November 12, 2021

Marijke and I went to our first significant event since the Before Times – before covid hijacked the world. My daughter was pretty stoked to attend the game in BC Place in Vancouver to watch the BC Lions host the Calgary Stampeders.

It felt surreal getting on the Skytrain and riding with all the masked people in an enclosed tube. It was strange being out of our bubble and away from home.  The fear of the early days of the pandemic has given way. It felt almost the same as before the coronaverse. Except we couldn’t see anyone’s face.

I had a myriad of emotions and feelings. Deep down it felt good. It felt good to be in a place with other people and I enjoyed the connection despite the fact we couldn’t see any expressions.

BC Place was allowed to host the game at full capacity, yet the stadium was far from it. I think that had more to do with how bad the Lions have been playing lately than anything to do with covid.  The last game I attended was in my hometown of Calgary and the Stampeders lost a home playoff game to the Saskatchewan Roughriders.  This game was much warmer, and the result was much better.

What a difference a few years and a pandemic make.

It was different in so many ways. Not the least of which was that everyone’s face was covered when they were walking in the concourse.  But when they sat down in their seats the majority of people removed their masks and revealed their emotions.

Strange days indeed.

We scored awesome seats from a ticket reseller outside and managed to watch the game from the fifty-five-yard line seven rows up from the back of the Stampeders’ bench. I’ve never had such good seats for a football game. We met a ticket reseller outside and he sold us the tickets at less than half the face value. They call them a ticket reseller when they lose money – we used to call them scalpers. Now the real scalpers are the ticket sellers like Ticketmaster.

We sat in front of four long-time BC Lion season ticket holders and enjoyed some friendly banter. It felt so good just cheering on my team and enjoying a moment of normalcy. I did feel bad for these guys when their team lost. What was great was the class in which they lost. They were happy for us to have made the trip and they congratulated us on the Stamps victory.

It is a moment I hope my daughter remembers for years to come.

I hope the next game we go to we can see the faces of the masses without being covered by a flimsy piece of cloth.  I look forward to cheering the Stamps through the playoffs and hope next year to return to BC Place to cheer the Stamps to victory again.

I hope I can see the faces of the people, without fear and restriction.

GO Stamps GO