Stay up-to-date with an all-access glimpse into Calgary Stampeders as they prepare for the 104th Grey Cup in Toronto. Daily updates will be provided this week leading up to Sunday’s championship tilt with the Ottawa RedBlacks at BMO Field. Content will include news and photos covering practices, team functions, and other various events.
Tuesday, Nov. 22
TSN’s Chris Cuthbert interviews Alex Singleton during the Leafs game
The players arrived at McMahon Stadium in the morning for treatment and breakfast before team meetings were conducted by the coaching staff. At 12 p.m., the buses pulled out of the parking lot and headed to the airport for a 1 p.m. departure.
After the nearly four-hour flight, head coach Dave Dickenson along with Charleston Hughes, Marquay McDaniel and Bo Levi Mitchell walked across the tarmac immediately upon arrival to take questions at the podium from members of the media. Following the press conference, the team travelled to the Stamps’ hotel headquarters.
After quickly checking in to their rooms, Alex Singleton stopped by the Air Canada Centre where the Toronto Maple Leafs were hosting the Carolina Hurricanes. The Red and White’s starting middle linebacker joined Ottawa’s Kienan Lafrance live on the TSN broadcast to promote Sunday’s Grey Cup matchup.
Osagie Odiase and TSN’s Brian Williams
While Singleton was over at the arena, Rob Cote, Derek Dennis, Jerome Messam and Osagie Odiase sat down with TSN’s Brian Williams to record one-on-one interviews for this weekend’s pregame show.
Those without media obligations headed to nearby restaurants for a long-overdue meal while the video staff was hard at work in advance of the week ahead.
Calgary’s equipment truck also arrived on Tuesday. The gear will be transported to the visiting team’s locker room at BMO Field once the third practice concludes on Friday afternoon.
Wednesday, Nov. 23
The morning started off bright and early for head coach Dave Dickenson as he made his way to the Delta hotel for the coaches press conference. The rookie head coach met with CFL staff members to get briefed on how the presser would go.
Coach Dickenson and Coach Campbell – who worked together for three seasons in Calgary – answered questions and threw in some entertaining answers. Topics ranged from football to music to celebrity crushes and the infamous “sex question”.
Head coaches Dave Dickenson and Rick Campbell
Click here to watch the press conference
Dave got back to the hotel in time to attend player meetings. There was time for a quick lunch before players got changed and bussed about 20 minutes to Monarch Park for practice in an indoor facility.
After practice, players were interviewed by the plethora of Calgary and national media that were in attendance. TSN’s Cabbie played Connect 4 with quarterback Bo Levi Mitchell and middle linebacker Alex Singleton. Additionally, a handful of players donned their game day uniforms and did “power poses” for TSN’s broadcast on Sunday.
A food truck is available to staff, media and players to refuel after practice
Some players swung by the food truck parked outside for a quick bite to eat before getting back on the bus to get back to the hotel for more meetings.
The Stamps’ outstanding player nominees made their way to a different hotel a block away to meet with the media ahead of Thursday’s awards show.
Thursday, Nov. 24
Thursday, in many ways, was a turning point in Grey Cup week for the Stamps.
Like any other game-prep days, the players and coaches so far have been busy with meetings, film review and practices. But this being the CFL’s biggest showcase, there has also been lots going on away from the field and outside the meeting rooms in Toronto.
Thursday was the pinnacle of that extracurricular Grey Cup week activity.
It all started with more-or-less routine football business, save for the fact the players have to gear up for practice in their hotel rooms and then get taped up in a hotel board room before jumping on a bus.
Upon return from practice at an indoor facility, the players quickly changed and headed to meetings. Then it was lunch and, this being American Thanksgiving, turkey, mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce and pumpkin pie were among the options at the buffet table.
Stamps players take a selfie with the Grey Cup during media day
Then came the hoopla officially known as Media Day. The team — players, coaches and staff — marched en masse to the hotel one block away that is serving as CFL headquarters this week. Upon arrival, they were sent in multiple directions. Linebacker Alex Singleton and receiver Bakari Grant were sent to a fake living room that is set up the hotel lobby to do Facebook live interviews.
Others went to the second floor to record interviews — in English for TSN and en francais for RDS, TSN’s French-language sister network.
Everyone else was let loose into a ballroom where members of the media could speak to any of team members.
A lot of the questions were serious: How do you stop Henry Burris and the Ottawa RedBlacks’ talented receivers? What are the challenges of facing Ottawa’s defence?
