After finishing off the 2008 season with a miserable loss in the Grey Cup in our own town, we began the 2009 season with a new view and vitality.
We were losers on our own turf and we wanted payback. We knew that that year’s Grey Cup would be in Calgary and we all felt from the beginning of training camp that it was going to be our year.
With coach Marc Trestman and AC leading us, we took off on an incredible ride. We clinched first place in our division within the first 9 games that season, and we all felt that we were destined to play in the Grey Cup in Calgary since the beginning of training camp.
Upon winning the Eastern final, we knew that what coach Trestman had told us and drilled into our minds throughout the year was finally paying off and we truly believed that this year was our year! After coming up short in so many Grey Cup games, we were convinced that this year, 2009, would be our year.
Upon arriving in Calgary, we were the underdogs from the start; we were in the west, playing against a Saskatchewan Roughrider team that has so many loyal and diehard fans that it was hard to find one Alouette fan amongst the sea of green.
We remember thinking to ourselves that the 13th man (being the fans within the stadium) was in effect our biggest challenge. They could be so loud, aggressive and downright intimidating! Looking into the seats at McMahon stadium, all you could see was literally a sea of green — there was green everywhere!
The game itself was a wash, nothing was going right, Anthony’s passes weren’t connecting, our running game was stalled, our defence was off, and our kicker had seen better days. When we went in to our dressing room at half time, we were cold, down and beat. Coach Trestman gave us our famous speech and reinforced that we may be the underdog, but we won’t roll over; this was our year.
We came out after the half a new team, Calvillo was on fire, our receivers were back, our run game woke up and things were looking up. We were down by a lot and needed things to turn around quickly, or else we’d have no shot at winning.
Next thing we knew it was 25-27… all we needed was a field goal. We had come back, still had time left on the clock and were functioning as a well-oiled machine.
With less than 30 seconds left on the clock, we realized that if we could just push it and get a couple more yards Damon Duval would be able to kick the winning field goal. It was a long field goal, but Damon could make it. As he was about to kick, flags flew, no one saw it, no one realized that the kick (that wasn’t going through the uprights) was about to be called back, because of literally the 13th man!
I remember the play vividly. I couldn’t bear to watch. I turned to face the crowd, knowing that the fans reactions would tell me everything I needed to know. At first there were loud cheers and my heart sank. Then all of a sudden, I hear my teammates yelling that there is a flag on the field. The shock and awe that we were all in was indescribable; we’d get another shot at winning the Grey Cup! Duval’s kick would be tried again, 10 yards closer.
Of course he made that kick and the rest is history. Redemption!
The 13th man was Saskatchewan’s worst nightmare!