October 6, 2011
ESKS.com
Rose Mary Phillip
Thanksgiving and football go together like green and gold: a perfect combination. With the holiday just around the corner, ESKS.com hit the locker room to ask about traditions, gratitude and much more. A few interesting facts (and “facts”) surfaced. Here are the top five:
5. French-Canadians do not celebrate Thanksgiving … Wait. They do … Not … Huh?
According to Chambly, Quebec, native Mathieu Bertrand, Thanksgiving is mostly an Anglophone tradition. Montréal resident Patrick Kabongo disagrees. Loudly.
“What about l’Action de Grace?!” (Translation: Thanksgiving.)
“We have a turkey and do the same thing that every Canadian does. We do have Thanksgiving.”
The exchange that followed was in French. Whatever was said seemed to result in Bertrand’s eventual agreement and Derek Schiavone shaking his head.
Regardless, Kabongo’s roommate and fellow Montréaler Pascal Fils will do “nothing special” on Monday – except, of course, crushing the playoff hopes of Rider Nation at 2:30 p.m. Be there.
4. Kavis Reed is one heck of a pie maker.
“I actually do pies really well. I really like making sweet potato pie. But, I haven’t really mastered the turkey yet,” says Chef Reed.
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| Calvin McCarty grew up in both Oklahoma and BC, so he celebrates Thanksgiving twice. |
The South Carolina-born pie maker celebrates both the Canadian holiday in October and the U.S. holiday in November. Calvin McCarty does too. Born in Oklahoma, the non-import is a Canadian-American. (Yes, Canada gets top billing. This is our league.)
3. The deep-fried bird is the word.
When Jykine Bradley celebrates, he dines on his specialty: deep-fried turkey. “I think it’s a down south ritual. You know we fry everything down there.”
Fellow southerner Jason Armstead hasn’t formally celebrated turkey day since 2005. “I’m hardly ever home during the holidays,” says the CFL vet. Most notably, he missed Thanksgiving with his family in 2009 to play in the 97th Grey Cup for Saskatchewan. It didn’t go well.
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| Jykine Bradley went to his Granny’s house every year growing up, everyone brought a dish and watched the Detroit Lions play on TV. |
2. Home really is where the heart is.
Americans playing in Canada are not the only ones who don’t get to spend the holiday with their family. Most Canadians on the team do not live in Edmonton during the off-season and many played college ball south of the border where Thanksgiving is observed a month later.
“I never got to celebrate Canadian Thanksgiving. I had nobody to go celebrate with so I would be on my own hanging out,” says Scott Mitchell who attended Rice University in Houston, Texas. “Once, we happened to have a bye-week during Canadian Thanksgiving. I was real home sick and all that. To come home for that weekend, it was special.”
Brian Ramsay grew up in Victoria, BC, and attended college in New Mexico. “Anytime I get together with family and friends for Thanksgiving dinner, it’s a bonus for me. For the last eight or 10 years, I’ve missed them.”
1. The green and gold got gratitude.
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| Thanksgiving has always been about family for Jason Armstead. “But my mom does the bulk of everything.” |
The 2011 season gives the Eskimo Empire a lot to be thankful for: The team sat atop the West Division most of the year without much give, the injured receiving corps recovered to fighting form, and, in a few weeks, Edmonton may very well host a home playoff game. Wow.
Off the field, a revamped team store helps blanket our backs in green and gold, a new iPhone app keeps us connected to our glory on the go, and, let’s not forget, the Women’s Dinner raised nearly 60-thousand dollars to fight ovarian cancer.
The list goes go on and on, but we want to hear from you. What are you thankful for? Tell us @cfl_esks #GreenAndGoldGratitude.
Here’s what some of the guys had to say:
Pascal Fils: I’m thankful for being part of the team and participating in the team’s success this season.
Nate Coehoorn: I am thankful for my fiancée.
The couple met at the Calgary Stampede a few years ago and will wed on January 7 in her homeland of Australia.
Scott Mitchell: I am thankful for Kavis’ Kids. A couple of them just had surgery. There is a little baby who just had surgery on her skull. So, I’m just thankful the surgery went okay for them.
Editorial note: Kavis’ Kids is a program at the Stollery Children’s Hospital. The head coach and several players visit with children battling illness before every home game.
Brian Ramsay: I am thankful for my family, friends and everyone being happy and healthy.