The Calgary Stampeders were in town last night (25th July) to do battle against Ottawa’s RedBlacks in a Thursday night CFL contest, but more importantly, it was also the annual Canadian Forces Appreciation night which highlights the men and women of the Canadian Armed Forces. It was a beautiful night, clear with only a few clouds, warm, but not unbearably so, with only light humidity. The field of combat was set.
As per normal, it started with the teams coming out and doing a few warmups and some stretching which got both the players and the crowd warmed up. The RedBlacks’ Cheer and Dance Team took the field next and was warmly received for their opening routines. Make no mistake, this is not just a group of pretty girls (and guys) but hard core athletes in their own right who take to the skies in a number of gymnastic routines which, if they go wrong, can cause serious injury. And finally, it was time to bring on the military, and this is where it was a bit of a letdown.
The Royal Canadian Dragoons were represented by a three man colour party that marched about 15 yards onto the field, counter-marched, and stopped facing the south stands. With them came a member of the Central Band of the Canadian Armed Forces (CBCAF), WO Grenon, to sing the national anthem. That’s it! In my mind, there should have been a larger colour party, perhaps with sentries and other flags, and they should have marched all the way across the field, counter-marched, and stopped on center-field where they could have had part of a larger colour party facing both the north and south stands. Perhaps a circle of sentries facing outwards with the colours in the center would have had more impact. At that point, the singer could have come out with a contingent of the CBCAF who would have accompanied WO Grenon rather than having him sing to recorded music.
And nothing says military power like a fly-by of two (I say again two) CH-146 Griffon helicopters, widely spaced and 1,000 feet up. Woo woo. I understand that maybe it’s tough to always get a couple of CF-18s and local residents get upset by the noise, but they make a statement. If I was using helicopters, then I’d like to have seen a tight formation of at least one Chinook with two Griffons in trail, have the Griffons peel off as they start over the field, and then have the Chinook let go with the anti-missile flares, all from a level of 500 feet. That would get an ooh ahhh from the crowd.
At last it was time for the coin toss and the military’s representatives were the newly minted Commander of the Royal Canadian Navy, Vice-Admiral Art McDonald, and the Command Chief of the Royal Canadian Navy, CPO1 Dave Steeves. Both men waited patiently on the sidelines, talking to whomever was around them and were very friendly and I think excited to be representing the military at the game. Out they went with the referees and players to center field where the VAdm tossed the coin which Calgary called correctly. Once congratulations and good lucks were given to all, the coin party retired to the sidelines, with VAdm. McDonald joking with the referees all the way in.
The game started on time but it seemed that both teams had trouble getting going. There were turnovers right from the outset as well as a higher than normal number of penalties. In fact, it seemed that turnovers and penalties moved the ball more than the teams did. The first quarter ended in a 6-6 tie with all scoring done by field goals. The second quarter was not much better and they went into half-time tied at 9-9. There were some good runs and some good individual efforts, especially one by Ottawa #17, DeVonte Dedmon, who was tackled but kept his knees off the ground, balancing himself on his free arm while he regained his balance and took off again for a substantial gain.
When half-time started, I waited for the Canadian Forces part of the programme but there was none. In the past, there have been events where they would make teams of military members from both the north and south stands and then pit them against each other for the glory of their own side. That way the civilians got to see the military in a very unmilitary setting. This year, the only thing was the introduction of the aircrew from the fly-by who were from 430 Tactical Helicopter Squadron in Valcartier, Quebec. That was it.
The third quarter turned out to be much the same as the first two with Calgary scoring another field goal to end the quarter at 12-9. But finally in the fourth quarter, things turned around and Ottawa marched down the field to score a touchdown (Brad Sinopoli) at about the 13:23 mark to take the lead at 16-12. Ottawa conceded a safety near the end of the game bring the score to 16-14 for Ottawa and there was more excitement as Calgary looked but missed to score a touchdown and they also missed a field goal. However, as time was expiring, another field goal by Calgary ended it for Ottawa giving Calgary the 17-16 win.
To see all the pictures, CLICK HERE
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