Kelly Bates
CFL.ca
The year started out with eight teams all with 0 wins and 0 losses. Millions of fans across the country had dreams of their team playing in the Grey Cup. The end of the season is now upon us, there are two teams left, and the regular season record that both teams worked so hard to garner no longer means a thing.
Now although there are only two teams left to battle it out for cup there is still one very distinctive aspect that is going to occur this week in Montreal. People from all over the country are going to descend on that city to unite North America in one huge party.
To me, this is the one unique aspect of playing in the CFL. I have attended three Grey Cups, two as a player and one as a fan and the one aspect that was evident at each and every one of them is that it did not matter who was playing in the Grey Cup game as there was going to be fans from each and every CFL team there engulfed in the festivities.
As a player, it is a unique week in comparison to the rest of the season, and as it should be. The team will leave for the host city on the Tuesday and spend the entire week there. There are probably more than a couple of reasons for this, amongst them being that the week can be quite lengthy. Grey Cup week is not your ordinary week. Not only does the team keep the same preparation schedule as every other previous week, but you also have many media events to attend during the week, especially for the high profile players on the team. There are luncheons, the CFL awards dinner, and for most of the players there is the never envious task of arranging tickets and accommodation for family.
It is also a week that you don’t want to let pass you by. As a player you walk a fine line of taking in and experiencing the week as much as you can without draining your energy or taking your focus away from the job at hand. My second trip to the Grey Cup as a player seemed to go by a lot more slowly than the first in that I was able to walk the fine line of enjoyment and work with a lot more ease. There really is no substitute for growth through experience.
It is a truly unique experience in any capacity. I have met people from all over North America that come to the Grey Cup host city each year and would not miss the week for anything. You can always count on a contingent of fans coming from Baltimore to represent the now defunct Stallions. It is never a surprise to see any of the American expansion team jerseys in abundance at any Grey Cup week gathering.
Every Canadian city is well represented, whether there is a CFL team in that city or not. In some cases, such as the Maritimes, there is not even a team in the region and yet fans from all across the Maritimes show up and represent. It is truly something to behold and no matter which two teams are in the Grey Cup, the entire CFL wins during Grey Cup week!
Kelly Bates has been a regular starter along the BC Lions’ offensive line since 2003. He was a 2007 CFL All-Star and played his 100th career game in Week 3.
