The
end of May signals two events for me in my life. It's the SAM music
festival which for many of my students is the culmination...Grey Cup
if you will...of their piano music year. My reward for successfully
navigating the four day event is that Roughrider Training Camp starts
at the end of it. Finally, the off season is over, the new regime
has rebuilt our team and Rider fans can finally move on from 2015.
Just as I tell my piano students, if you can make your audience feel
something, whether good or bad, during your performance you will be
more memorable. They may not recall the notes but they will recall
the emotions you evoked. The same can be said for Roughrider fans.
We've ridden the lowest of lows and the highest of highs. We've run
the gamut of emotion and that etches deep memories in the fabric of
Rider Nation.
I was
asked yesterday about my memories at Mosaic Stadium. 2016 is the
final year at Taylor Field at Mosaic Stadium before the Saskatchewan
Roughriders move into their new digs at “new” Mosaic Stadium.
Being as big of a fan as I am, it haunts me that I wasn't at the 2013
Grey Cup. Why? WHY? Wasn't I there? I try to tell myself
that it was too cold the week before and we didn't know what the
weather was going to do. Then there was the question of
accommodations and oh yeah, Hubby and I didn't have tickets.
* Sigh *
What I
know for sure is that on that single night in November 2013 The House
on Piffles shined and glittered like no other stadium in the league.
The aerial shots on TSN were breathtaking. Winning the 101st
Grey Cup on our own turf was magical. From the Bring 'em Out
ditching of the player introductions to the final snap, Darian Durant
led our team to glory under the lights before those colourful seats
and 44,710 weeping fans.
If
2013 was the year all our dreams came true then 2009 was the ultimate
nightmare. It's true to some extent that the 2013 Grey Cup win was
redemption for losing in the unspeakable fashion that my Riders did
in 2009 however, nothing can erase the bitter taste and sickened
stomach as I recall kneeling on the living room floor praying for
that kick to go wide...again. The next day was cloudy and insanely
quiet. I stopped at a nearby Tim Hortons on the way to the music
academy where I rolled my eyes at a poor fellow sporting an
Allouettes jersey who obviously had lost a wager. I silently swore
I'd never teach that song again. When I arrived to my classroom my
Roughriders poster had been pulled off my door and tossed on the
floor. Emotions were the lowest of lows but in true Rider Pride
fashion it didn't stop fans from welcoming the team home to Mosaic
Stadium. Darian Durant returning home cupless, broken hearted and
devastated yet swearing to be Grey Cup contenders again was inspiring
misery.
When
you go to a football game at Taylor Field/Mosaic Stadium it is a
total experience. Tailgating is a real thing where there are
barbeques in the backs of pick up trucks, fans wandering in 'get ups'
from watermelon helmets to green Spiderman outfits. It's a meeting
place for fans who have connected on social media. It's a type of
congregation. The house on Piffles of Roughrider worship under the
retired numbers of the players who we continue to honour. If you
haven't been to a game you absolutely must. No questions.
It's heart pounding, messy, and exhilarating fireworks as Gainer
rides around the field after a touchdown to the ear splitting chants
of On Roughriders.
Seriously,
go before you can't.
I am
too young to know what Taylor Field was like when Ronnie and George
made their mark. I was a stupid Grade 12 student and didn't
appreciate Kent Austin enough in 1989. I wasn't there when Bon Jovi,
Rolling Stones or AC/DC played Mosaic. I made absolutely sure that I
was there to see Sir Paul McCartney. Imagine! One of the Beatles
coming to Saskie to play a concert! Mind blowing! I've never
attended a concert that made my jaw drop open in disbelief and left
me feeling so incredibly loved and positive. I'll never forget
Mosaic Stadium lit with thousands of tiny lights for Hey Jude or the
eye popping fireworks of Live and Let Die.
I
remember a time in the province of Saskatchewan when concert events
didn't come here. People fled green pastures for Alberta oil fields.
Lot's of musicians, if they came to Canada on tour only went to
Toronto or Vancouver. It seems like another world now because we are
attractive to CFL players who not only want to play here but live
here. The province attracts business and promotes a sense of
community. The Roughriders and Saskatchewan go hand in hand.
Football is something that binds together neighbours and citizens
right down to Premier Brad Wall. “How are the Riders doing?”
It's something we can all discuss while waiting in line at Timmies or
around the water cooler. It's also why we are picked out in crowds
world wide. We are green, proud, this is where we come from and this
is what Rider Nation represents and that's why it's so fitting that
SASKATCHEWAN is embroidered in the very fabric of every new Adidas
jersey.
It's What We're Made Of.
So how
did I answer that question about memories at Mosaic Stadium? The
season opener of 2015 was against the Winnipeg Blue Bombers. Darian
Durant was back after his shoulder injury on labour day the previous
year. Excitement was at an all time high. Everyone was hopeful.
This was supposed to be a great group of players. We wanted them to
get on track and get to that Grey Cup again. It was awesome to feel
the elevation and leadership when Doubles took the field. It sounded
right to hear the “black any choice” of his voice over the hush
of the crowd. Then the unthinkable happened and Darian Durant went
down with what we now know as an Achilles injury. “Something's
wrong.” I said to Hubby. “Oh no oh no oh no. He's hurt.” And
with that the stadium fell to pin dropping quiet.
I wish
I had remembered anything else. This isn't exactly a happy memory.
I could have recalled the preseason game against the newly expanded
Ottawa REDBLACKS when it was their home game so the Riders were on
the visitors bench. I could have remembered Labour Day 2015 and the
massive card trick that changed from BRING 'EM OUT to the Canadian
Flag. No, I mentioned our doomed seasons with Darian Durant's injury
instead. It's because of the roller coaster emotion and that's what
I remembered most.
We
might not remember how Park de Young and Park Hughes came together to
form Taylor Field. The memories of Ken Miller in red curling pants
fades over time as will the pain of the 13th man. As we
know the opening refrains and dynamic endings of anthems past, the
middle parts become blurry, but those middle parts are where the life
of Rider Nation happens...where bridges and next verses are composed.
We find ourselves in a sweet evolution chorus of saying goodbye to
Old Mosaic while waving hello to the New...
...And
I can't wait for more memories to be made.
