The Battle of Saskatchewan

(Photo by Harry How/Getty Images)

This article is meant to sooth and calm the nerves for all fans in the Rider Nation.  Filled with anxiety as the injuries pile up, as Darian Durant gets mishandled, as the offensive line crumbles, as Western opponents start to right themselves, fans of the Roughriders need to relax and get a grip on themselves. Let's try meditation.

Get out an old photo of the Riders winning the Cup two years ago, something like the one I have posted for this article. Stare at it deeply for a long time...relax and meditate.

Close your eyes. You are getting sleepy. You've worried too long and you are tired. Close your eyes and relax. Sleep...deeper...sleep.

You will sleep like Rip Van Winkle...longer...deeper.

When you wake up, try not to trip over your long beard or fret about grey hairs.

When you wake up it will be September...September 3rd.

September 3rd was a remarkable day for Oliver Cromwell. He massacred an Irish town on that day and on the following two September 3rds won battles at Dunbar and Worcester. He capped it off by dying a few years later on, you guessed it, September 3rd.

But this September 3rd is Labor Day, the day of all the CFL "classic games," where each team battles against its bitter archrival: Calgary-Edmonton, Toronto-Hamilton....

So on this September 3rd, the Roughriders will travel north from Regina, away from Taylor Field or whatever a new sponsor wants to call it, up the turnpike through the wheat fields to Microslob Diefenbaker Stadium in Saskatoon to battle the Scavengers.

It is an important game for both teams. Regina sits third in the CFL Midwest division, ahead of Kitchener and Winnipeg, but behind London and Windsor.

Saskatoon is doing even better as they sit in second place in the West Division, behind Edmonton but ahead of Vancouver, Calgary, and Victoria. Whoever wins this classic will take a big step to making the playoffs.

The Roughriders, in their road white and green uniforms, will emerge on the field to a chorus of heavy booing from 50,000 Scavenger partisans. You'll notice there are a few patrons who dare flaunt the green and white, but Microslob is a sea of turquoise and orange that lets out a huge roar as their similarly clad team takes the field.

While the provincial anthem is being sung, you look at the scoreboard and see the results of the other classic games that have already been played.  

In the far east, Moncton has decimated Halifax, while in Quebec, the Alouettes have narrowly lost to their bitter rival in the stadium on the Plains of Abraham. Trois Rivieres has also managed to defeat Sherbrooke.

In Ontario, Ottawa has beaten Oshawa while the Argonauts have gone down as usual to the Tiger-Cats. 

But your interest centers on your own division rivals. Bad news. Division-leading London has defeated cellar-dwelling Kitchener. Winnipeg is currently ahead of Windsor.

Later, Calgary will play Edmonton and Vancouver is at Victoria. The twenty-team CFL is certainly the place to be on Labor Day.

Now at centre field, the coin is tossed and the Scavengers win. They chose to defer until the second half, so the Roughriders get the ball.

Back to the end zone goes Gimmic Williams to await the kickoff from James Cutler.

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