One of the sacrifices one makes to live in a foreign
country, far away from where you used to call home, is losing contact with some
of the traditions that we take for granted.
For the Canadians living here in Loreto Bay at this time of year, one of
those traditions is our Canadian Football League final, known by the name of
its trophy, the Grey Cup. This is
roughly our national equivalent to the Super Bowl in the US, albeit without as much
of the hype and hyperbole that can overwhelm that game.
On Sunday last weekend the Grey Cup was played in Regina
Saskatchewan, a small city of less than 250,000 people located in the middle of
the Canadian prairies. Like the Super
Bowl, the Grey Cup game moves from one city to another each year in a highly competitive
bid process, with the winning cities benefitting from the media exposure and
tourism generated by hosting this national event. The game is played between the Eastern and
Western division finalists to determine the National Champion, and so most
years the competing teams will be from cities other than the Host City,
depending on what has happened during the regional playoffs that year.
However, occasionally the Home Team for the city where the
game is to be played does make it through to the final, which obviously
increases the interest and enthusiasm surrounding the game in that local
market. Which was the case this year
with the Saskatchewan Roughriders representing the Western Conference and the
Hamilton Tiger Cats from Ontario as the Eastern Champions. Without getting too deep into the minutiae of
the CFL culture, suffice to say that the Roughriders have one of the most
ardent fan bases of any team in this league (similar to that of the Green Bay
Packers of the NFL, another small market team) and they draw their fans from
all over the Province, some of them travelling hundreds of kilometers to
regular home games - let alone to a Grey Cup contest in their own stadium.
Which sets the scene for this past weekend's "gridiron
match-up". My neighbor Boyd and I
arrived at the Wine Bar here in Loreto Bay about an hour before the kickoff, to
be sure of getting a seat, and by the color of the jerseys of those already
present, it looked like it was going to be a mainly green pro-Saskatchewan
crowd. The game was being played in an
open-air stadium, not uncommon even in the NFL, but what was more uncommon was
the fact that at the 4:30 pm beginning of the game the air temperature on the
field was a relatively balmy 2 degrees Celsius (which is about 30 degrees
Fahrenheit) and it would drop sharply as the sun set.
To better appreciate these weather conditions, for those not
familiar with Canadian Prairie winters, the night before the game the
temperature had dropped to minus 20 degrees Celsius (or 4 below zero Fahrenheit)
and because all the Hotels in the city were booked solid for the game, the
stadium parking lot had some hardy souls staying overnight in RVs and even tents
- which, as a measure of fan support, takes the traditional tailgate party to a
whole new level!
Back here in Loreto Bay, we are experiencing fairly typical
Fall weather now, warm and sunny during the day and cooling off quite
noticeably in the evening. So while it
is not nearly as warm now as was even a month ago, the contrast of the mild
early evening here, with the bitterly cold winter weather shown on the TV
broadcast of the game, strongly reminded me why I have chosen to live
here!
Meanwhile, as it got closer to game-time, more and more
people arrived at the Bar until almost every seat was taken, and Will and
Cynthia's recently enlarged staff were kept busy taking orders for drinks and
food. When I reached for a table card
advertising the food specials I was first surprised, and then amused, to see
that "Natchos McNabb" was on the menu - which is a
"side-bar" story in itself!
Last year, I think it may perhaps have even been Grey Cup time again,
Cynthia had prepared her own recipe of traditional chili con carne, as a
special addition to the regular Tapas menu at the Bar. As I happened to be there that night, I
ordered their regular natcho plate with a side order of a bowl of chili, and
when the two dishes arrived (in a moment of "divine inspiration") I
simply poured the chili over the cheesy natchos and - voila! a new signature
dish was created!
So when I saw that I now had a dish named after me, I had no
choice but to try it myself - to maintain quality control and protect my good
name, of course! And so the stage was
set, with a cold, amber, Negra Modelo beer and a plate of chili natchos in
front of me, and with a clear view of one of the multiple TVs, broadcasting the
most important Canadian football game of the season, I was ready for the Baja
version of a Canadian tradition - the Grey Cup Party! And the game did not disappoint, "Rider
Pride" was justified as the Western Division Champions took an early lead
and then steadily built upon it until they were ahead by about 20 points at
half time.
While there were many other Canadians in the crowd at the Wine
Bar, a good percentage of those watching were American and I was proud that
"our game" (which, although more similar than different than the NFL version)
was attracting this uncommon level of interest from our NFL obsessed
neighbors. Not claiming to be any sort
of expert when it comes to sports in general or football in particular, on a
very basic level some of the differences between the two versions of the game
are a longer and wider field in the Canadian game and 4 "downs"
versus 3 in the American. From an entertainment perspective many people think
the Canuck version is a faster paced and sometimes more unpredictable game.
Bringing traditions with us when we move far from home helps
to make where we settle feel more like our new home - and riding to that home
in a golf cart, under palm trees, in a short sleeved shirt, after celebrating
the Grey Cup at a neighborhood Bar (where a special menu item bears my name) -
that is another special way of "Living Loreto"!
