "other" Riders (of the two word variety), when the Renegades dissolved and the western Riders absorbed some of our better players, naturally my allegiances were transferred to Saskatchewan. I suppose it is also worth mentioning that when I was a wee one, "the little general" came to visit our camp, along with a few other Rough Riders, and I got to chat with him. Of course, after that, wherever #23 went was a wonderful place to be, as far as I was concerned.
As big a Rider fan as I am, I think it would still be nice to experience the home team at the Cup, the "Red Mile" and all the rest of it. Ultimately, I'd love to see a Winnipeg-Hamilton cup, just like in the Joe Zuger / Kenny Ploen days of my youth (and also because both teams have had it pretty tough in recent years, and because both cities are terrific cities that have been sorely neglected and could really use a shot in the arm), but that ain't gonna happen. A Calgary-Montreal or Saskatchewan-Montreal game would be a decent game, though. For my money, there is probably no sport more exicting than the last 3 minutes of just about any CFL game, except for maybe the last 3 minutes of any Stanley Cup game.
What I would really love to see, though, is an Indian National Hockey Team coming to the 2010 games. I heard a feature story on CBC a couple years ago about a pickup game between one of the local teams in the mountain regions of India and a team made up of Canadian embassy workers. Apparently, the Canucks had their asses handed to them on a paratha by the local team. Part of it was that they were playing at an altitude that only the locals could handle. The Canadians had to play in 90-second shifts, while the locals played the whole game. The locals were good players, though.
The Lower Mainland has a huge South Asian population, and I thought to myself "Geez, an Indian hockey team would be greeted like princes if they came to Vancouver. They wouldn't even have to win, just show up." I thought it would also be kinda cool for one of Canada's "hyphenated" groups to have a chance to feel like they were able to represent in Canada's national sport. It's a way of saying "Hey, I'm Canadian
too, baby!" Everybody who adopts Canada as their country deserves to feel as Canadian as everyone else. I popped a note to the Indian High Commissioner here in town suggesting they consider putting a team together, but never heard back. I can dream, though.
Mark
09-10-2009, 11:52 AM
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