Unfortunately Becca and Joseph weren't able to come. The crowd noise and excitement is just a little too much for Joseph at this point. I'm told that he watched the game at home and cheered loudly for the Riders. He even got all of his teddy bears out and put them on the couch in order to watch. This morning Joseph impressed me with a perfectly spoken: "Go Riders!" that he must have learned last night.
I did go to the game with a few other people though...
It was great to see Eddie Russ back! He was cut in training camp, but he never gave up. Last week the Riders signed him to the practice roster, and low and behold he was the starting corner back at the game. He played great! He had some big tackles and even a forced fumble. He's a very strong Christian and all through the game he kept pointing to the heavens after each big play.
Speaking of good Christians. John Chick, former NFLer, father of 6, and 4th degree Knight of Columbus, member was playing.
Football players are big guys! Just ask Ricky Foley...
Superman himself, Geroy Simon, made his first start for the Riders. Here he is getting taped up. Although Geroy only had two catches for 38 yards, it was interesting to see how he opened up room for the other receivers. On one play he lined up alone to the left, and three Ti-Cat players went to go cover him! So of course Durant (who played awesome) easily found an open receiver on the right side of the field.
Mosaic Stadium was rocking! I love the temporary bleachers added for this year's Grey Cup. All in all the announced crowd was 37,372! Yes, Regina has only around 200,000 people. Lots of support for the Riders!
37 was the number of the day. 37,372 attendance. 37-0 score! Thanks for coming out Hamilton.
After the game we went down near the field. We saw Dan Clark, a big backup O-lineman, meet up with his family. Now Clark checked in as a tight-end for one play, and actually caught an 8-yard touchdown! It's very very rare for an O-lineman to catch a TD. Here Clark shares the moment with his family. It was pretty touching.
We got to say hello to a few Rider players after the game, including Clark, Weldon Brown, and Chris Milo. I saw Milo play his first CFL game two years ago in Toronto. He (and all of the players) seems like a very nice guy.
Yesterday's big return of Kent Austin turned out to be a big victory for the Riders. Should've stayed Kent. All in all it as a great trip!