But some of the reporter-athlete discussion was more off the wall, like one reporter’s session with a handful of players that touched on the best TV theme songs and the difference between a good roommate and a horrible one.
When they weren’t being interviewed, players could take a close look at the Grey Cup — the reason everyone is in T.O. in the first place — or pose for pics in the social media booth.
After 90 minutes, when everyone had run out of questions anyway, Media Day was over.
Then it was back to the team hotel, where many of the players and coaches changed into their Sunday best — well, Thursday best in this case — and made their way to the Art Gallery of Ontario for the CFL awards gala.
Jerome Messam poses with his Most Outstanding Canadian trophy (Photo by Johany Jutras)
And what a historic night it was for the Stamps. Right off the bat, there was a Red and White one-two punch as DaVaris Daniels — wearing a magnificent patterned jacket as part of what, given his nickname, must be called a Toot Suit — and Derek Dennis were named, respectively, rookie of the year and top offensive lineman.
Then, after a few other awards, the Stamps won the final three trophies of the night — coach of the year (Dave Dickenson), Most Outstanding Canadian (Jerome Messam) and Most Outstanding Player (Bo Levi Mitchell).
Never before in franchise history had the Stamps won five major awards in one night. A memorable night to be sure, but the new MOP put everything in perspective immediately afterwards when he said: “It is cool to get an individual award, but I’m going to go home, put this trophy and this suit in the closet, and pull out my game plan and get ready for Sunday.”
And that, more than anything, best sums up the transition from the bells and whistles and fire rockets of Grey Cup week to the all-business portion.
Oh sure, fans will make the rounds of all the Grey Cup parties — starting with Stamps House at the Bottom Line on Front Street, naturally — but for the players, the time and effort are now 100 per cent on preparation the game.
Brandon Smith with his family in the hotel lobby
Coach Dave and the players have already done a great job making sure all the buzz surrounding Grey Cup week have only enhanced the experience and not served as a distraction. But now, for the next couple of days, they can put the blinders on and pour every ounce of their thought, skill and desire to getting their hands on that big shiny trophy they got a sneak preview of Thursday.
The focus on a championship has been strong all year — the 15-2-1 regular-season record and a convincing Western Final win over BC are proof of that — but now it reaches a bionic level.
Friday, Nov. 25
Friday marked the end of full practices for the Calgary Stampeders in 2016, as the team wrapped up drills in preparation for their Grey Cup showdown with the Ottawa Redblacks.
The morning after claiming five trophies at the CFL awards the night before, players and coaches had their regular meetings to tweak and adjust their plays before hitting the turf at Monarch Field one last time.
Players were in a jovial mood as the prospect of no more practices lay before them, as the Stampeders made final adjustments and ran through their plays at full speed.
Stamps players have fun with the Twitter Mirror after practice
At the conclusion of practice, head coach Dave Dickenson took the time to give his men a few final words of encouragement to ensure their focus was in the right places ahead of their crucial match versus the Eastern division champion Ottawa RedBlacks.
While the media took their turn to get in a few questions with some of the Red and White, other Stamps players took the opportunity to have some fun with the team’s Twitter Mirror, giving fans a few goofy mugshots before heading back to their hotel for a few more meetings.
Following their debriefings, the mood again became festive as the charter busses carrying player and staff loved ones arrived, with hugs and kisses a plenty.
For some of the players, this is the first time they have seen some of their family and friends in months, since the 2016 season began and the reunion was sweet.
Coach Dickenson and a couple of players did their final sit-down interviews with TSN before the game. While walking back to the team hotel after completing another interview with TSN, Bo Levi Mitchell spotted a group of Stamps fans waiting to cross a busy Toronto street.
Bo Levi Mitchell poses for a picture with fan in Toronto
“Go Stamps Go!” yelled Bo.
Immediately reacting to what they thought was a greeting from another Stamps fan, the red-and-white clad group turned towards the sound of the voice.
“Go Stamps . . .” they started enthusiastically before the streetlight revealed who had called out. The stunned fans stopped mid-cheer.
“Oh my gawd, it’s Bo!” one of them finally exclaimed.
Immediately, smart phones were pulled out and photos taken and regrets expressed that no one among them was carrying a Sharpie in order to get an autograph.
They may not have Bo’s signature, but that group of fans will have a story to tell for many years. And the photos to prove it.
Excitement aside, some players retreated to their hotel rooms to bury themselves in their playbooks while a few took some time to run out for a bite to eat with family before getting some rest for walk-through day, Saturday, their last day before the excitement comes to a head at the 104th Grey Cup at BMO Field.