Page A12 The Castlegar Sun Wednesday, November 29, 1995 He's a comic, he’s a showman and he's got Harlem Crowns, who will be playing at the SHSS Gym tonight at 7:30 p.m. a game. He is 6'4” Ray Daglow of the Photo submitted = Destruction s," said Price of the Bruins. “Whether it's on the ice, on the scoreboard or in the back alley, we'll be ready. They'll be aware of us every time they touch the puck. “Our guys are looking to this hockey game with tremendous enthusiasm.” That game will be followed by another home game Saturday night versus Spokane and then the Rebels travel to Beaver Val- ley Sunday night. All start times are 8 p.m. Rebel rousings - The Rebels have been more than happy to welcome back Francis Bedard to the line-up. Bédard went back to Levis, Quebec over a month ago to think over his options and he's come back a new and improved hockey player. OW CRN YOU SAVE i NUWGORRD UNING: It's Easy with one of these Where Can You Get Yours? Plaza |.D.A., Castlegar All Star Sports, Trail Cellar Fibre Studio, Rossland LeRoi’s Ski Shop, Red Mountain pf at Red Mountain Ski Area Call 362-7124 Castlegar Pee Wees rolling along Submitted Up until last weckend, the Castlegar “AA” Pee Wee Reps were on a roll. They won both their regularly scheduled games two weekends ago and looked good going into last Sunday's exhibition contest versus Beaver Valley. Two weeks ago the local squad travelled to Nelson Friday night to take on the Nelson Pee Wee Reps. The Castlegar boys won the game 6-0 with relative ease. Chris Farley recorded the shutout for Castlegar. On Saturday afternoon the Grand Forks Pee Wee Reps trav- elled to Castlegar, but they may have wished they had stayed on the other side of the mountain by the time the game was over. Castlegar bombed Grand Forks 19-1 in an extremely lopsided game. The Grand Forks boys played their hearts out, but were Fonner Bruin defenceman Jason Hartt was traded frém the Rebels last week to the Columbia Valley Rockies, but didn't report. He's now playing midget hockey in Kelowna. The only major injury to report is Aaron Halifax, who is still out with a broken hand. His cast came off last Monday. A familiar face will be on hand at the Crypt Saturday night as BCTV Sports guru John McK- eachie makes a stop in Castlegar. He will be playing alongside some Rebel alumni in an exhibition game against the Castlegar Red Army team. The game will take place prior to the Spokane game. Your B.C. Chrysler Tea Unleashes The Best of the West. really no match for the bigger and faster Castlegar team. The Castlegar Pee Wee Reps used the weekend to pad their points total in the “AA” league standings which weren't affect- —— ed last Sunday in Beaver Valley. The exhibition game against the Valley boys ended up being a wake-up call as they lost 6-4 to a determined Beaver Valley club. CHRISTMAS GO License No. 798380 Saturday, Dec. 2 Castlegar Arena Complex $1000 > JACKPOT 4 Prizes subject to attendance , 3 - $500 Jackpots 8 - Double Ups ¢ Good Neighbour Prize : * Door Prizes by _. Regular Games Pay $100 Earty Bird 6 pm, Regular Bingo 7 pm, Doors open at 4 pm THE 1996 DODGE RAM 4x4 CLUB CAB 23C Package Includes: 5.2 L V-8 Magnum Engine The safety of driver's side air bag and side door impact beams Largest and quietest cab Over-sized foid-down centre storage console Rear anti-lock brakes Bright front and rear step type bumper and much more! $27,395... 1996 DODGE DAKOTA SPORT 4x4 CLUB CAB + Rear anti-lock brakes 238 Package Includes: + 3.9 L V-6 Magnum Engine * The safety of a driver's side air bag and side door impact beams 523, a vad CHRYSLER Dodge Jeep SEE VOUR + AM/FM stereo cassette + Premium door trim panels and body side sport “streak” striping ne Vehicle not exactly as shown B.C. CHRYSLER TEAM Al Mics “Price indudes freight o $60 Dokot/$870 Ram and exchades icence, surance, rgistotion, and taxes. Limited time offer Dakoto Sport Decor and whee! package not exactly 0s shown Dedker order may be nevessory Deoker may sell fr less See de oes for deta CHRYSLER Plymouth Jeep Eagle e Castlegar Sun Page B1 — Fe ce F I — WEDNESDAY, November 29, 1995 ometown huddle Sun sports reporter Jeff Gabert gets down to the meaning behind Grey Cup ’95 y called it “Huddle Up In Saskatchewan” and despite average weather that's exactly what it turned out to be. The 1995 Grey Cup celebration that took place in Regina this year will go down in the record books lor many reasons. A lot of those landmark events ppened on the field with a record punt return as. ‘well as the first time an American team claimed ‘Lord Grey’s coveted prize. But the real records to be celebrated happened off the field as the people of Regina broke all hospitality records from day one. The first thing set up was a giant tent in the mid- dle of downtown which offered entertainment, refreshments and buffet meals every noon hour. It started Wednesday and ran every day up to the