While there was no 108th Grey Cup to celebrate together in Regina due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we here at 2 and Out thought it would be a fun idea to reminisce about our past Grey Cup memories. There were a lot to chose from and most of us had a hard time just picking one. Grey Cup Unite week was a perfect time to share these memories and allow our CFL family to do the same. Without further ado, here they are.
CURRAH’S GREY CUP MEMORIES:
As someone who has attended 11 Grey Cups, it’s so hard to just single out one memory. Do I single out something from the fun had outside of game day? Do I focus on the game?
Since 2009, I’ve witnessed a lot of drama on Grey Cup game day. From Rider Nation’s “13th Man” debacle to Hamilton’s possibly winning punt return in 2014 being called back due to penalty, the heartbreaks can almost stand out more than the triumphs.
I can still remember the feeling in McMahon Stadium and hearing Neil Diamond’s “Sweet Caroline” being played in the 4th Quarter of the 97th Grey Cup game. I thought the Roughriders had it in the bag. Anthony Calvillo and company didn’t agree.
Going with Saskatchewan’s dominant victory in the 101st Grey Cup at Taylor Field (okay, Mosaic Stadium) is certainly tempting but I want to single out the 104th Grey Cup game in Toronto.
That was one of the most criticized Grey Cups I can remember. T.O. had just hosted the big game four years earlier and they had to cut ticket prices a few months before the game when it wasn’t selling. Events weren’t all that well attended. Even I fell for a scam and ended up being out $150 when I was punked by someone on Kijiji. Thankfully the CFL was sympathetic to my story and gave my brother and I free tickets to the game!
We were treated to a classic that had everything. The 15-win Stampeders were heavily favored over the 8-9-1 RedBlacks and to add to the drama, Henry Burris’ knee locked up in warm-up and it looked like Trevor Harris was going to be thrown into starting duty. Ernest Jackson scored the winning touchdown (bobbling it multiple times, I should add) in overtime and the Grey Cup belonged to Ottawa for the first time in 40 years.
After the game, my brother and I were enjoying the moment and we were going to take a photo with the field. This older gentlemen wandered into our photo and looked like he was in absolute shock. He could barely speak! It had been 40 years since an Ottawa football team was engraved on the Grey Cup. His team had folded twice since then and he was there to see them win again in 2016.
“Get in here, buddy!”
The Grey Cup was around long before me and it’ll be around long after me giving us countless more memories just like this. Let’s make more in 2021, shall we?
BRAZILIAN TY’S GREY CUP MEMORIES:
When Troy came up with this idea, I thought it was great…then I realized that I would actually have to work and submit something for it and then I started to resent the new guy. Resentment aside, I figured waiting until the last minute was the best idea for me because of the four Grey Cups I’ve been to, there are countless stories, interactions, games of tag, cover bands, and drinks that it was hard to pick just one. I always seem to perform well under pressure, and this is no different!
Grey Cup 101 seemed too obvious at first but then I though to myself that maybe that is a good thing. It was my first Grey Cup and being a Rider fan, it magnified my experience ten-fold. The entire weekend was a blur of road tripping, drinking copious amounts of alcohol, my first time (of many) in Spirit of Edmonton, and of course crippling anxiety with the Riders in the big game. I could pick the night John got upset and threw a tantrum in line for a party, or when he tried to use his “media credentials” to get us a shuttle back to the hotel and they just laughed at him, or the many karaoke parties on the busses around Regina. My favourite Grey Cup memory came on game day. I know it sounds cliché, but growing up with a grandfather that loved the CFL and despised the Riders, being able to see my team with a shot to win at home, my childhood memories of my grandpa all came back. A little bit of a side story. Matt Dominguez was in Lloyd years ago and Grandpa took me to the trade fair to see him and get an autograph. I still have the hat to this day, he signed it on a Bentley (you had to be there). Before we left, my Grandpa told him that if they ever won a Grey Cup, he would start to cheer for them because he wasn’t cheering for losers anymore after leaving the Canucks behind in Vancouver in 1994.
On game day, when I woke up, I thought to myself, “Grandpa is gonna be so pissed, wherever he is, that they actually won a Grey Cup”. He had passed away in 2007 so he never even got to see the heartbreak of ’09 and ’10, but I really felt like this was the year it all came together. I also backed it up, betting my entire online gambling account on the Riders to win and cover -7.5. They dominated from the opening kick off, not surprisingly in front of the home crowd and they were all over Burris all night. From the “HENRY” chants to the Durant lateral at mid-field, and no one will ever convince me that Durant didn’t lateral that ball to Kory Sheets, to the absolute bedlam that ensued at Old Mosaic when the victory was in hand, the experience was something that I don’t think could ever be topped in my CFL fandom. To say I was spoiled with my favourite team winning a Grey Cup during my first trip to the event would be an understatement and I’ve been chasing that high ever since. Everyone remembers their first.
KYLE’S GREY CUP MEMORIES:
COVID has robbed us of a lot of things, including the entire 2020 CFL season and our treasured Grey Cup game. The first time since 1919 that the Grey Cup will not be awarded.
But in honour of what would be Grey Cup weekend, here is a look back on my own personal favourite Grey Cup memory.
