Go West Riders, Go West!
It was quite the weekend in Riderville with the toppling of Taylor Field, much like a drunk hitting his limit and falling over, followed by Bakari Grant sleepwalking to the end zone and fumbling the ball on the one yard line, Darian Durant getting his standing O and Nik Lewis drawing a career to a close in front of family and friends.
Add to that that everything from second to fourth place in the west is wide open and first place in the east has yet to be decided and this weekend will have their share of storylines to be played out in what Environment Canada seems to be hinting maybe a winter wonderland.
It should not have been a surprise to see the thousands of people come out Friday afternoon to witness the final moments of Taylor Field. Taylor Field has arguably played host to some of the best moments in Saskatchewan history, including the 2013 Grey Cup. Despite the facility lacking the ability to walk around it, you had to exit the stadium to get to the other side, and washrooms that leaked interesting fluids at times, it served to reflect the fans belief that if people rallied together and did what they could, then maybe they could will the Riders to victory.
My first game was sometime in the late 1960s when I came down with my family from Yorkton and saw the Riders lose to Calgary. It was a combination of Wow! and then trying to figure out what was going on. It was the start of a love affair with a place where magic sometimes occurred at the strangest times.