It should be a classic

The annual Labour Day Clash between the Bombers and Riders has featured some of the wildest and woolliest Football in the history of the CFL .The unpredictable and illogical performances have been the norm over the years and it does not matter where these two teams are in the standings this game always brings out the best in both. It will be the first time since 1976 when the teams were first and second in the West that both have been as high in the standings as they are going into this game. If the Alouettes beat BC in Vancouver on Friday night then Saskatchewan remain in first place in the West and Winnipeg slip to second in the East. If BC wins the Riders drop to second in the West and The Bombers remain first in the East. The game was originally played on the actual and official Monday of the Labour Day weekend but was changed to the Sunday many years ago without any logical or official explanation being put forward.

There have been many stories written about this annual contest played in Regina in which several thousand Bomber fans journey to Saskatchewan for the weekend and generally speaking make their presence felt.The weekend celebrations and high jinxes that go on are similar to Bowl games in United States College Football with the fans of both teams getting dressed up in their favourite teams colours with some of the most outlandish costumes you will ever see complete with the appropriate face painting .

The stories that eminate from the on field performances are getting embellished more and more each year as time passes and the hero of the days performance becomes almost saint like as time passes. There are two games that stick out for me.The first one was in 1951 when the game was played on the Labour Day Monday and it featured two legendary ex NFL Quarterbacks who had come to the CFL that year, the immortal Glen Dobbs with the Roughriders and the hated and despised Indian Jack Jacobs with the Bombers. Jacobs had sustained a leg injury the week before and was listed as doubtful so backup signal caller Canadian Pete Petrow got the call to start the game for the Bombers against a Rider club that was 4-0 at the time and everybody in Saskatchewan was going nuts similar to the way things are today.Dobbs had thrilled Rider fans in their four victories and the City was renamed Dobberville by the media.

I came in from my home in Rouleau with my good buddy Don Perkins in the back of a truck to see the game and we sat on the east side and by halftime Saskatchewan under Dobbs leadership had a comfortable 22-0 lead and were looking invincible and at this time a touchdown was worth five points. . The third quarter was scoreless and to start the fourth the Bombers with possession of the football at their own thirty five sent Jack Jacobs injury and all into the game which brought many a loud guffaw from the 12000 rabid Rider fans in attendance. On the first down play Jacobs dropped back and hit flanker Bud Korchack in full stride in the open and he went in standing up for the touchdown on a 75 yard pass and run play.The crowd was silent , you could have heard a pin drop. But the Rider fans quickly breathed a sigh of relief as there was a flag on the play as the Bombers were called for offside which negated the play and as well Winnipeg were assessed a five yard penalty and the down was repeated. On the next play the cocky , arrogant Jacobs threw the very same pass to running back George Macphail who lined up as a wide receiver on the other side of the field and he went unmolested eighty yards for the touchdown which counted and with the convert the score became Sask.22 Winnipeg 6. and Rider fans began to mutter and twitch as they did not like what they had seen but most of them thought the lead was too insurmountable for even Jack Jacobs to overcome.Wrong ! The Riders did nothing offensively in the fourth quarter and on the succeeding three Winnipeg possessions Jacobs wound up throwing three more long TD passes and the final score was The Bombers 24 -The Riders 22 .It was the first loss of the season for the Green and White and the huge crowd went home shaking their heads in disbeleif at what they had just witnessed.

The other one that fits into the remarkable category as far as I am concerned was the 2002 affair which saw the high flying Khari Jones led Bombers who were number two in the West meet the injury riddled and struggling Prairie Sod Busters who were down to their third string Quarterback Rocky Butler a raw rookie just out of Hofstra University because of injuries to Nealon Greene and Kevin Glenn their first and second stringers. The Bombers were the defending Western Champions and were highly favoured to mutilate and carve up the Riders in this one as their defensive linemen were licking their chops thinking of what they were going to do to the rookie signal caller in his first start in of all games the Labour Day battle.

Rocky Butler lived up to the name Rocky so personified by Sylvester Stallone in the movie Rocky about the underdog boxer who had no chance but came thru big when the chips were down. All Butler did was catch the over aggressive ,overperusing Bomber defence off guard on three major occasions where he ran up the middle for touchdowns and lead the Riders to the biggest upset of the Labour day weekend in front of 31000 delirious Green and White fans.

The 2007 contest has all the earmarks of a real dandy with the prodigal son the beloved Cory Holmes returning to the Saskatchewan scene and the always dangerous record setting Milt Stegall on the other side of the field and both teams fighting for top spot in their respective divisions So fasten your seat belts it should be a classic.