game. Every single day was packed as people were lined up three city blocks to get inside and they ran out of food every day as well. In addition to the big top, there were countless } hospitality rooms set up in all the hotels as well. All © were sold out early and all did a brisk business. The Spirit of Edmonton is an annual event put on by fans of the Edmonton Eskimos and is a favorite of regular Grey Cup visitors. Last year they sold 1,500 units of beer over the entire Grey Cup week. This year they averaged 2,000 per day. ie Another example is the Calgary Pancake Break- fast which happens annually thanks to the fans of the Calgary Stampeders. Again, they did almost triple the business they usually do. But it was more than just sold out events that made this Cup one of the most successful in history. Taylor Field usually holds 27,500 people. The biggest atten- dance ever recorded previous to this year was 30,000 and that was with people sitting on the grass in the end zones and hanging off the rafters. For the Grey Cup, they added nearly 27,000 extra seats boosting the stadium capacity to 54,000. That meant double the people, double the headache of where all those people would stay in a city the size of Regina. But it actually wasn’t much of a problem at all as people began calling the Grey Cup office offering their empty rooms for out of town guests. One per- son I met built 24 bunk beds in his basement and specified the occupants had to be male non-smokers. He had the place booked solid the whole week. Mind you, other visitors just took matters into their own hands. A couple guys from Calgary ended up in Regina without a place to stay. So they built a house on-the back of a flat bed truck and parked it at the legislative buildings. They furnished it by taking momentos from every event they went to. And that was the theme of the entire event. When they said “Huddle Up”, they didn’t necessarily mean at the game, they meant everywhere. They meant at the breakfasts, at the cabarets, at the hospitality rooms and at the gala dinners. It was simply a time for people to get together from across North Ameri- ca and share an attitude of friendliness and fun. It was a chance for people to see what CFL foot- ball in Canada’s heartland is all about. And don’t think they weren't impressed. During the parade a hearty contingent of Baltimore eee ‘ i fans began strutting proudly down the hard streets of Regina. You could read the wariness in their eyes and movements as they sized up the crowd before them. Would they be booed? Would they be accepted? Neither, they were cheered. In fact, by the end of the parade, the Baltimore contingent was hotding up the show because they were spending more time socializing with the people on the parade route than walking in a straight line. As I was taking his picture, one old red-cheeked guy with a Baltimore toque on came up to me, gave me a big kiss on the cheek and loudly proclaimed he was having the best time of his life. He also said he didn't care who won the game, but we'll get to that later. There was also a Kootenay connection to the parade as one of the best floats was from Kimberley which proudly displayed the benefits of its “Bavarian City.” ‘The enthusiasm associated with the parade surprised many, but it was nothing compared to the unbridled party atmosphere that overtook the Agridome Saturday night during the Grey Cup Rock and Roll Extravagan- za. Barney Bentall, The Waltons and the Kevin Barrett Band were all there to provide the entertainment, but a sold out auditorium certainly helped them. By the time the night was over, the game itself ‘was almost an afterthought. * * * * It seemed Mother Nature also considered the game something of an afterthought. Sunday dawned clear and Sunny with temperatures hovering around zero. It was a morning filled with brunches and hang- lovers that carried over into the afternoon. By 3:30 p.m., the sky had clouded _over and the wind began lo howl through the city. Conditions before game time had the wind at 60-90 kph and the temperature near zero and decreasing, The wind was so bad the game was postponed while structural engineers checked to make sure the temporary stands were safe. It was at the same time an announcement came over the press box sound system alerting everyone to the fact a weather sys- tem carrying greater winds and snow had been spot- ted an hour south of Regina. All the old crusty sports reporters in the press box laughed. The press box was heated. The game started off with Doug Flutie completing a pass to Dave Sapunjis for 13 yards. Three piays later, Chris Wright took a Tony Martino kick and returned it 82 yards for a touchdown. ‘It was the longest return in Grey Cup history and a groan went through the press box The Grey Cup parade was one of the bigg the host float (above). As for the game, i gt : : Ake “SY ; est in history with 55 floats and was