Not since 1970 have the Calgary Stampeders and Montreal Alouettes met in the Grey Cup final as they are to do today in the Quebec metropolis.
And I'm suggesting only my old friend Kenneth Edward Newans and yours truly are the only Calgary media types still alive from that contest, which the Als won by a 23-10 count.
But a couple of stories come out of that junket which was hurried because no one thought the Stamps had a chance and only advanced with that 250-yard kick into a 700-mile-an-hour wind by Larry Robinson to beat the Saskatchewan Roughriders at Taylor Field, an area that has yet to thaw from that Sunday afternoon contest.
Yes, it was that cold.
I was working at the now-defunct CKXL at the time and the station had to scramble to get myself and our morning man of the day, Bill Adams, flights and hotel rooms but landed us a suite at the Royal York.
We also had to scramble for press credentials and I will tell you that while I did get a seat at CNE Stadium that day, it had to be the last one available. I suggested I should have had a television set because my seat was outside the 50-mile limit, the rule of the day.
But the story that sticks out for me was Adams, without question the most talented morning man ever to work in this city. He was an American who was billed as 'Bill and Tex' but there was no Tex.
He spent the morning arguing, agreeing with, laughing with and sometimes fighting with a partner that wasn't there.
He was Tex and he played the part so well, the station had more calls for Tex to host public service events than they did for Adams.
Anyway, on the Friday night before the game, Adams said we were going to take advantage of XL money and treat ourselves to a first-class dinner.
He set up a prime-rib feast to be brought to our room and emphasized we had to have a Caesar salad prepared in our room. It was as fine a meal as I'd had, but it shook me up when Adams put all of the dishes on a tray outside of our room with the exception of the three wooden bowls, which the waiter prepared and served the salad in.
On departure day, I watched Adams leave at least three shirts behind so he could pilfer the three bowls to use on his return.
Strange as it may be, the football game and the trip were excellent but that one incident remains tucked in my recollection system.
MONEY TALKS
The words "it's all about money" rang out this week when we looked back at the disaster of last Saturday in the Uteck Bowl as the University of Calgary Dinosaurs lost 59-10 to Laval. One might ask how that can happen. Well for just a few examples let me tell you that a very successful Quebec company -- owned by the uncle of former Calgary Flames forward Alex Tanguay -- put up no less than $5 million to fund the football program in Quebec City. It's from that fund that this program is flourishing.
But it also helps that Labatt is a major corporate sponsor to the tune of giving the football club whatever beer it needs so sales are 100% profit. And last week some Dinosaur supporters saw flats and flats of the product being shipped into the stadium at half time to keep up with the demand.
And with beer sales, other concessions profits and minor sponsors, the Laval football club brings in more than $3.5 million in revenue each season. They have season ticket holders waiting five years to upgrade their ducats in a stadium that only seats 12,000.
It's, some say, the ninth member of the Canadian Football League, but can't join because it would probably lose money. It's all about money.
Anyway, Go Stamps Go.
