CLASSIC MEMORIES
LaBatte learned how to handle pressure playing in emotionally charged stadium
LaBatte has seen it all as both player and fan
Brendon LaBatte’s first memory of the Labour Day Classic packs a punch.
“It was the first and only one that I really recall going to as a child. A big Bombers fan and a big Riders fan in the south end zone had a pretty good rumble,” the Weyburnborn Saskatchewan Roughriders offensive lineman says with a chuckle, flashing back to a visit to Taylor Field in the 1990s.
“It might have been pre-game, and I don’t think the game had really started. That’s my lasting memory of Labour Day.”
Fast forward to 2018. LaBatte is preparing to play in his 10th Labour Day Classic. The Riders will play host to the Winnipeg Blue Bombers at a sold-out Mosaic Stadium on Sunday in a battle of the two CFL teams for which LaBatte has played.
LaBatte’s first Labour Day Classic as a CFL player took place in 2008. Winnipeg had selected him sixth overall in the 2008 CFL draft out of the University of Regina Rams, and the rookie was besieged with ticket requests from family and friends.
“It was really exciting and I remember barely sleeping the night before,” LaBatte says. “I slept with my iPod in at the Moose Jaw spa.
“The first Labour Day game was definitely the biggest game that I was able to play in that year. It was one that I had circled on the calendar right from the time when I was able to join the Bombers, and it couldn’t have come fast enough.”
LaBatte spent three more seasons with the Blue Bombers, giving him several opportunities to play for the visiting team on Labour Day weekend.
“It’s great to be able to think back to all of the abuse we took on the sideline,” he says. “It was fun and definitely made me a better player, and able to handle the big games that you get emotionally charged for. It has helped me to control that a little bit and it’s been a good thing for my career.”
Despite the noise from a sold-out stadium, LaBatte was able to hear some of the comments from the fans in the east side stands.
“I remember some really good chirps from over there,” he says. “Where it can really start to pile on is if you have a bad play and then you start getting heckled about it. Then it’s like, ‘Well, I’m not going to let that guy say that again,’ so you try to do a little bit more.
“When I was a younger guy, that used to get to me. If I gave up a hit on the quarterback or something, and they started talking smack to me from behind, it was tough to block out and just flush.”
The tone of the chirping changed in 2012 when LaBatte signed with the Riders as a free agent.
LaBatte’s first Labour Day weekend game with the Green and White took place on Sept. 2, 2012, and remains his favourite of the nine in which he has played.
“52-0,” LaBatte says with a smile, referring to the score of that game.
LaBatte has only missed one Labour Day Classic since 2008. That was in 2016 when he was sidelined for all but three regular-season games with a bruised nerve in his neck.
“If you’re not playing in the game, you have to stay level-headed and within yourself,” he says. “It’s a lot more fun playing because the atmosphere in the stadium on that day — outside the playoffs and the Grey Cup — is electric by the time we step on the field. In warm-ups you can feel it and it’s definitely an exciting game.”
There is a need, though, not to get carried away with the excitement.
“As I’ve gotten older, I’ve gotten better at treating every game the same, whether it’s a pre-season game or the Grey Cup,” LaBatte says. “You just have to focus on yourself and not let the situation get you to do anything you wouldn’t normally do.”