Now that the handful of confetti that was set aside for the Stampeders has been thrown and the 2008 Grey Cup champs are back and have greeted their fans in dashing white cowboy hats and my pictures are uploaded, I figure I'll give my own Cup Wrap-up.
I'll start by saying it's a shame that I wasn't able to snap a picture of everything my eyes could see so I will point out some highlights and off-season parting thoughts.
In The Mix of the Game: I sat in a fairly rowdy section (such as it could be once the Alouettes 13th man was benched) needless to say, I was often cheering only with Henry Burris' parents as the other seats near mine were Roughrider fans who were cheering for the Als and CFL players who were selective about their moments of enthusiasm. But what can be said? No defense really wants to allow a shoot-out in the Grey Cup and I have no problem saying that I wasn't let down by the game.
In Case You Didn't Know: CFL superfans are some of the best people! The Spirit of Edmonton party was more like a rock concert, the amount of people on the street wearing their team colors, painted faces, flags, horns, the works. The Grey Cup Village was fun despite the bitter cold too. In no other league will you be able to go to a championship and literally trip over the players in your daily travels and be able to just go and talk to them. The Stampeders ended up spoiling the post-game party far more than I would've imagined but I suppose that's the drawback to having the host team be in the big dance.
Pleasant Surprises: Perhaps the best one was being seated at the only rowdy table at the FRC lunch which included my fellow Redzone blogger Jack Bedell who is one of the coolest of the cool and to be around so many reporters that I either respect or wholeheartedly dislike was pretty cool, not to mention how funny they are. I now have a deeper appreciation for how the CFL is covered in more enthusiastic CFL cities. My other pleasant surprise was exactly how funny CFL players and other league employees are when they let loose. That's all I'm going to say about that.
Thoughts for the Off-Season: The off-season should be every bit as interesting and drama-filled with many free-agents on the market and another impressive CIS draft class. Could 2009 be the year to develop a CIS-made quarterback?? Benoit Groulx's got better stats than a few current starters...I'm just saying. Many teams will be shaking up their head offices as well as rosters. Don't forget to keep your eyes peeled for fallen NFLers too.
Shout outs to: My pal Russ and the Roughrider fans in section 116, you guys are fanhood done right! Also to Bob Coatsworth who called the Stamps win too for the best reasons I've ever heard!
Peace out to: Cam Wake and Jamel Richardson (most likely). As much as there's talk about how much fans claim they'll miss Wake, I'm skeptical. We'll only miss him until Buono makes another one. He does that you know. Both have legit chances of sticking around in the NFL if the opportunity is right.
It's been real Redzone.