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With one game left in the regular season, I was quickly approaching a milestone moment in my career.
We had just landed in Vancouver back on Nov. 2 and were on the bus to the hotel when John Hufnagel asked me: “How did you even get started with the Stampeders?”
Sensing he was getting ready to tease me about it, I said “I bullied them into it.”
He laughed.
“You’ve been at this a long time, though,” he said.
“Yes, and, Huf, the Grey Cup will be my 100th game.”
“Or it might be the Western Final,” he shot back, as the team had yet to clinch the West title.
As it turned out, I was right. This Grey Cup will mark my 100th game with the Stampeders.
And in those 100 games, there have been at least 100,000 moments and memories.
I’ve been lucky enough to follow this team to five Grey Cups in my seven seasons with the Red &White. I’ve witnessed the highs of winning and the lows of losing. I’ve seen more sunny days at McMahon Stadium than windy, rainy, chilly or snowy ones. Travelling with the team these past two seasons, I can wholeheartedly say Calgary has THE best fans in the league.
Before TSN’s Matthew Scianitti debuted his sideline Converse Chuck Taylors, there were the infamous red wedge shoes. The red wedges record is 50-6-1. No, I didn’t wear them in the Western Final last weekend but they were in the building. Yes, I have them in Edmonton.
I was thrilled when I was offered this dream job seven seasons ago with the objective of telling the unique stories of the individual players and highlighting their personalities for our fans. Football is full of characters and I hope I’ve done each of them justice in telling their stories.
When you hear ‘football is family,’ it doesn’t ring truer than with the Stampeders. I’ve been lucky enough to develop relationships not only with the players but their families, as well as the people behind the scenes who make a football team operate on a daily basis.
I recognize I am very fortunate in my role with the Stampeders and am enjoying every moment of the ride.
So here’s to 100 games, may there be 100 more!