Regina ready for Grey Cup ride

Words you will not hear from many sports organizations: "We are respectfully asking that fans do not meet the charter at the airport or stadium this evening due to safety concerns."

Yes, Canada, it's on. Mobilize the peacekeepers.

The Grey Cup is in Regina next Sunday and the Saskatchewan Roughriders are in it, after taking the hometown Calgary Stampeders to the woodshed, 35 13 in Sunday's West final at McMahon Stadium. Lions did in 2011 and last year's Toronto Argonauts.

But with all due respect to their predecessors, the Riders' hold on their province is so strong, their constituency spread so far and wide, this is going to be a Grey Cup party to put all others in the shade.

"We're going to see people just come to hang out, watch the game on TV, be part of the experience," Riders' president/CEO Jim Hopson said. "When it was clear the game was won, my phone lit up emails, texts, people from Las Vegas sending me pictures of the party they're at. It's going to be a huge week for us."

The Stampeders, supreme in the regular season Kevin Martin Navy Jersey with a 14 4 record, unravelled ingloriously before a crowd of 33,174 fans at McMahon, which has not been kind to the home side dating back to many a powerhouse team of the 1990s.

This edition, under John Hufnagel, made enough mistakes in the opening half to lose two playoff games. They committed seven turnovers, the most crushing of them being fumbles by receivers Jeff Fuller, Maurice Price and Brad Sinopoli after pass receptions of 46, 57 and 28 yards each turning a burst of elation into a head clutching, turf banging moment of frustration. If they hadn't been fatal errors, it would have been high comedy.

But no one in Stampeder red was laughing. In fact, by the middle of the fourth quarter, about the only fans left in the pews were Roughrider supporters and there must have been 15,000 of them stomping, whooping and cheering their heroes on while the Stamps limped through the closing minutes as if playing on foreign turf. They almost were.

Somehow, they had got to halftime down by only 16 points, 22 6, thanks to Riders' receiver Scott McHenry's fumble as he was going into the end zone on the next to last play of the second quarter. Nikola Pekovic Womens Jersey

The Riders ruled the line of scrimmage all day, ripping huge holes in the soft belly of the Calgary defence, where the Stamps had lost their two starting defensive tackles in the final game of the regular season.

Kory Sheets, who lost the CFL rushing title to Calgary's Jon Cornish, alternately danced and plowed for 177 yards on www.officialbask... 28 carries, part of a 256 yard rushing effort by the Riders, who rang up 31 first downs while the defence held the Stampeders to just 10. Cornish had just 67 yards rushing on nine carries.

"That was our game plan coming in: Smash mouth. We knew they were missing two big guys inside and we wanted to exploit that," said Riders quarterback Darian Durant, who completed a stunning 24 of 30 passes for 280 yards and three touchdowns one each to Taj Smith, Chris Getzlaf and Weston Dressler on a cold, but dry and sunny prairie afternoon.

"I talked to Kory the other day and I said his name is 'One Time.' I said all you need the ball is one time to prove yourself. He played with so much emotion," Saskatchewan head coach Corey Chamblin said. "He played like he was the best back in the league. I didn't hear a lot of talk from him, he just played and rushed the ball."

Durant's counterpart, Calgary starter Kevin Glenn, completed only seven passes and had two intercepted before being pulled, adding to the Stamps' uphill battle. But Drew Tate fared no better in relief.

For the Riders, the return home to face the Hamilton Tiger Cats in the Grey Cup will be one fraught with storylines from their recent and not so recent past quarterback Henry Burris and prominent members of Saskatchewan's 2007 Grey Cup championship team, including coach Kent Austin, receiver Andy Fantusz, and kicker Luca Congi.

"Oh, it's going to be crazy in Regina," Chamblin said. "You guys already know you're going to write that Kent Austin's back and all that. Kent will get all the press, so I'm not worried about it. We'll be underdogs again."

A mammoth photo banner featuring Austin has hung all season on one side of the main entrance to Mosaic Stadium in Regina, though it may not be there by the time Grey Cup week starts. If it's taken down, it won't be because Chamblin wanted it removed.

"No, Kent's earned that," he said. "I have a lot of respect for him. It will just be a joke and I'll be sure I mess with him about it."

It will be Saskatchewan's fourth Grey Cup appearance [url=http://www.officialbasketballstore.com/nikola-pekovic-jersey]Nikola Pekovic Mens Jersey in seven years.

"We started in '07 it's been a pretty good run," Hopson said. "It doesn't rival the great days of the Edmonton Eskimos yet, but it feels pretty damned good, especially in a salary cap era where it's hard to build a team that stays good for a while."