Rider pride!

Saturday we took in a Riders home game--my first, Jimmy's second. We opted for the cheapest ticket option we could find: $25 each for:
-a seat in the Western Pizza party zone;
-transportation to and from the game;
-a beer
-an order of dry ribs
Well, not bad, we thought! So we snagged the last two tickets from our local Western Pizza.
Apparently, transportation to and from the game means $2.00 to take the bus. I kid you not! It is the football express bus, but it certainly doesn't leave from Western Pizza. AND bus fare is $2.10! Swindlers.
But the seats (like every seat at Taylor field, I hear) were great. We were in the notorious bleachers, surrounded by drunken university students. Our view of the endzone and most of the field was stellar:
but when the action was down at the other end, it was definitely hard to sort out what was going on. The general gist of the game was easy to follow: the Riders played terribly. They did, however, deliver a massive hit to one Argo just before the end of the second quarter, which left him injured on the field for the duration of the halftime show. All the little mini cheerleaders bravely danced around him while he received medical attention!
An ambulance even had to negotiate its way through the field full of five-year-olds to tend to said Argo.
As the second half began, we elected to order our precious free beers. Turns out, our coupons were only good AT Western Pizza. Same for the dry ribs. Boo!
But we were entertained by the fans around us. Some especially good heckling was going on--of the hometown team. When Joseph threw a pass that sailed quickly out of bounds, one guy yelled, "To who?!" And when a Riders receiver made a ridiculous fumble, he yelled, "You have to catch that! You're being paid!" Ah, too true. The green-to-the-max girls at the front were trying to lead us in the Riders fight song (I caught the first two lines: "Green is the colour/Football is the game." How creative.) and we desperately tried to start the wave, but it barely seeped into the grandstand.
The hardcores took to razzing those in our section who left early, chanting "Part-time fans! Part-time fans!" They were definitely suckers, though, because the last minute was the best part of the whole game (ain't it always the way with the CFL?). The Riders scored two impossible touchdowns in a row, and turned a sound beating into a real squeaker. Pinball was sweating bullets at the end, but the Argos managed to retain their lead. All in all, a great time at the game in the 30-degree sunshine.
After the game we returned on the sauna--that is, city bus--to Western Pizza to claim our beer and ribs. As we walked in, there was a family from church was arriving too. They very kindly invited us to their giant family dinner. We sat at the kids' table and had a hilarious time. Their sons are so very, very funny, and one of them has a Forrest Payton-like gift for storytelling. Unfortunately, our beer had to be a Molson product, so I choked down a Pilsner, but at least there were people around to eat the dry ribs I didn't really want. Yay!
A great way to spend a Saturday.

Sunday was a big day, too. Jimmy preached in the morning, and had to deal with an usher taking a massive spill at the front of the church--collection money everywhere! In the afternoon, we travelled out to Moose Jaw with an ex-pastor, his wife, and the district president for Schultz's ordination. It was a grand ceremony with all the proper rite and ritual, and some very touching wishes and wisdom for Schultz's ministry. I'm a fool for not having a camera. Unfortunately, the music was a bit on the synthesizey side, but I guess that's the way they do it in The Jaw (hee--can I call it that?). A massive potluck dinner followed which was nothing short of delicious. It was awesome to see Regan and Jason (as well as Regan's sister who had gamely attended our Grey Cup party last year and proved to be one heckuva cool chick). That makes two friends whom we can officially address as "Reverend"! They'll be travelling to their new parish in beautiful Oliver, BC, sometime in the next couple of weeks. What a shame it'd be to visit them there!