Travelling Rider Fans

One of the things that makes Ridernation so unique is how fans travel from all over the country to take in games. It's not uncommon for someone to drive not only a couple hours but all day or night or even hop on a plane just to get to Mosaic Stadium. I am also one of these fans. I live three hours away in Saskatoon. I'd love nothing more than to be at every single game, but it's not always possible due to driving hours versus work hours. It's not only the time but the money involved in getting to games. It's an all day adventure.

Game Day Eve we start to get ready. I make sure I have bottled water and snacks for the trip. I make sure our tickets are packed. I actually make sure the tickets are there repeatedly. How bad would it be to drive three hours to only realize the tickets were forgotten?! Ack! We also have a special Rider satchel to carry our seat cushions in which handily has enough room for all the other stuff too. Because I have a condition called Solar Urticaria, there is also an ample supply of sunblock. You have to look after the skin!

As I said, going to a game is an all day affair when travelling from Saskatoon. Hubby is an accountant and has crunched all the numbers and for this reason we don't buy food at the stadium. Oh, we'd love to! It smells awesome! We also do not indulge in wobbly pops. We are there to enjoy the game and driving home can be treacherous enough as it is. We do, however, make sure to have a substantial breakfast or lunch before jumping in the car.

Hmm...is it Steve?  Is it really?

Last week, since the game was an early game, I found a recipe for “Egg Muffins”. I'd seen them posted on Pinterest but never really knew how they actually tasted. They are FREAKING AMAZING! You cook them in the oven in a muffin pan and they pop out and are totally portable and freezable for another time!

My Egg Muffin Recipe

Prepared Egg Muffins...YUM!

6 eggs

1 cup diced omelet/pizza mix from the Co-Op deli

1/2 cup grated tex mex cheese

dash salt & pepper.

Whisk or mix the whole thing up. Portion out by soup ladle into a muffin pan sprayed with cooking spray. Cook in 350 F degree oven for 15 minutes or until the centers are solid. Makes 9 egg muffins @ 56 calories each.

Anyone ever go to the A&W on Albert Street? It seems to be our stopping off place once we've arrived in Regina. It really helps that a few weeks back we were delivered a whole page of coupons in the mail. This is our pregame meal. Usually we'd have a Teen Burger combo or something similar, but last game we managed to get to Regina earlier than expected and they were still serving breakfast...probably because there wasn't a check stop in Chamberlain. Anyone who knows me knows I love pancakes or waffles. I was so happy to be able to have pancakes on game day. The syrup it's served with is pretty great too. 3 pancakes for $2...sign me up! My only complaint about that A&W is the size of the restrooms. I've been in bigger broom closets.

I get parking lot rage. I admit it. I cannot stand driving around looking for a place to park and I detest having to walk miles from the car to the stadium. So because of this The Hubs and I catch the Fan Express from the Northgate Mall. It's pretty handy. The first bus comes 90 minutes before game time and for $3 drops you right outside the south gates. The price went up over last year though. Now it's a $12 bus ride for us. Still it's a great option. We just hop on after the game and get delivered back to the mall and before you know it we're back out on the highway heading for home.

On the car ride home we eat sandwiches (honey ham for that trip with a smattering of mustard) which we packed picnic style and listen to the post game show on ckrm with Michael Ball and guests. It helps to keep the mind occupied while driving and winds us down and helps us rationalize all facets of the game. The callers make us angry and make us laugh but most importantly, it's broadcast long enough to get us to our doorstep and for that we are thankful.

The game? Well the Roughriders/Argonauts game was highly entertaining. I've never seen our offence so dialled in. It was amazing. Kevin Glenn performed awesome and I'd argue Durant couldn't have done better. Argo's Trevor Harris played calm and cool and collected. Many have complained about the officiating and phantom penalties, but I'm not going to go there. What I do see is a very strong Rider team and I think if they clean up the penalties this team will be the team to watch. The defence and coaching of Corey Chamblin was under question but I really didn't see a failure there at all. Remember there is no fan base as finicky as Rider fans.

After all, it's not the start of the season that matters...it's how you finish!

What's your game day regime? Have any tips for those of us travelling? Let me know! Maybe I'll include them in future editions of this blog.

Until then, I remain faithful. I believe. And I predict a win in BC Friday night.

