By: Justin Boone
The hottest ticket in town Friday night was the East Meets West Bash with Black, Gold and Green as far as the eye could see. One block away from the Grey Cup Festival, this year’s version of TigerTown is sharing the Windsor Ballroom with Saskatchewan’s number one export, the Roughriders.
While the Ticats and Riders aren’t gearing up to play Sunday, plenty of Ticats faithful made the 555-kilometre trek from Steeltown to Als-town, helping to bring a part of the Hammer to the Ticats Grey Cup headquarters. Life of Riley and Tom Wilson rocked the stage, and Molson products flowed all night long, as the first night of the two-day event went into the early hours of the morning.
It seems that with this year’s gathering, there is more of a build up towards the game. The anticipation for the match-up is growing each day and a huge reason for that is TSN’s coverage.
Canada’s sports leader is doing a phenomenal job this week, with their talent on hand at every event, and non-stop coverage on the station. The Grey Cup is such a big part of the Canadian sports scene, it deserves all the hype that the Stanley Cup gets and TSN is finally making sure that happens. They’re broadcasting live from all the venues and have done some great pieces over the week on guys in the game like Mike Labinjo of the Stamps, and players who are here but not competing like Cameron Wake of the Lions.
The coverage even compelled Santa Claus to come to town and check out the festivities. On my way back from breakfast I ran into the Santa Claus Parade down Rue Ste Catherine, with families lining the street to get a glimpse of old Saint Nick. After the last float had passed, the Grey Cup festival filled up with locals interesting in seeing what all the fuss was about. It made me wonder why the CFL doesn’t have every mascot here roaming around the CFL village and making appearances at schools like the players. Other than my good friend Stripes, I’ve seen the mascots from the two competing teams, but that’s it. I talked to Stripes about it and he agreed. He might even lead the charge to bring all eight mascots together in Calgary next year.
There is still plenty more to come from Grey Cup week, including catching up with the East Rookie of the Year, “Big Play” Prechae Rodriguez and seeing how his first Grey Cup week is going, and a closer look at the two teams that will be taking the field Sunday afternoon.
For now, it’s off to the East Meets West Bash, which got back underway this afternoon. If last year’s Saturday night was any indication, tonight’s celebrations will be the highlight of the weeklong lead-up to the game.
