A couple of celebs

Some celeb photos, from tour rookie Shaun Riordan.

Adam gets to meet Edmonton Eskimos quarterback Ricky Ray at the "Spirit of Edmonton". Very friendly guy, great quarterback, just signed a big new contract with the Eskies. I think RR has a passing resemblance to another football great - AMOOOOO.

OK, imagine this. You are a former Grey Cup MVP, quasi-celebrity in Canada and trying to enjoy a nice quiet pasta meal at the Front Street East Side Mario's before the Grey Cup game. Some dude comes up to you in the middle of your meal, dressed up as "the fake Don Cherry", and asks for a picture. No problem, happy to do it, and you ham it up for the camera. That's Dave Dickenson. Yes I know it's "only the CFL", but can you imagine Peyton Manning doing the same thing? His 7 bodyguards would have been on Kenny G so quick there would have been nothing left by a smear of the white hairspray he used.

National Post celeb

My brush with fame....there was a picture of me in the "City Life" section of the National Post on Dec 1, taken at the Maxim Party with my newfound friends from Calgary. Surprisingly, I look pretty sober (I think).

2007 Vanier Cup / Grey Cup hijinx

Some of the activities this year:

- 16 of us took the VIA train down to TO, while many others opted to drive.
- Novotel is the hotel of choice, Commander Landers got us a good deal.
- It was the first ever doubleheader with both Vanier and Grey Cup.
- Vanier was on Friday so some only went to Grey Cup
- When one of the Manitoba Bisons busted a leg at Vanier Cup, a few stomachs turned. There were 26K on hand to watch the Bisons defeat the St Mary's Huskies.'
- Grey Cup was a bit boring of a game, but lots of Sask fans attended with 53K total to see the Roughriders defeat the Winnipeg Blue Bombers.
- We had 33 tickets to Grey Cup WAAAAY up in section 525
- One down point - a one beer limit at Grey Cup! BOOOO to that
- Four of us got in to the Maxim party on Friday night, as Dave the Slave decided to fire up the meat cutter, Andre Barrette earns his rookie of the year award, Kent falls down stairs but recovers nicely and Adam gets his picture taken with a couple of Calgary dudes and appears in the National Post.
- Jerred, Townie and Dave Weir get beat down by a bunch of scalpers over $2.50 a ticket. The cops want to press charges, but the guys decline
- Saturday was our "Free Day" and we make good use of it, visiting such pavillions as the Spirit of Edmonton, Argos party with UMM stage, and Riderville
- Don tackles a women at the inflatable Argo; no one was injured
- On Sunday, Kenny dresses in his best costume ever as Don Cherry with brother Dave as Ron McLean. Kent signs autographs and poses for photos with over 50 curious onlookers
- Linc puts on his Ricky costume (from Trailer Park Boys) and looks pretty good too
- Before the Grey Cup, several of us "take the stairs" and slip by security to enjoy free eats and a Bare Naked Ladies concert

"A win is a win"

We met CFL / NFL legend Terry Greer at the Argo's party at the Convention Centre. Terry was very friendly and had a pint with us. He still looks like he could play pro ball. He showed us his Grey Cup ring (Argos 1983) and Super Bowl XXIII ring (49ers 1989). When Kenny showed him his ring that he "won for his bowling league", Terry told us that "a win is a win, man, a win is a win".

See below for photographic evidence:

More celebs

IT Loney reports a couple other celebrities sighted on the tour:

Wally Buono - head coach of the BC Lions.

Greg Marshall - head coach of the University of Western Ontario, former coach of the Hamilton Tiger-Cats and McMaster University.

Dave Randorf - TSN Football commentator at the Argos party. IT told him "he looked much taller on TV".

Pic from the train

Nothin' says refreshment like a contraband 50 about the VIA train to Toronto.....