Saskatchewan is football country.
No matter where you look, on any given game day, fans are out in full force — and it’s not just Roughriders fans. There’s something special about the NFL.
“Hockey’s huge, CFL’s huge, even basketball is big during March Madness events, but NFL fans are something else.” It’s something Mitchell Harvey, the Service Manager at the Canadian Brewhouse know’s better than anyone.
The Canadian Brewhouse was packed wall to wall with fans decked out in a rainbow of jerseys. Hidden in the back was a man wearing a Jacksonville Jaguars luchador mask, cape, jersey and helmet. He called himself El Jaguar.
“I originally wasn’t going to go, I was going to sit at home, watch it on my couch.” El Jaguar explained. “But I had to, I had to come out, and Brewhouse is the natural place to come out.”
Part of what makes it so natural is the other fans it draws. El Jaguar sat at a table, surrounded with a dozen or so die-hard fans, each with their own allegiances. They taunted each other, laughed together, and generally had fun.
And they were just one of many tables that fit the description.
“Here you get these in-house rivalries,” smiled Harvey. “Some tables try to buy shots for the other ones, and all the little side-bets they make. You get this neat combative, rival, aspect that you don’t see in rider games.”
Ever the pantomime-villain, it’s something New England Patriot fans know all too well.
“It’s kind of fun because every time New England doesn’t make a first down you hear everyone else cheer, and when they do everyone gets quiet,” laughed Tyson Stettner.
He and his friend Desmond Martin were an obvious pair, both in Rob Gronkowski jerseys, both part of the small selection of Patriot supporters that were present.
According to Harvey, it’s those pockets of fans, and the energy and atmosphere they bring, that make Championship Sunday such an important day of the year for the Brewhouse.
“It’s huge. During the season Sundays are a pretty decent day because NFL is on, but this is going to be the biggest Sunday we have pretty much all year.”