It's still only Tuesday and the big game isn't until Sunday, but as soon as my plane hit the runway in Edmonton this afternoon, it was easy to see that there's already of excitement around the Grey Cup. The terminal is plastered with event posters and information booths, and there were plenty of people strolling around in various CFL teams' gear as well. The most notable event during my time in the airport was the one pictured below, though; the arrival of the Grey Cup trophy. After the Cup was flown in, festival volunteers set it up on display and let the travellers wandering through the terminal take pictures with it. It was a slightly incongruous situation, as they set up near the baggage claims where most people were thinking about getting out of there as quickly as possible. The Cup still drew a decent crowd, though, as you can see from my photo above.
It was interesting to listen to the various conversations about the game while wandering through the terminal and then sitting on the shuttle bus to the hotel. Unsurprisingly, there are lots of people here for the game from areas all across the country; in a few brief minutes, I met people from Hamilton, Montreal, Toronto and Ottawa. What I found slightly more surprising is that there's what at least appears to be a strong interest in the game and the events leading up to it from both local residents and those in town on other business.
I also found it notable that there was a fair bit of discussion of this week's Vanier Cup in Quebec, too, as well as the recent decision to host it together with the Grey Cup in B.C. next year. I heard nothing but positive comments on that front, and one fan who attended the last Vanier/Grey Cup pairing (in Toronto in 2007) was quite excited to see the two back together. That reinforces my belief that reuniting the two is a good move, and one that's likely to get more CFL fans interested in the university game.
The conditions do seem likely to be a bit of a factor in how the festival goes. The temperature was announced as -27 degrees Celsius when my plane landed this afternoon, and it's expected to stay cold for the next few days. Things should warm up a bit in time for Sunday's game (-8 Celsius weather is currently predicted), but there might be some snow flurries during it. That's going to be a storyline to watch this week.
It's going to take time to get a real feel for the atmosphere here and how thoroughly Edmonton's embraced the Grey Cup party. Early signs certainly appear promising, though, and it would seem likely to get better when the teams and more fans show up. Amongst others, Murray McCormick, Rob Vanstone and Ian Busby are staking out the Riders' arrival gate at the airport this evening, and that seems likely to be an event. The real fun gets going tomorrow though, with the head coaches' media conference first thing and then practices and media availabilities for both teams. We'll have full coverage of all the action both here at 55-Yard Line and on the Yahoo! CFL home page, so keep it locked to those sites. You can also follow me on Twitter for micro-coverage of some of the events, plus further thoughts on how things are going in Edmonton and a few musings on the rest of the sporting world. It should be an eventful Grey Cup week, and I can't wait for it to get started in earnest.
Julia Stiles Marisa Miller AnnaLynne McCord Emma Heming Vitamin C
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