And what exactly is an acceptable win when the team you are cheering for loses?

Let me start by saying that Ottawa really did throw a great Grey Cup Party. The organizing committee and the RedBlack ownership deserve all the accolades they have received because this Grey Cup was up to the standards that the City of Edmonton has set over the years (and almost reached by Winnipeg in 2015). It was good, it was fan-friendly, it was walkable (and when it wasn’t, the public transit was readily available for free if you had your ticket around your neck – a superb bonus) and it had a great finish!!

One little peeve though to start off — you’d think within a city that has more snow than sensible politicians, the capital of our great country that has the world’s longest skating rink — the canal, and among the game sponsors the tractor maker Kubota — you’d think with all this, and with the weather experts predicting snow before game time (which happened right on cue at about 4:56 p.m., that they would be prepared for snow removal… oh they had a bunch of young men with numbered team jerseys, mini-shovels and a couple of leaf blowers along with two {2} snow plows — that’s right only 2 little tractors with snow blades on them… Sorry guys on the committee — the field is 110 yards X 65 yards with end zones 25 yards deep… perhaps ten [10] little tractors would have made more sense (each one responsible for 10 yards of the field)… now you did eventually find a bigger tractor and bucket/blade and then two pick-up trucks with blades came at half time to make sure Shania could get to the stage) but they seemed somehow overwhelmed and inconsistent in their approach… The condition of the field was never up to the standards that we should have expected in a snow climate in late November.

NOTE TO EDMONTON — have at least a dozen Kubota garden tractors with snow blades at the ready next year along with two bigger tractors with snow buckets and perhaps a couple of dump trucks in the wings should you have to move some of the snow out of the stadium. This isn’t rocket science; this is Canada after Thanksgiving (Canadian Thanksgiving at that).

NOTE TO THE GUYS WITH THE SHOVELS — considering the puny size of the shovels they gave you, you did a remarkable job and I hope you were properly thanked and then rewarded. You made good decisions to get the yard markers cleared and the sidelines also. You also worked fast and as a team — hope some federal politicians were watching…maybe they will take a cue… You were a credit to R Nation…