As many of you that know me know I am a huge Roughriders fan. I have written a couple of blogs here on the website talking about the Riders. Obviously, growing up in Saskatchewan it's almost by law that you have to be a Rider fan. The first Rider game I saw on TV was the 2007 Grey Cup where we beat Winnipeg to win the Grey Cup. I remember jumping up and down in my living room when the Riders won the championship.

The first Rider game I went to live was August 16, 2009 vs Hamilton. I went with a couple of my friends and we sat in the very top row of the old Mosaic Stadium grandstand. I needed binoculars just to see what was happening because you couldn't see what was going on. Saskatchewan won the game 33-23 and we went home with smiling faces that night.

I have gone to at least one Rider game every year since 2013. I have some great memories from those games. In 2013 the Riders were playing Montreal and I got to see the last snap of the great career of Anthony Calvillo the Montreal quaterback as he got hurt in that game and never played again. Saskatchewan went on to win the game that year and I remember going over to a friends house that November and watching the Grey Cup game on TV when the Riders won the championship on home turf. 

In 2014, I got to see two CFL games in one year. I got to see the Riders play the BC Lions in July which unfortunately I seen the Riders lose for the first time live. And then that August I went to Calgary to visit my aunt and she gave me tickets to go see BC play Calgary. You don't know how awkward that was sitting in McMahon stadium wearing a Riders shirt when the Riders are not playing. Luckily, I sat by some other Rider fans so we had a good chat and didn't pay much attention to the game. 

I got to go see Saskatchewan play my second favourite team, the Ottawa Redblacks in 2015. Now, as a sports fan I absolutely hate when I have to leave the game early because you never know what can happen. We left early and even though Saskatchewan was losing and they eventually did lose it bugged me all the way home that we didn't stay until the last seconds. 

2016 was probably my favourite game I went to. It was the last one I ever attended at the old Mosaic Stadium. The Riders were 1-10 and played the defending Grey Cup champions the Edmonton Eskimos. The game was tied and went to overtime and Darian Durant ran 20 yards into the endzone for the Touchdown to win it in overtime. The stadium went crazy and I was high-fiving fans all the way back to the vehicle as every one was so pumped. 

This past year I got to go see the new stadium for the first time. Man, is that stadium beautiful. It's the best stadium in North America by far. I seen the Riders play Montreal in Darian Durant's return to Regina. I shed a tear in the pregame when Durant was waving to the crowd and the whole crowd gave him a standing ovation and welcomed him back home. This game I also left early and even though the Riders were winning by three touchdowns and eventually won by a blowout I was upset because we didn't stay until the end. 

I do plan on going to see another game at some point in 2018. But for now it's Rush season and I'm going to talk about my fandom for the Rush in another blog at another time. I bleed Rider green and I'm proud to be a member of the greatest fanbase in professional sports.