Jock Wilson and I knew what was coming.
For an hour and a half, we sat in the studio Sunday night as the game broadcast wound down and the phone board lit up with callers and texters. All of them angry, frustrated, disillusioned and fed up with the Calgary Stampeders failure to close out a Grey Cup win.
And that’s just fine.
What would have been scary is if we’d asked how you felt … and nobody picked up the phone.
What last night demonstrated is the level of passion Stampeder fans have for this team. Win or lose, without that passion, this team –this league – has no hope.
It hurts to have a team you’ve invested your time, your soul, and yes, your money into come up short.
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Believe me, this group of players knows you’re out there, knows you care and would love nothing more than to reward you with a championship every year to repay that loyalty.
It could have happened last night. It should have happened last night. But it didn’t.
That’s tough to take.
WATCH BELOW: Argos QB Ricky Ray on Grey Cup win: ‘We have so much belief in each other, it paid off for us’
It was hard listening to some callers questioning where they go from here with a team they feel has let them down. I get that. I know the vast majority will eventually get over it and start looking ahead to the hopes and promises of 2018.
Some may not. Some may end up drifting away from the team and the sport. I hope not.
Sports exists because of the passion of the fans. I get to do what I do because people care enough about Stampeder football to tune into games, to call in to vent, to be at McMahon Stadium to share the good and the bad.
As hard an ask as it is today, I say please don’t lose that.
When something good happens, call in to cheer. When something goes bad, call in to vent.
I’ll be here either way and I wouldn’t have it any other way.
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