Adding the Commissioner's Award to my resume

Yesterday during the Gibson's Canadian Footaball League Players Awards, CFL commissioner Mark Cohon presented the Commissioner's Award to the Rider Nation.

"Each year, I have the privilege of handing out the Commissioner's Award to a person or group that has made an outstanding contribution to the development of Canadian football," he said.

"This year, the one hundredth year of the Saskatchewan Roughriders, I decided to pay tribute to a group that epitomizes the way CFL fans love our league: the Rider Nation, which collectively does so much to make our league vibrant and strong and fun."

"I really believe our league is home to some of the best fans in the world, including passionate supporters of the Lions, Stamps, Eskimos, Bombers, Cats, Argos and Alouettes," Cohon said.

"But few would dispute, especially in the Roughriders' centennial year, that there is something special about Rider Pride."

The award was accepted on behalf of the Rider Nation by three generations of a family of devoted Saskatchewan fans: Randy Goulden of Yorkton, Saskatchewan, a Rider shareholder and a season's ticket holder since 1979, her son Tom Goulden, 35, her grandson Jonathan McLeod, 8, and granddaughters Kathryn Goulden-Maddin, 14, and Calen Goulden, 9, and Amarah Goulden, 7.

On behalf of Rider expats like myself, I'd like to thank Mark Cohon and the CFL for the award.

My family and I have been fans for three generations and across four provinces. We've been season ticket holders in Regina; loyal followers when the Green and White come to Calgary; Banjo Bowl survivors; and SkyDome seat-fillers. We watched as American teams strolled into town and we're proud of this league long after they've left. We know when to boast and when to keep our mouths shut - and usually the silence that fills the room after a boisterous Stampeder fan talks a big game for 3 quarters says more than any rebuttal I could ever think up.

During this year's Banjo Bowl I was booed. I was laughed at. I had beer poured on me. I read a sign that said "100 Years of Suck" and noticed a Bomber jersey with the name "Twelve" and the number #13. If I was called any of the names that were shouted to me outside of CanadInns Stadium, I'd sue the person for defamation of character. But today, our character stands tall.

Fans of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, celebrating 80 years of losing football this year, weren't commended on their spirit. Neither were the fair-weather fans of Calgary who tune in to Stampeder football in-between Flames' seasons. The Ti-Cat crowd might deserve a posthumous Commissioner's award - same with Edmonton. (And speaking of days of old, do the Argos even have fans anymore?) If you can find the 19,000 Alouette fans they might be deserving of a thumbs up (although, it's easy to build a fan base when a Grey Cup winning franchise is moved to your city...). The Lions would be the next deserving fan base for recognition. They always come out in droves and credit where credit is due, they made their Empire Stadium look fantastic.

Thanks Mark. We're glad to have this award. But it's not quite the one we want. We're after one, very special, award. And that's the Cup itself.

We can do it Rider Nation.

GO! RIDERS! GO!