During Regina’s Labour Day Classic and Winnipeg’s Banjo Bowl, it’s the fans who really know how to get in the game by John Campbell he air is perfumed with the scent of booze, tobacco smoke and a GETTING Tmore pungent leafy substance. Wayne’s World, a pri- vate home and party central near THEIR Regina’s Taylor Field at Mosaic Stadium, is rocking. Painted faces and beating drums greet a fleet of buses from Winnipeg that are disgorging foot soldiers into the KICKS fray. Dressed in blue and gold, these clansmen have arrived from their stronghold 570 kilo- metres to the east. It’s Labour Day 2008 and the siege has begun. Saskatchewan Roughriders westworld >> SummeR 2009 27 Sides have clearly been chosen as insults (here and opposite) rain through the warm air. “Riders suck!” saskatchewan roughrider and winnipeg Blue Bomber fans cries one out-of-towner. “Bombers suck!” alike gather for the annual echoes back a swift if not particularly labour day tussle at regina’s inspired reply. The bravado is a necessary Mosaic stadium (shown, previous page). prelude to the fact that, in a few hours, titans in shoulder pads will be pushing, shoving and thunderclapping into one another on the turf of Mosaic Stadium. Blood will, in all likelihood, flow. Bones may break. Great fun for the whole family, actually. Traditions usually are. And when it comes to prairie traditions, few dip back further guaranteed a 100 per cent occupancy level for than the annual Labour Day weekend tilt that Friday, Saturday and Sunday,” she says. between the Canadian Football League’s With rates running to $200 per night, the Winnipeg Blue Bombers and Saskatchewan numbers pile up like beefy linebackers atop a Roughriders, staged nearly every year since quicksilver running back. 1950 in Regina. “The Labour Day game has taken on a The second-most anticipated game in life of its own,” says Roughrider president the CFL schedule, for fans in Canada’s west- and CEO Jim Hopson. He happily admits ern heartland at least, the Labour Day Clas- that the event’s success is a fan-driven phe- sic has evolved into nothing less than a mini nomenon that requires nothing in the way Grey Cup – particularly so in 2008 when the of promotion from the club. “Our biggest game was a rematch of the 2007 final won by challenge is filling demand for tickets.” the Riders. The electric atmosphere, throngs Local interest was particularly high last of visiting fans, pageantry and high drama year as the defending cup champion Riders suggest the afternoon’s clash is more than a compiled a 6-2 win/loss record by the end mere football game. Indeed, it’s a battle for of August despite an unbelievable rash of Feuding, it seems, is good bus iness as the faithful criss-cross the provinces to fill each other’s stadiums. bragging rights between two very similar misfortune and economic reality checks. football-mad province (and never more so lavish display. Elvis is here along with aliens, surrounding Mosaic Stadium, of course, but argued that the Saskatchewan Roughrid- small-market franchises whose sometimes Injuries had decimated the team’s starting than at Classic time, when merchandise the infamous Watermelon Heads and unique putting the brakes on festivities attended ers are Canada’s team. An exodus from the not-so-friendly feud is a metaphor for the receiver corps. Former head coach Kent sales top a quarter million dollars in a single “fan-thing” creatures adorned in team by an intimate group of 30,985 is a tricky job province during the economic downturns determination and spirited work-hard/play- Austin had jumped ship in the off-season weekend, according to CEO Hopson). colours. As DJs provide a booming backbeat – one that Winnipeg has struggled with too. of the 1980s and ’90s means that there are hard ethic of prairie people themselves. to take a job at his alma mater, Mississippi The faithful work themselves up to a of classic rock and hip hop, there’s even an “Tailgate parties themselves aren’t illegal, as now Saskatchewanians in every CFL city The gridiron rivalry has breathed colour State. And all-star quarterback Kerry Joseph near-religious pitch prior to the Bombers’ undeniable sexual tension in the air – defi- long as there is no consumption of alcohol,” from Vancouver to Montreal. The Rider into the early fall, pride of place into the cities had been moved to the Toronto Argonauts arrival in town. Indeed, one fan from deep nitely so in that part of the stands where an Winnipeg Police spokeswoman Constable diaspora turns stadiums across the country and considerable dollars into local economies to free up room in the operating budget. inside the Grain Belt, identifying himself attractive young woman is wearing a T-shirt Jacqueline Chaput told the CBC, when author- green when