Go Riders Go!

Groundhog Day

Oh Crap

.....Oh my gawd.....

NO! Not again!

Is it Groundhog Day? You know the Bill Murray movie where he keeps waking up to the same day over and over until he finally gets it right.

~ I got you babe ~

On Saturday evening I watched our franchise and future legendary quarterback Darian Durant go down again. I saw him clutch his ankle and then fall to the ground. What? My Hubby asked. It's a cramp I said. It's gotta be a cramp. After all, it was 32 degrees. Cramping is likely.

* moan *

Then the cart came out to take Doubles away and I knew it was more serious than dehydration cramps. Hubby said I bet it's his Achilles. I had that horrible sinking sickening feeling in my stomach. Then I realized – Thank goodness for Kevin Glenn. I even muttered it out loud. Still, I'm left feeling numb and in disbelief just like those empty pages of New Moon when Edward leaves Bella.

July.

Those F%&$'n Bombers! They took Darian away from us last year on Labour Day and here they did it in our very own home at the season opener on Taylor Field. OK, I know Darian wasn't hit and no player is to blame and yet.....grrrrr! The four Bomber fans in our section don't help the argument any. They were all too happy to disrespect our national anthem by screaming nonsense. Meh, I'm sure they don't even remember after all the wobbly pops they chugged.

Achilles. Besides knowing that Kory Sheets suffered Achilles injuries twice and is awaiting a second surgery, I know nothing about Achilles. In Greek mythology Achilles was a hero of the Trojan War and was in fact considered the greatest warrior. Some legends say Achilles was killed by Paris who shot him in the heal with an arrow while other stories say his only point of weakness was his heal and that's why we have the expression “Achilles heal.” Knowing these things, doesn't it kind of make weird sense that our hero would suffer this injury?

It's three days later and I still feel ill for Darian. I don't know another player who is so widely loved by fans and players alike. Well wishes came from many players including Nik Lewis and Jon Cornish. I thought that was very admirable as I've been so hard on Corndog.....er, I mean, Cornish over the years.

We saw Durant fight back after arm surgery. I witnessed him at training camp. I've been in awe the couple times I've been lucky enough to meet him. The man is larger than life. He was back. Even though die hard rabid fans like myself feel these things, I'm sure it's nothing in comparison to the heartbreak Darian must be feeling for himself.

Now that the dust is settling, all kinds of stories are emerging. The craziest is Coach Chamblin being accused of not only withholding the injury information but lying about it. People like to try to lay blame on someone and anyone. It's simply not true. There would be no reason to withhold or lie about such a thing. The situation is what it is. I'm sure Chamblin is just as sick about it as everyone else.

It's Kevin Glenn's team now. Kevin is not new to this situation. He's had to deal with it a few times before and even he admitted he doesn't know why. What will be interesting is seeing how the team rallies around him. Kevin can be the leader we want. He yearns for a Grey Cup.....the only thing he hasn't earned in his career. This could be the year and let's face it, it does seem rather like fate that he has ended up as the Saskatchewan Roughriders back up quarterback after leaving the team in 2003. Glenn led the Blue Bombers to the Grey Cup in 2007 but didn't play due to his own injury which of course led to the Riders win. It could be some kind of twisted green karma for things to work out this way. Will this be the year the most under rated quarterback in the CFL gets his own monkey off his back?

It's going to be interesting.

Suddenly, Brett Smith (1 of 3 Smith's on the roster) is the back up quarterback and the Riders are without a third string. Rumours and speculation abound as to whether Tino “the sun will shine” Sunseri will return to the team since he is familiar with Jacques Chapdelaine's offence. How would he feel about being asked back? Do football players think that way? Would he be happy to just have a job again?

These are things I don't know.

What I do know is that as sad as my little green heart is.....I will be clad in sunblock, with butt firmly planted in my section 14 seat, come Sunday's game against the the fresh off a surprising win over the Edmonton Eskimo's – the Toronto Argonauts - who have also seemed to find themselves in a bit of a backup situation of their own.

Lastly, I hope everyone gets behind Kevin Glenn and the Roughriders. I hope Darian see's the team he loves and bleeds for rally back and I pray that all the roads lead back to Winnipeg in November.

Let's do this for Darian.