The stage was set in 2004 in Edmonton for “the big Eskimos event”: a return Labour Day game that would see the hometown Eskimos likely beat the then-lowly Calgary Stampeders.
As a bonus, there was anticipation that Eskimos running back Mike Pringle would break the Canadian Football League’s (CFL) career rushing record on the same evening.
It sounded like fun. But, the Stampeders refused to play along.
The Eskimos handled the football part, building up a 34-4 lead after three quarters. With the outcome of the game no longer in doubt, attention turned to Mike Pringle.
With a solid fourth quarter, Pringle could break the CFL standard, sending the crowd home delirious.
But something happened in the Stampeders huddle as the fourth quarter began: the defence began to play as stout as they had at any time that year.
Stampeder Joe Fleming was plugging every hole and, seemingly, throwing opposing linemen around. Scott Coe, George White, Sheldon Napastuk and others made life miserable for Pringle. Despite being given the ball repeatedly, he struggled mightily for yardage.
With approximately three minutes remaining, fans started to realize “the big event” wasn’t going to happen on this night.
At that point the fans decided they should take their rage out on anything or anyone connected with the Stampeders.
The broadcast booth Greg Peterson and I occupied at Commonwealth Stadium is located just above the first-level concourse and is very visible from the seats.
Noticing our window was open to the stands, one fan stood and began yelling in our direction.
Taking his cue from that fan, another fan ran up the aisle yelling, “This is garbage.” Others turned and gave us stony stares from their seats. Another fan threw popcorn at us.
I guess they had come to see a big CFL record set. When it became apparent the Stampeders didn’t want to be a footnote in history, the fans decided we should feel their wrath.
On this night, the players didn’t absorb the scorn of the fans, but we sure did! Unexpectedly, we ended up taking one for the team.
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