Canadian football’s biggest match is set for this weekend and millions of Canadians who can’t attend in person will be glued to TV sets across the nation.
Although not nearly as hyped and nowhere near as expensive as the American “superbowl”, for the fans it’s a far better and more exciting game.
The Canadian game features a bigger field and only three downs to make the ten yards to keep advancing. Fans say these, and other minor differences, makes for more action.
It’s also going to be rather chilly for this 101st championship game for the Grey Cup which will be held in the open air stadium in Regina Saskatchewan.
When the Roughriders hosted the CFL West Division semifinal against the B.C. Lions on Nov. 10, the temperature at halftime was -15 C.
If you factor in the windchill, it felt like a biting -21 C.
The temperature this week has been around -15 Celsius, with a layer of snow on the ground.
For Sunday’s game it should get a bit warmer at about -1 C currently predicted with gentle winds making it feel like -4C.
This year it’s the Saskatchewan Roughriders versus the Hamilton Tiger-Cats. This will be their first match-up since 1989. That game was won by Saskatchewan 43-40.
Tickets have long been sold out, and hotel space is virtually non-existent anywhere within the city. Fans from outside the city have already begun trickling in and hundreds if not thousands of Grey Cup parties and events of all sizes have been planned in homes, hotels, and bars in the city and indeed right across the country.
Grey Cup games are rotated in cities across the country and its not common for a host city to also have the hometown team in the champioinship.
Thus, hopes are high for the hometown Roughriders who last won the Grey Cup in 2007. The Hamilton Ti-Cats last won in 1999.
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