RIDERS NO LONGER TARGETS FOR GREY CUP NAYSAYERS
The Saskatchewan Roughriders were still celebrating their second CFL title when Phil Kershaw proposed a first.
How about a Regina-based Grey Cup?
That was the suggestion of Kershaw — who had just succeeded Tom Shepherd as the Roughriders’ president — shortly after Saskatchewan had defeated the Hamilton Tiger-cats 43-40 in the Grey Cup classic of 1989.
At the annual general meeting, Kershaw announced that Regina would strive to play host to the league’s marquee event in 1993.
“When I announced we were bidding for the Grey Cup, it was assumed I had lost my mind celebrating the big win,” Kershaw said the other day, while outlining the various forms of skepticism he encountered.
“We couldn’t host the big game because Regina and area didn’t have enough hotel rooms, first of all.
“Secondly, Rider fans would never pay the premium prices for the Grey Cup. Taylor Field couldn’t be expanded to accommodate more seats, and on and on.
“Frankly, I think the original reaction was that it was a joke not to be taken seriously because, on top of everything else, the CFL would never award us the big game.
“In those days, we were the poor Riders — one telethon away from the abyss — and the league bigwigs and rich private owners weren’t giving the Grey Cup to us under any circumstances.”
That was the mindset at the time, anyway. Fast forward to Thursday, when the focus is on 2020 foresight. The CFL is poised to announce which city — Regina, Hamilton or Montreal — will stage the 2020 Grey Cup.
If Regina isn’t awarded the 2020 Grey Cup, bet on 2021.
Either way, the Queen City’s fourth Grey Cup game is a given.
And they said it couldn’t be done.
John Lipp wasn’t among the naysayers. In 1988, Lipp attended the Grey Cup in Ottawa and took note of how the capacity at Lansdowne Park had been increased to 50,000 through temporary seating.
Lipp, who succeeded Kershaw as president, also observed that Winnipeg had staged a successful Grey Cup in 1992. If the Manitoba weather wasn’t an obstacle, why would there be climate-related issues in Regina?
The initial timetable was modified over time. Instead of bidding for the 1993 event, the Roughriders took advantage of that year’s Grey Cup week to intensify their focus on 1995. One conversation with Larry Smith, the CFL’S commissioner at the time, stands out.
“I told him, ‘Larry, we’re going to try to bid for a Grey Cup,’ and that we had been able to overcome the stadium thing,” Lipp recalled. “He said, ‘Sure! Why don’t you? Give it a shot.’ He was very encouraging.”
Lipp proceeded to meet with the Roughriders’ board of directors and the wheels were in motion for a once unimaginable Saskatchewan Grey Cup.
The formal presentation was made to the league’s board of governors on March 3, 1994, in Sacramento, Calif., which was then the home of the CFL’S Gold Miners. Regina and Winnipeg were the two bidders for the 1995 Grey Cup festival.
Ultimately, Saskatchewan won the day, with seven of the CFL’S 10 teams voting in its favour.
“Although it took five years, we had done it,” Kershaw said.
“I believe this ushered in the current era of the ‘can do’ Riders, where we got over our inferiority complex and became the leaders of the CFL.
“We were always the heart and soul of the league, but now we knew it.”
One major impediment remained: What about the lack of hotel space?
The solution: “Huddle Up in Saskatchewan.”
Residents of the greater Regina area were invited to open up their homes and hearts to Grey Cup attendees. The idea was warmly received, as were the visitors as it turned out.
The entire week was a phenomenal experience. At a time when the CFL was in a perilous position, the 1995 Grey Cup festival was a tonic.
The game, which saw the Don Matthews-coached Baltimore Stallions post a 37-20 victory over Doug Flutie and the Calgary Stampeders, was unremarkable. However, a chilled crowd of 52,064 witnessed the proceedings that punctuated a weeklong celebration of Canadian professional football. There were seven-figure profits all around.
Saskatchewan had guaranteed the league $3.2 million worth of critically needed funds. The Roughriders ended up banking $1.1 million from the festival.
Never again was there a question about whether Regina would play host to another Grey Cup.
Taylor Field was the site of another successful Grey Cup game in 2003, when the Edmonton Eskimos downed the Montreal Alouettes 34-22.
Ten years later, the Roughriders won their ultimate home game, defeating Hamilton 45-23 in the 101st Grey Cup.
Now the city is abuzz over the timing of another landmark event: the first Grey Cup to be played at new Mosaic Stadium.
“For the old guard of the Riders, the 2013 Grey Cup was an out-of-body experience, absolutely,” Kershaw said.
“This was compounded when (Roughriders president-ceo) Craig Reynolds toured me through the new Mosaic Stadium. If the fans had known the number of near-death experiences that both the franchise and, yes, the league had back in our era, in the not-too-distant past, they would have an added appreciation for where we are today.”