Grey Cup 2014: Stamps fans planning trips to the big game
It's been six years since the Calgary Stampeders last won the Grey Cup but fans are pulling out all the stops to help cheer their team to victory.
Sunday's Grey Cup will take place in Vancouver and will pit the Stamps against the Hamilton Tiger-Cats. Plenty of fans are taking the opportunity to head to Vancouver. But for those regulars who attend the game year after year, having their home team in the final is just a perk.
"Ever since I've been going, people are like, 'Why do you go every year?'" said Sandy Seifert, who has been going to the Grey Cup for 10 years and is organizing a charter jet to bring Calgary fans to the game.
"When you go there, it's like a big family reunion. You meet friends from all over Canada and there's Ti-Cat fans and Argos fans and B.C. fans and these people go every year even if their team is in it or not."
The Stampeders beat the Montreal Alouettes to win the Grey Cup in 2008, and in 2012 they lost to the Toronto Argonauts in the final.
In all, the team has won six Grey Cups and played in 13 championship games.
Roger Dunkley was at the 1995 championship game when the Stamps faced off against the Baltimore Stallions in Regina.
He was also at the Western Final in Calgary last Sunday and says seeing the team play so well was gratifying for him as a life-long fan.
"It's not only watching them win," said Dunkley. "It's watching them crush Edmonton and that is a deeply cathartic and moving and life-affirming experience for me."
Dunkley is also chartering a jet to fly about 76 people to Vancouver for the game.
Both Dunkley and Seifert say they are chartering the planes through Canadian North, which is the official airline of the CFL.
The Stampeders are scheduled to depart Calgary Tuesday evening.
