Labour Day professional Kevin Glenn explains why this weekend is ‘particular’ for the CFL 

When it involves Labour Day weekend within the CFL, Kevin Glenn has seen all of it.

The retired quarterback, who has the distinctive distinction of getting been a member of all 9 energetic groups, suited up in all three conventional Labour Day video games throughout his 18-year profession (2000-18). He performed on either side within the Saskatchewan Roughriders-Winnipeg Blue Bombers showdown in Regina after which led the Hamilton Tiger-Cats towards the visiting Toronto Argonauts and the Calgary Stampeders at house versus Edmonton.

Many have stated the CFL season doesn’t actually get going till this lengthy weekend. While Glenn doesn’t go that far, he rapidly found the annual rivalry video games are extra than simply one other week on the schedule.

“I think they’re all special in their own little way just because of the nature of the event,” stated Glenn, now the director of neighborhood engagement and variety and a soccer coach at Catholic Central High School in his hometown of Detroit.

“Everyone gets the schedule at the beginning of the year and it doesn’t matter if you’re a football fan or not, everyone circles that date on the calendar if you’re from one of those towns. It’s got that kind of significance and that kind of draw to it and that’s what I think makes it so special.”

Glenn, 43, mentioned the individuality of every occasion for Sportsnet.

Saskatchewan-Winnipeg

Glenn began his CFL profession in 2001 with the Roughriders and has vivid recollections of his first Labour Day weekend recreation, historically performed on the Sunday.

He says if a fan might choose just one Labour Day recreation to attend, the Prairie bout needs to be it.

“The excitement that goes behind it, words can’t explain it,” Glenn stated. “You have to experience it. Everything is going on. In Saskatchewan, (for) home games we would stay in a hotel night before a game. I can remember Labour Day, Winnipeg fans are literally running up and down the hallways, banging doors, screaming and it’s 1 a.m. in the morning. It was a frenzy. At that point, I think the team said we’re going to stop staying in a hotel for the Labour Day game.”

Glenn ended up in Winnipeg in 2004 (he was first traded to Toronto after which the Bombers) – and his first season with the Roughriders’ rival featured a brand new custom.

The Banjo Bowl, a rematch between the groups the next weekend in Winnipeg, got here to fruition in 2004 after former Blue Bombers kicker Troy Westwood made some notorious feedback poking enjoyable at Roughriders followers. Glenn began the primary 5 Banjo Bowls for the Bombers.

“It just added more fuel to the rivalry, which I think was great,” Glenn stated. “It created another storyline. It may not have necessarily been the most politically correct thing to say but they turned it into something positive to create a bigger buzz around the rivalry and the two provinces and the history of the two organizations.”

Both Winnipeg-Saskatchewan video games this yr already are sellouts.

“The competitiveness and adrenaline that flows through your body when you’re playing in that (Saskatchewan) stadium in front of those fans, it’s like no other,” stated Glenn, who returned to the Roughriders in 2017. “I always say every player should get the opportunity to play in front of those type of crowds like on Labour Day. It’s a remarkable feeling as a professional athlete to go play in those type of games. I’ve been inside Michigan Stadium when there’s 111,000. That’s what it feels like playing in Saskatchewan.”

Hamilton-Toronto

Played most years since 1948, the QEW showdown takes place in a basic Canadian setting – Tim Hortons Field sits in the identical residential neighbourhood as previous Ivor Wynne Stadium. In the gap, you’ll be able to see the metal factories. On recreation days, the realm is a sea of black and gold. It’s superior how the entire scene simply screams Hamilton.

“It’s smack dab in the middle of a community of houses,” stated Glenn, who signed with the Ticats in 2009. “If you’re claustrophobic, you’d be afraid to return to that recreation as a result of there have been so many individuals strolling up and down the road. So a lot happening, followers in several colors. At instances, you couldn’t inform when you had been in Hamilton or Toronto due to the variety of followers that may drive up the QEW to get to the sport. That one was most likely probably the most intense one. Very fiery on the sector and with followers strolling up and down the road. They would say issues and you’d be like ‘are we going to play football or are we going down the alley to fight?’

This one can get nasty (although 99 per cent of followers are completely effective). A Tiger-Cat fan was convicted of biting off part of an Argos fan’s ear after the 2002 recreation. Former Argos coach Jim Barker and linebacker Mike O’Shea, now Winnipeg’s coach, recalled getting hit by batteries thrown by followers in an interview with longtime Hamilton Spectator columnist Steve Milton. It’s uncommon for a lot time to go by earlier than you hear an ‘Argos suck’ chant within the stands.

(Two private recollections as a child from Toronto. In 1991, I can bear in mind the Ticat mascot tearing the shreds out of an Argos doll to the delight of the gang because the beforehand winless house squad shocked the eventual Grey Cup champs — then a glamour franchise with Rocket Ismail and Pinball Clemons as stars and Wayne Gretzky, John Candy and Bruce McNall as house owners . And then in 1996, after busing to the sport in Hamilton from downtown Toronto and cheering for the Doug Flutie-led Argos with a good friend as a 16-year-old, I recall one Ticat fan telling me I used to be fortunate I used to be younger. If I used to be a bit older, he stated, the dialogue throughout a uncommon Argos victory on Labour Day wouldn’t have been as nice – in barely much less family-friendly phrases).

“It’s not called Steeltown for nothing,” Glenn stated. “They’re a hard-nosed community and that’s their football team. It reminds me a lot of where I’m from — Detroit. Detroit fans are die-hard. It’s great when they’re winning but even when the season is not going the way they want it to go, they’re still down to fight for the team. You can’t say anything bad about their team. Hamilton fans are exactly the same.”

The Ticats have received the previous seven Labour Day video games towards Toronto.

Calgary-Edmonton

The Battle of Alberta all the time is anticipated in hockey and soccer.

Like Saskatchewan-Winnipeg, the Elks and Stamps historically meet once more the next weekend in Edmonton — and a few years it has been on the Friday evening, inflicting a fast turnaround (it falls on Saturday this yr).

“I remember going through practices in Calgary, we were running plays in the first week that we were going to run in the second game just because of the shortness of time (between games) and we might not have a chance to practise at full speed (after Game 1),” stated Glenn, who was traded to Calgary by the Tiger-Cats in 2012. “After that first game, those next two days are a glorified walkthrough.”

Glenn stated the short back-to-back is what stands out for him concerning the Alberta conflict.

“That (Labour Day game) was a little bit more laid-back (than the others). But you got that one kind of right afterward for bragging rights. Whoever wins labelled themselves as the best of Alberta. It still had a rich tradition because of the (short) amount of time for that stretch of games.”