Grey Cup images spark inspiration, memories
Seconds after Mitchell Fenske laid his eyes on the Grey Cup for the first time, he turned to his father and made a bold promise.
“I’m going to be a Grey Cup champion one day, Dad,” exclaimed the eightyear-old Regina boy. “This is so cool.”
Fenske and his father were two of a couple hundred football fans who caught a sneak peek of the Grey Cup on Friday afternoon when the Grey Cup 100 Train Tour rolled into Regina. The three-car showcase will be open to the public on Sunday from 9:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. next to the practice field at Mosaic Stadium.
The train’s exterior says it all. It’s decked out with numerous iconic Grey Cup images. The assortment of memorabilia that sits inside the cars would ring familiar to CFL fans past and present. The museum car captures a century of Grey Cup history with photographs and video, while the team car celebrates the teams and current star players with locker stalls and player jerseys and helmets that are similar to the ones seen in in any CFL dressing room.
The most popular car features the Grey Cup, along with various designs of past Grey Cup championship rings and ticket stubs.
“I wanted to see the trophy,” said the young Fenske. “I want to play for the Roughriders when I’m older ... and then I can put my name on the Grey Cup.”
While the train tour sparks inspiration in the younger generation, it flooded the older fans with memories. Carl Deidrich, 72, has been a CFL fan for decades and has seen the championship game in person 15 years in a row. As he strolled through the train on Friday, he couldn’t help but reminisce of games in the past.
A fan of the Riders now, Deidrich said he marvelled at the Edmonton Eskimos’ dynasty from 1978 to 1982, during which they hoisted the Grey Cup in five straight seasons. Deidrich said he sat front row behind the Baltimore Stallions’ bench at Taylor Field in 1995 and watched the U.S. expansion team defeat the Calgary Stampeders.
“That game stung a little bit because the trophy didn’t stay in this country,” he said. “I will never cheer for the Stamps, but I would have rather them won the game just so the Cup would have stayed where it belongs.”
A small section in the train pays homage to the five U.S. expansion teams.
The Grey Cup 100 Train Tour will cover 4,100 kilometres across the country and will eventually come to a stop in Toronto, site of the 100th Grey Cup.
The tour will visit 100 communities, with its next stop scheduled for Tuesday in Yorkton. The Grey Cup trophy will be in Saskatoon on Monday.