their team rolls into town – an for nearly 60 years. Sellouts are all but guar- (The CFL mandates a $4.2-million salary only as Prophet, called in to an AM radio that boasts “Blue Girls Do It Better.” ities in the Manitoba capital announced estimated 10,000 Rider fans invaded Cal- anteed now for the Regina contest as well as cap for its eight franchises, and retaining show before last year’s game to connect the There is always the possibility that plans in 2007 to curb the pre-game alcohol- gary’s McMahon Stadium during a 2008 the return bout the following weekend in the services of the league’s 2007 MVP would dots. The Riders’ recent spate of injuries was things might turn chaotic, of course. Over fuelled Banjo Bowl tailgate parties. “Anyone game, for instance. Winnipeg (a.k.a. the Banjo Bowl). Feuding, have eliminated the wriggle room the Rid- like the biblical trials of Job, he said. And, as in a parking lot, where barbecues roast meat found to be consuming alcohol [in parking Throwing a wet blanket on that kind of it seems, is good business as the faithful criss- ers needed to acquire other vital players.) Job was rewarded by God for his persever- and tailgate parties are in full swing, a trio of lot areas] may receive an offence notice under free-spending, ticket-buying demographic cross the provinces to fill each other’s stadi- Despite these challenges, the Riders sim- ance and faith in the face of adversity, so too young men from Winnipeg are doing their the Liquor Control Act.” Those words do not would be flatly anti-entrepreneurial. In any ums, restaurants, bars and hotels. ply kept winning (and would win again this would He redeem the Riders. best to torch a T-shirt bearing a slogan offen- deter serious revellers, and stadium security event, a total clampdown is likely not fea- “Is there a spike in business on Labour day by a 19-8 score, extending their Classic Before the 2008 kickoff, the atmosphere sive to Bomber ideals. Their failure to do so and law enforcement officers tread a fine sible, especially not in Regina. Winnipeg’s Day?” Kay Koot asks rhetorically. “Every hotel winning streak to four straight). Consistent at Mosaic Stadium is part carnival, part rouses equal measures of scorn and support line between tolerating the fun and keeping Canad Inns Stadium, which is surrounded in the city will say ‘yes.’ ” The general manager sellouts, buoyed by a league-high 22,500 Roman encampment. All due credit goes to a from bystanders dressed in Rider Green and the environment safe for all fans, including by light industry and controllable shop- of the tony 235-room Regina Inn and Hotel season ticket holders, has created a play- new generation of fans that is far “less inhib- Bomber Blue. Then good-natured smiles the very young and very old – both of whom ping centre parking lots, can be patrolled Conference Centre has worked in high-end ing environment arguably unlike anything ited” than their forebears, observes Hopson break out all round as the trio give up their generally mingle quite peacefully among more readily. In Regina, on the other hand, accommodations in New York and Toronto else in Canadian professional sports. “Team with some understatement. Capes, bangles efforts and return to their cans of beer hid- even the noisiest knots of juiced-up yahoos. residential homes in established neighbour- but has never encountered the hue and cry Green” T-shirts, hats and jackets are almost and beads, full-body paint and outland- den in hand-held styrofoam coolers. If it’s true that the Dallas Cowboys are hoods trim the apron of Mosaic Stadium. that accompanies this fierce matchup. “We’re mandatory fashion statements in this ish costumes speak to the human need for Alcohol is banned in the public places “America’s Team,” then it can be readily This brings a significant X-factor into play, 28 westworld >> SummeR 2009 (both pages) John Campbell westworld >> SummeR 2009 29 including Wayne’s World, the most visible, Western Senators, says these unscripted possibly largest tailgater of them all. events in his backyard have humble ori- Wayne’s World is a modest bungalow gins. “It happened by accident one year,” he on Mosaic Stadium’s west side, at best a explains. “I was sitting here with a friend stone’s throw from the entry gates. The when these guys came by and said they had (here and opposite) In early fall, hard-nosed baby boomers, the home belongs to Wayne Kuntz, who for the nowhere to party and could they join us.” iconoclastic Youtube generation past four years has entertained a large, free- The guys in question were Winnipeg resi- and even preschool squeakers flowing contingent of primarily Winnipeg dents Brett Sylvester and Ken Burns, who meet on friendly turf where the common denominator is football.