Rod Pedersen
CFL.ca
When a football franchise only wins one Grey Cup per generation, it provides cause for massive celebration whenever a key anniversary rolls around.
That’s exactly what’s going on in the heartland of the Canadian Football League this week as the Saskatchewan Roughriders honour the 20-year anniversary of their 1989 Grey Cup championship season.
Upwards of 60 players, coaches and staff plus their families are descending on Regina for the three days of festivities which began Thursday night with a massive welcoming reception, and will culminate in a halftime ceremony during the Riders’ Week 4 game against the Edmonton Eskimos Saturday afternoon.
In 2006, the football club held a 40-year anniversary for its 1966 Grey Cup team and it was a remarkable spectacle as Rider legends such as Ron Lancaster and George Reed returned home for the hoopla.
However for those of us born after 1970, our only memories of that championship season come from the grainy videos our parents showed us as they gave us a lesson in Rider Pride as youngsters growing up in the Wheat Province.
The 1989 Grey Cup championship is another story. It’s like one of those “where were you?” moments like the Kennedy Assassination, Neil Armstrong landing on the moon or the day Elvis died.
For me, I was in the basement of my cousin Nancee Williams’ farmhouse joined by many of my Milestone High School classmates along with a string of friends and family. The game itself was as nerve-wracking as it gets, of course coming down to a last-second field goal by Dave Ridgway to seal a 43-40 victory over the Hamilton Tiger-Cats at the brand new SkyDome in Toronto.
Where were you when it happened?
Huge plays by Ray Elgaard, Jeff Fairholm, Mark Guy and of course Kent Austin have been burned into our psyche and will last a lifetime in our memory banks. The video isn’t as blurred as the 1966 film, but it’s funny to look back now at us Rider fans and how we looked as we closed the book on that great decade of the 80s.
It was a sea of skinny ties, mullets, upside-down glasses, skin-tight acid-washed jeans and really, really bad farmer hats across the province. Let’s hope that look never comes back in style!
The list of legends returning for this week’s celebration reads like a who’s who of the Plaza of Honour including Elgaard and Fairholm, Roger Aldag, Bob Poley, Chuck Klingbeil, Gary Lewis, Glen Suitor et al.
Defensive back #7 Richie Hall returns as well, but you’ve got to think he wishes it came at another time! Hall is now the head coach in Edmonton and his 1-2 Eskimos are under fire as they come into Regina for a huge divisional showdown.
Richie may spend some time bending the ear of 1989 Rider coach John Gregory, who will be in town along with much of his coaching staff from that storied season. You’d have to think the 1989 CFL Coach of the Year may have some tips to pass along to the rookie Eskimo coach.
Unfortunately some of the brightest stars from ’89 won’t be returning as quarterback Kent Austin has a mini-camp with his Ole Miss Runnin’ Rebels and receiver Don Narcisse attends his daughter’s wedding. The orchestrator of “The Kick”, Dave Ridgway, will be absent as well.
However they will be here in spirit.
After Thursday’s reception, the 1989 Riders gathered for a day of golf on Friday followed by another formal get-together. Rider fans will get a chance to relive the past on the practice field prior to Saturday’s game as the players, coaches and staff gather for an autograph session from 12:00 to 1:30pm.
What’s truly unfortunate is that anyone born post-1990 will have no recollection of what was called “A Season to Remember” at the time.
Now it’s up to this generation of new parents to instill in our kids the memories of one of the greatest seasons in franchise history, and the events of this week will go a long ways to accomplishing that task.
And that’s how it goes with Rider Pride. Pass it on.
Enjoy the week!
