It was a "dark and stormy night," as Snoopy would say, in Hafford this past Friday as the Vikings played Outlook in the last football game of the season.
Actually it wasn't a dark and stormy night but "the iceman did cometh" in the form of the Vikings and what also was a first for the town, an "under the lights" game. It was a season first for the whole conference, which consists of teams from Biggar, Dalmeny, Hague, Outlook, Rosetown and Hafford. The game was slated for 7 p.m., but the 20 C weather prompted a tailgate party at 5:30 p.m. Students, staff, the team, equipment manager, coaches and my daughter Alexas, Grade 4, who is the water girl, helped when school was done at 3:15 p.m. Jobs ranged from taking the water to the benches to setting up fun games for the fans, who drove in from a 320-kilometre radius for what would be an exciting game.
Everyone was excited to see what the game would be like. The hometown team was wondering what it would be like to play a game at night. At kick off it was 5 C with a -1 C windchill.
The Vikes wanted to have one up on the Outlook team so they practiced the night before at the same time. Conditions included a light coat of frost. The guys all thought it was cool and didn't want to come off the field at about 8:15 p.m. as, with the bright lights coming from behind, they looked much more intimidating than in daylight.
Lexi did not want to leave asking, "after tomorrow's game when do we play again?" My answer was disappointing as it's our last game of the season and we won't start up until next summer. We better put up a good fight and win this first night game.
She said even if we lose, "I don't care. I will still have fun with the guys and maybe I can be the water girl for the basketball team."
All the fans who showed up were having fun enjoying the night's food, festivities and the game. Lexi said she could not wait until the game was over to get her free bag of chips, can of Coke, hot dog and the rice krispy square she helped Amy, her mom, make the night before.
At half time the Vikes went into the locker room with the lead, feeling pretty good for what was going to be the second half in cooler conditions. At this time Lexi asked if she could go get her supper from the players' moms at the concession stand. I told her, "no, you have to wait until the end of the game just like the players."
I told her this at the beginning of football season back in August. "You represent the team now. You can't go running around or getting your food at half time." She was OK with that until it was about 8 p.m. "under the lights" and she was getting cold like the rest of the fans. I think she realized then the worst was going to happen to her. She knew she wasn't going to get her bag of chips, can of Coke, hot dog and rice krispy square. All she was going to get was the same thing her friends the players were - a cold hotdog!
The only thing that saved my bacon was half time was over so she grabbed the water and ran back to the bench for the start of the third quarter. Before kickoff she came running back and said some of the fans, including her big sister Ashiton, were wearing a big sleeping bag for warmth. She crawled into the back of my 4x4 and grabbed the three blankets we use for camping. She ran them back to the bench, giving them to a couple of the players who were now shivering, pretty smart and considerate.
At the beginning of the fourth quarter we had a good lead and it was even colder than it was about 15 minutes earlier. I was starting to ponder CFL musings about starting a month early to avoid the situation we were in.
The guys started to slacken up a bit on their game as we had a very good lead on Outlook. Coaches Ryan and Shaun told them if they did Outlook would come back and make it an even closer game. I added that will also be when injuries will start to happen.
And, with less then five minutes left in the game, I see Devon being helped off the field by Ryan and our equipment manager Ian. Lexi is waiting with the ice pack and water for him when he sits down on the bench beside her
Now with only a couple of minutes left I rumbled my overweight body back to the team bench to watch the faces on our team when we win 63 - 18 and to see the guys dump the ice cold water on Ryan for our first "under the lights" win."
I showed up a few seconds late and Alexas said the guys are a little mad at me. She informed me I didn't miss anything. She reminded me Shaun picked up some bags of ice from the Bar-K Hotel earlier that day for the water bottles but didn't tell me, so I went and got another three. I dumped them into the Gatorade cooler bucket and left it at that.
All there was in the bucket was a 15-pound ice cube that would probably kill a Viking.
I apologized to the guys only to think that if they knew this and still attempted the dump, Ryan and Shaun probably would have been knocked out laying on their backs like the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band's song "Just laid on their backs just counting the stars where the cool grass grows."
Nobody cared, as we won the "under the lights" game for everyone present including the seniors who played in their last game ever. Take care you guys you were a positive influence for all the rookies and we all know you guys have left a great impression on them. You gave them something to strive for when they become seniors.
About the CFL question, about starting the season off a month early to avoid the cold and pouring rain, a true Canadian and CFL Rider fan would just say, "hell no." The BC Lions and Montreal Allouettes can toughen up. This is our game.
Both Lexi and I agree, if you don't like this then go play soccer!