led by the Stamps were chasing Baltimore wide receiver and return specialist Chris Wright (#28 below ) all day. Yeah, it could have been colder but not any more. fun. Just ask Santa, he’s got the right idea. rt TN : SASKATCHEWAN a Apparently there were more Calgary fans up there than Baltimore. Actually, it was more the case that few were very fond of Baltimore head coach Don Matthews. Calgary came back to add two field goals, but the Baltimore defence continued to battle up Stamps running back Tony Stewart while putting a load of pressure on Flutie Calgary took the lead in the second quarter after an overjoyed Marvin Pope caught a two-yard touch- down pass after a Baltimore fumble. But Baltimore continued to come back thanks to great field goal kicking from Carlos Huerta. They led 23-13 at the half. Down on the sidelines, it was windy, but not over- ly cold. That didn’t stop the Baltimore players from fully utilizing the gas heater on the sidelines. The halftime show featured great Saskatchewan performers like the Johner Brothers. Couldn't tell who the rest of them were because nobody told us. They served pizza in the press box at halftime. Cam Cole, columnist for the Edmonton Journal, wins the prize for dry humor hands down. He started taking bets on whether they'd get the lights back on after the halftime show. Scott Taylor of the Win- nipeg Free Press wins the Most Congenial prize for telling me to get out of the newspaper business. Flutie led his team to within four points at the start of the third quarter with a one-yard plunge into the end zone. The crowd remained cold, but opti- mistic as the Stamps were behind 24-20. Coming back from field level, 1 spotted a Stam- peder fan. He was naked from the waist up, face and torso painted red with little Stampeder symbols scat- tered all over. I figured it was his Stampeder toque that was keeping him warm. Later I figured it was what was in his thermos. _ciIt's been a good. time regardless of whether Cal- gary wins or loses,” said native Calgarian Chad Wang. “Jt doesn’t matter. This whole week has been fun.” Unfortunately, Wang’s fun didn’t get any better as Calgary couldn't manage any more points and Baltimore went on to claim the 1995 Grey Cup by a score of 37-20. The reporters were escorted down to the dressing rooms with three minutes left. A few old veterans let forth a few sarcastic “Moo’s”. Obviously, they're used to being herded. First place I went was the Calgary dressing room. Linebacker Matt Finlay sat stoic in the cor- ner with nobody around him. Everyone else was in the shower, but Finlay still sat in full gear. The Calgary Herald reporter didn’t even ask him any- thing before he announced his retirement after 10 years in the league. Next stop was Dave Sapunjis who was awarded the trophy for being Most Outstanding Canadian. The irony of being the best Canadian in a game won by a team of all Americans wasn't lost on him. “Tt was a nice award to win,” said Sapunjis. “But it was obvious someone on Calgary wag going to win it.” As for being part of the first team to lose the Grey Cup to an American franchise, he was very realistic. “The CFL is moving in a lot different direction right now,” said Sapunjis. “It would have been nice to keep the Grey cup in Canada, but it had to happen sometime.” Flutie was also realistic on the subject. “I accept the fact there are five franchises in the States,” said Flutie. “If one of them wins it, then one of them wins it.” Flutie sat fully dressed in his stall for over 45 minutes talking to reporters who couldn't seem to get enough. He had enough after about five minutes. But he still sat there. Listening, brooding and responding. There was the beginning of tears in his eyes, but not because the game was lost. More because he felt he let his teammates down. Baltimore owner Jim Speros showed up and gave Flutie a hand shake. He also whispered something in his ear. Don’t be surprised if these two don’t shake again in the future for another reason. I went through the Baltimore dressing room on my way out. I planned to talk to a few guys, but I didn't. It just didn’t seem real in there and I have to confess it made me ill seeing the Grey Cup poised in an American dressing room. The stands were empty by the time I went outside. But the wind was still there, howling visciously over the hard astro-turf It felt like a cold hard wind of change. For the CFL perhaps, but also for everyone involved in the Grey Cup event History was made in Regina that week and every- body knew it. The way it ended also made every- body realize history would not be repeated. For days afterward, everyone talked about getting the Grey Cup back in Regina soon. It may happen and it may not. But it won't be the same They came and they huddled. It was a celebration of the old and an embrace of the new. The past met the future and, for good or bad, the future won out in the end