I’ve unfortunately never been to the big game, but it is on my bucket list and I HAVE watched it every year since 2006. Which, as a Rider fan, means I’ve experienced both heartbreak and jubilation.
2007 gave one of the league’s most passionate fanbases it’s first championship in nearly two decades and just three days after the 20th anniversary of that magical 1989 win, the Riders lost in one of the most remembered Grey Cup moments in the league’s long history. That loss in 2009 led to a lot of confusion and anger while 2010 was just straight up disappointment but 2013…oh boy…that was special on an entirely different level.
The previous two Grey Cups, the host city’s team had won the game and I thought, “Can lightning strike three years in a row?” So naturally all season and playoffs there was heightened expectations and anxiety, but one moment early in the 101st championship changed my outlook.
With the Riders down early (albeit only 3-0) and 9 minutes left in the first quarter, Riders QB Darian Durant carried the ball through the Ti-Cat’s defense on 2nd and 10, just trying keep the chains moving. But he was cut short by Simoni Lawrence, who popped the ball loose and high into the air, seemingly for forever.
Until Kory Sheets plucked it out of midair, taking it 42 yards and right then, all the anxiety seemed to go away. I knew that everything was going to be okay, and boy, was it. The Riders wouldn’t look back after that, going on to a decisive victory at home and, even though I would get into a fender bender later during celebrations, giving me one of the most enjoyable nights of my life so far. Hopefully we as fans can continue to celebrate the great game that we all love for another hundred years.
TROY’S GREY CUP MEMORIES:
Unlike my colleagues who are all Roughrider fans, and unfortunately have chosen a memory that brings me pain as a Ticats fan, my Grey Cup memories differ a little bit.
The earliest memory that I can recall watching the Grey Cup was when I was just a boy. My dad had a recording of the 1989 showdown between Saskatchewan and Hamilton and I would watch that religiously. If you wanted my attention or needed me to sit down for a couple hours, that game was the way to do it. My dad was overjoyed with the thought of his son becoming a Rider fan, but wouldn’t you know it, my love for tigers apparently was more important than the love for my dad (only joking!) because I ended up becoming a Tiger-Cats fan, even though they lost the game. I didn’t care though, the black and yellow leaping tiger was iconic and I still think it’s one of the best logos in sports.
I have technically been to five Grey Cup games. My first was in 1997, the year after I was born. I clearly have no recollection of that moment, but my parents always tell me stories about how cold it was in Edmonton on that November night which saw the Toronto Argonauts win their second consecutive Grey Cup in convincing fashion over the Saskatchewan Roughriders. My mom said I didn’t see a second of the game because I was tucked away in her jacket but for some reason it still brings me joy knowing I was there.
I was also in attendance for the 2009 Grey Cup between Saskatchewan and Montreal. I don’t think I need to explain what happened in that one, but the atmosphere was wild until the too many men on the field penalty. The thing I remember the most was how quickly the excitement was sucked out of the building and it went from blinding noise to absolute silence. You could hear the Alouettes celebrating on the field after Damon Duval nailed his second attempt … that’s how quiet it was. It honestly felt like a funeral.
I attended the 2013, 2014 and 2019 Grey Cup’s in Regina, Vancouver and Calgary, a trio of Tiger-Cat losses. My family happens to be Rider fan (dad), Stamps fan (mom) and a Bomber fan (my little brother Reed) … see the trend? I’m the only one in this household who has yet to experience my team winning the Grey Cup. For the record Taylor Reed’s ‘block to the back’ infraction should have never been a penalty in my opinion. With all that being said, while the results of the game sucked for me, I have so many good memories from those weekends.
It was super cool to experience Rider nation in a Grey Cup game that their team was prominently featured in. I don’t care what anyone says, Saskatchewan fans are the best, no matter the team or league. Nothing can compare.
I was able to experience the Grey Cup festival in all its glory in 2014 when my friend Kade and I snuck into several of the team parties even though we were a year under-aged, and played beer pong for the majority of the night in the BC Lions hospitality suite. It was a great way to get introduced to what the whole festival was about. Seeing everyone representing their teams and getting along with random strangers they had just met a few minutes earlier.
2019 was another example of that. I got to introduce my younger brother Reed to Grey Cup week and we had a blast. Managing to find Cody Fajardo in Riderville and getting him to sign our dad’s jersey for a Christmas gift (huge shout out to Brett Lauther for the assist), make the league what it is. The Rider’s all-star kicker helping out a Bomber and Ticat fan by getting the attention of his superstar quarterback for an autograph is something that I guarantee you doesn’t happen in any other league. It’s what makes the CFL so special.
I was so disappointed that we as a CFL family didn’t get to add to the memory bank this year in Regina, but it gave me a time to reflect and remember what I love about the league. I’m 24 and yet the Grey Cup has already given me a lifetime of memories. Now with that being said, I think my brain and body can handle another lifetime of memories starting in 2021 in Hamilton. Hope everyone stays safe and that we can make the season and most importantly the 108th Grey Cup happen. It’s left a big void of Canadiana in my heart and I can’t wait to get back to celebrating our game. Oh and by the way … is it June yet?
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