Redblacks plan Grey Cup festival
Former Riders QB Russ Jackson calls TD Place stadium ‘spectacular’
Russ Jackson won three Grey Cup games as a player and played in four: two in Vancouver, one each in Toronto and Montreal.
However, the Hall of Fame quarterback missed his only opportunity to play in a Grey Cup contest in the town he ruled because the Ottawa Rough Riders lost both parts of the two-game Eastern final against the Hamilton Tiger-Cats in 1967.
“I’ve often said that was the biggest disappointment in my career, that we didn’t play in the Grey Cup Game here in this city,” Jackson said Friday after former mayor Jim Durrell was named chairman of the weeklong festival for the Canadian Football League’s 2017 championship match.
Most Grey Cup week events will take place on site at Lansdowne Park, with one exception being the annual CFL awards presentation at the Shaw Centre. Vehicle traffic will be restricted, allowing for a street festival setup, and Ottawa Sports & Entertainment Group representatives promised a massive game-day tailgate party.
Durrell was Ottawa mayor when the Winnipeg Blue Bombers beat the B.C. Lions in the 1988 Ottawa Grey Cup game.
As in 2004, when the Toronto Argonauts defeated the Lions at what was then called Frank Clair Stadium, most Grey Cup events were held elsewhere in the city because the current array of restaurants and bars hadn’t yet been envisioned, let alone built.
“The park was, as you know, in the final stages of deterioration, so I think the fact that the park now will be the focal point of everything should be a great asset for us,” Durrell said.
Jackson called the redeveloped TD Place stadium and Lansdowne Park “spectacular, and to think you can come to the game here early and have a little fun, and you can stay after the game, but have a little fun. You don’t have to drive five kilometres before you can have a bit of fun.”