November 6, 2022 CFL Playoffs

I moved to BC sixteen and a half years ago. There are very few things I miss about living in Calgary. One thing I do miss is going to CFL football games. I loved the passion and excitement that would fill the city when The Stampeders were in the playoffs. Football was a big part of my life every weekend from late June through mid-November when my team went all the way to the Grey Cup, lost out, or even sometimes missed the playoffs. 

I never missed a home game whether it was a blizzard or a beautiful day, If The Stamps were playing I was there. 

Now I’m living in the Okanagan and barely stay connected to my team. I watch when I can, but the connection is gone living so far away. Last year my daughter and I went to a game in Vancouver to watch my beloved Stamps. It wasn’t the same but it was a fun evening out with my kid. 

It was another stage in an ever-changing life.

This year my friend and I went to Wings to catch the big playoff match-up between my Calgary Stampeders and the BC Lions. I was hoping for a little excitement watching a playoff game in the bar. But the place was dead and we were the only people there to watch the game. Well, I was the only CFL fan, my buddy was more concerned with an American team playing NFL football five hundred kilometres away. 

Until in walked a man wearing a BC Lions Jersey. 

It was good to see that CFL football wasn’t completely dead, just on life support. It’s all about money in the world today. When I was young in Calgary it was about the game. We cared about our team and the CFL meant something, no one gave a shit about NFL football. 

But the money is huge in the NFL now and the marketing machine that is The National Football League has taken over. The CFL on the other hand has players who earn less than $ 100,000 per year, part of the reason I love the CFL so much is that the players are playing for the joy of the game and earn a normal person’s wage to do it – unlike their excessively rich brethren to the south.

It was nice to see the stadium in Vancouver was fairly full. The lower bowl was packed and they opened up the upper bowl. Still, it’s not nearly the same as it was back in the nineties. BC Place would have been sold out for a playoff tilt between the western rivals. I know that the CFL barely survived the pandemic and is struggling to regain its place in the hearts and wallets of today’s football fans. Having 40,000 people shell out their hard-earned money to watch the game was great for the BC Lions. And they didn’t go home disappointed. 

Today was my day to stew in the agony of defeat. The final score was 30-16 for the home side. Now BC will go on to play in Winnipeg to see who goes to the Grey Cup in Regina this year. 

And Calgary went home wondering what about next year?

I went home hoping BC wins in Winnipeg and then the Grey Cup championship the next week, since I live in BC I think it will be ok – it’s tough but I will write the words below;

Go Lions Go.