Saskatchewan will host the 2013 Grey Cup

So the province of Saskatchewan will be hosting the 2013 Grey Cup which will be their third time to host the game since Earl Grey donated the Cup in 1909 and has been award to the best Football team in the country and it will be the 101st time the cup will be award. An announcement to make it official will be made on October 13 with CFL commissioner Mark Cohon in attendance along with Premier Brad Wall, the Mayor of Regina Pat Flacco, and from the Riders chairmen of the board Roger Brandvold and CEO Jim Hopson.

The first time was in 1995 and it was a very cosy affair as people coming into the city for the game taken in by residence of Regina because Regina at the time did not have enough hotels to hold the fans that came in for the game. The game also mark the first and only time that a team from the US came over the boarder and took the Grey Cup back over the boarder with them when the Baltimore Stallions beat the Calgary Stampeders 37 to 20 with Tracey Ham putting up 213 yards through the air and was named MVP of the game. The wind at Taylor field got as strong as 85 KM a hour and the game ended up being called the wind bowl.

The second time around was in 2003 by which time the city Regina had a number of hotels with lots of rooms and where more able to support the mop of fans coming into the city for the all week party leading up to the 91 Grey Cup and Edmonton Eskimos beat the Montreal Alouettes (who were the Stallions who had moved to Montreal right after winning the Grey Cup in '95) 34-22. Jason Trucker was award the MVP of the game with a 7 catch performance for 132 yards and Ricky Ray went 22 for 32 for 301 while the all-time CFL passer Anthony Calvillo went 22 of 37 for 371 yards and Montreal RB Mike Pringle who is the all-time rushing leader broke the all-time rushing yards record in the Grey Cup which was 359 by Leo Lewis.

The 2013 Grey Cup will be an extreme party and it is about time that Saskatchewan host another Grey Cup and they are left behind by the need for Cities like Toronto and Vancouver who need the cash cow more than the Riders do to survive in the league.

Go Riders Go

Tom Mehegan