STAMPS DO US PROUD
Russia is the only larger country on the planet than Canada, by land mass, so it’s not surprising we have an impressive fair share of firsts and standouts. For starters, we’ve got Kraft dinner, butter tarts, Nanaimo bars, the Swiss Chalet restaurant chain, and if you’re feeling highfalutin, there’s the Canadarm, the robotic arms that were used on the Space Shuttle orbiters to deploy, manoeuvre and capture payloads.
We’d like to cite one more venerable Canadian institution: the Grey Cup. The Canadian Football League championship was first handed out in 1909, so it certainly shares bragging rights with other professional awards such as the Stanley Cup (1893) and the National Football League’s Super Bowl, awarded for the first time in 1967.
The NHL may be deemed Canada’s game, and there’s certainly no doubting the NFL enjoys throngs of supporters north of the border. Still, there is something distinctive, if not noble, about the Grey Cup, which will he held for the 105th time this Sunday.
Worth noting is that it is Canada’s game. Granted, there are slots for U.S. athletes, but there aren’t any American teams on the field — neither among the high-intensity regular-season run-up to the playoffs, nor at the championship itself, which rather than being hosted in Calgary or Toronto — the two cities vying for this year’s championship, will be held in that forever stodgy city of Ottawa, as previously determined.
Calgary may not have won the most Grey Cups, but it can certainly lay claim to taking the sport to its heart. Ever since it won the trophy in 1948, it has fielded a spirited contingent to represent the city, whether the championship has been played in Calgary, or if the final has been played in the East or West.
“It’s almost like our game ourselves,” says Alexander Dubyk, spokesman for the 70 volunteers who will put Calgary’s best face forward at the annual celebration of Canadian football supremacy on Sunday.
Dubyk says the spectacle — no matter where it takes them — is the culmination of a year’s work of preparation for the committee’s annual pilgrimage.
There will also be the legendary mascot horse, that while not expected to be on the field, will be feted in the capital nonetheless. Tuffy, who hails from Stouffville, Ont., is expected to visit a host city hotel — as Calgary Stampede tradition demands.
We’ll be saving our most ardent enthusiasm for the two-legged Stampeder variety adorned in red and white. Win or lose, they, along with their legions of supporters, will continue do us all proud. Go, Stamps, Go.