THE CANADIAN PRESS
CALGARY — The Calgary Stampeders kicked off their Grey Cup celebration party with about 400 people turning up at McMahon Stadium for the team’s arrival Monday.
The players were swarmed by fans and media as they stepped off the buses that had brought them straight from the airport and their charter flight from Montreal.
Quarterback Henry Burris, named the most valuable player in Sunday’s 22-14 win over the Montreal Alouettes, was one of the last players to emerge from the bus and he was greeted by chants of “M-V-P.”
“We couldn’t wait to get back to Calgary and when we saw this, we were overwhelmed,” Burris said from under a black cowboy hat. “This is what it’s all about.
“When our bus pulled up guys like Jeremaine Copeland and Ken-yon Rambo, we saw the people standing here, we were like ‘Oh my god.’ And you could hear guys getting emotional on the bus, tearing up because this is where it truly hits home.”
The city of Calgary is honouring the Stampeders and their first Grey Cup victory since 2001 with a mid-day reception at Olympic Plaza on Tuesday.
The event will likely draw a large crowd from nearby office buildings, but McMahon, which will host the 2009 Grey Cup, was a hive of activity on Monday.
Fans arrived an hour before the team was scheduled to show up and killed time by heading to the Stampeders’ store.
Waldo Carvajal, a season-ticket holder for a decade, said watching the game on television had him on the edge of his seat.
“I was nail-biting and I have no nails left,” he said. “I wish I’d been there, but next year it will be here and it will be quite the experience.”
Tim Collyer, dressed in a Henry Burris jersey and waving a Stampeders flag, didn’t feel the 2008 Grey Cup will go down in history as a classic, but was pleased with the result.
“It wasn’t a great game apart from the result,” he said. “But all that mattered was the final score to me.”
The players were exhausted after a late night. Receivers Nik Lewis and Copeland estimated they were running on three hours of sleep, but they gamely signed posters, shirts and footballs for the fans.
“I’m about to pass out as soon as I get home,” Copeland said. “It seemed like the flight took forever, but at least we were flying home happy instead of sad.
“Everybody has been waiting on us to bring this thing back to Calgary and it’s been a long time coming. We’re going to celebrate for these next six or seven months and then try and bring it back again here in the hometown.”
Burris pointed out the CFL won’t have to ship the Grey Cup to a host city next year and the Stamps will have it in their safekeeping until then.
“We’re looking forward to each and every opportunity we can take the Cup around the city and share it with everybody,” Burris said. “We’re going to take it to schools, we’re going to take it everywhere and have a great time with it.”
The Stampeders store was doing a brisk business before the team buses arrived, although staff had to continually tell people that championship hats and T-shirts hadn’t arrived yet.
“It’s been crazy with fans anticipating them coming back today,” store employee Joe Campbell said. “We’ve had lots of people waiting around here waiting to pick up their Grey Cup merchandise.
“We’re expecting to get it in pretty quick. The next couple days and with the success they had this year, I expect it to be busy all the way through to Christmas.”
