OK Tire Labour Day Weekend wraps up on Monday afternoon in Calgary, where the Stampeders will “welcome” the Edmonton Elks to McMahon Stadium for their annual Labour Day Classic game.
To me this always feels like the perfect way to wrap up Canada’s favourite weekend of regular season football. It’s a turning point in every way possible. Summer is sadly coming to a close. Kids are returning back to school and for most of us, life gets back into its comfortable, familiar rhythms again.
It’s also a turning point in the CFL. When we get through this weekend, we’ll have just eight weeks of games left before we get into the playoffs and the chase for the 111th Grey Cup. Having stood in McMahon Stadium for a number of Labour Day games, I can tell you that things escalate quickly from there. Each week feels like it moves faster and each game starts to feel more important. Before we know it, the weather will have done a complete 180 and we’ll quickly be down from nine active teams to two, then just one standing.
But first, we have this weekend to enjoy. Here are five things to know about one of the CFL’s best rivalries and its greatest tradition.
OK TIRE LABOUR DAY WEEKEND
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LONGSTANDING ALBERTA BEEF
You don’t need to be a CFL fan or a sports fan in general to know that Alberta’s two largest cities love to hate each other. The Battle of Alberta is real in any sporting venue in Calgary or Edmonton, but the hostilities go back much further than that.
We’ll start in 1905, when Alberta joined confederation. One province to the East, Saskatchewan had joined confederation the same year and would split some of the provincial riches, with Regina being named the capital in 1906 and the University of Saskatchewan going north to Saskatoon in 1907.
That wasn’t the case in Alberta. Edmonton was named the capital in 1905 and in 1908, the University of Alberta was built in what was then a separate town, Strathcona, on the southern side of the North Saskatchewan River, within sight of the Alberta Legislature grounds. The northern half of the province had it all.
Through the province’s 119-year history, the who-has-what battle has carried on. Calgary became a rail and corporate oil hub while Edmonton, its surrounding area and northward was tapped heavily for its oil and gas resources. The Oilers joined the NHL first in 1979, with the Flames on their heels in 1980. Edmonton captured retail attention across the country and beyond with the West Edmonton Mall in 1981; it remained the world’s largest indoor mall until 2004. Edmonton hosted the Commonwealth Games in 1978 and 10 years later, Calgary hosted the 1988 Winter Olympic Games.
As a city, Edmonton owned the sporting landscape in the 1980s, with the five-in-a-row football dynasty spanning from 1978-1982, giving way to the Oilers’ run of five Stanley Cup wins between 1984 and 1990. The Flames lifted the Stanley Cup in 1989 and while the Stampeders only won the Grey Cup twice in the 1990s, they’ve lifted it four times this century (2001, 2008, 2014, 2018) compared to three for Edmonton (2003, 2005, 2015).
The Labour Day Classic has been a staple in that long, competitive history. Calgary and Edmonton have taken part in 58 editions of the game since 1959, with the Stamps holding the edge with a 31-26-1 record. There’s been no shortage of drama in those games.
THAT ONE TIME THERE WAS A BRAWL
An unnecessary hit on Ricky Ray took the Edmonton-Calgary feud to new heights in 2003 (The Canadian Press)
Every year, regardless of records, the Labour Day Classic is full of tension. There have been countless shoving matches, exchanges of trash talk, even a refusal of a pre-game handshake between team captains one year.
The 2003 edition of the Labour Day Classic stands on its own.
CFL.ca’s Vicki Hall revisited in great detail it around this time last year. After then-Edmonton QB Ricky Ray was pushed out of bounds on a run, Ray went into a table and jug of Gatorade. In the scrum that ensued, then-Stampeders defensive back Davis Sanchez said he was horse collar tackled by then-Edmonton receiver Ed Hervey. On the ground, Sanchez responded with a low blow. Hervey’s quick reaction was to swing his helmet. He missed, but made contact with head linesman Brent Buchko.
“Football quickly became 1970s hockey,” former Edmonton VP of communications and broadcast Dave Jamieson told Hall last year, looking back on the chaotic day.
Hervey was ejected from that game and later Sanchez was fined. Both were suspended from the rematch game a few days later in Edmonton. The Stamps won on Labour Day and the Green and Gold responded with a 38-0 blowout win at home. Edmonton went on to win the Grey Cup that season.
THE STAKES ARE HIGH
This year, the Stamps and Elks would both like to be higher in the standings, but their meeting on Monday and subsequent follow up date on Saturday, Sept. 7 carries a ton of weight. The Stamps are 4-6, coming out of a bye week and sitting in fourth place in the West Division. The Elks have shaken off a 0-7 start and have won three of their last four for a 3-8 record, just a game behind their rivals to the south. A sweep of the series would be a boost to each team’s playoff hopes. Many years, both teams might be playoff long shots. With every team in the West Division under .500 for the first time since the 2001 season, fans in both Alberta cities can rally behind the idea that a playoff spot — maybe even a home game — is still in the cards.
THE (KIND OF)ROOKIE AND THE VET
Jarious Jackson was named the Elks’ interim head coach on July 15, when the team parted ways with Chris Jones. Jackson has worked as a positional coach and coordinator in the CFL for the last 11 seasons, but Monday will mark the first time he’s on the sidelines for the Labour Day Classic in a head coaching capacity. He is now 3-3 in the interim role. On the opposite sideline at McMahon on Monday stands Dave Dickenson, who will be working his eighth game as the Stampeders’ head coach and holds a 6-1 record in the Labour Day Classic. Both former CFL quarterbacks, Dickenson and Jackson were teammates with the BC Lions from 2004-2007.
STIFLING A BURGEONING OFFENCE
The Elks’ offence has roared to life in their last four games. The Elks have rushed for over 120 yards in four straight games now and lead the league in scoring, with 28.5 points per game. They also lead the league in red zone opportunities (38) and red zone touchdowns (28).
The offence has been potent with some key moving parts as well. Tre Ford and McLeod Bethel-Thompson have moved in and out of the starting lineup, first with Ford replacing Bethel-Thompson, then with MBT stepping back in after Ford sustained a rib injury that’s kept him out for the better part of the last three games. The same goes at running back, where the trio of Javon Leake, Justin Rankin and Kevin Brown have all taken turns looking like they’ve been fired out of a cannon, straight through their opponents over the last few weeks.
That’ll be a test for a Calgary defence that’s allowing 362.2 net yards of offence per game (seventh in the league) and a league-worst 108.8 yards per game. Jackson will no doubt want to explore the run game on Monday. If the Stamps can limit that, they can put some of their highly skilled backfield to work. Tre Roberson has three interceptions this year and Demerio Houston has four. The duo are tied for second in the league with the most defensive takeaways this season.
