It would be impossible to pinpoint just one thing that makes the Labour Day Classic so magical for me.
Even now, I’m trying to describe all the nuances that go into the annual holiday Monday affair between Alberta’s two storied CFL clubs and I just don’t know where to start.
It’s not new to say that the Labour Day Classic just has a different energy to it.
It marks a time where the air is becoming crisper and coffee shops are stocking up on everything pumpkin spice.
And as the world transitions from summer to autumn, the CFL gears up for the back half of the season.
I’m not a believer that the CFL season doesn’t start until after Labour Day, but it certainly identifies a point in the calendar when the playoff picture starts to become a bit clearer.
All of these things add up to the anticipation of what makes the Labour Day Classic so special, and I got to experience it all when I attended my first-ever CFL game on Sep. 7, 2009.
Henry Burris and the defending Grey Cup champion Stampeders took on Ricky Ray and the Edmonton Eskimos in front of 40,729 fans.
They trounced the Double E by a score of 32-8 thanks to the likes of tailback Joffrey Reynolds who put up 116 yards on the ground and one touchdown.
Jeremaine Copeland, who will enter the Canadian Football Hall of Fame this year, hauled in a jaw-dropping one-handed catch for a major in the tilt as well.
From that game on, I’ve been hooked.
Since then, there have been countless moments that have continued to build the LDC legacy.
Fifteen years ago, the Stamps blew out the Esks 52-5 which to this day is still one of my favourite games I’ve ever watched.
Jon Cornish rumbled for 163 all-purpose yards in his return to the lineup after coming off the six-game injury list in 2014.
Then there was 2015, when Edmonton’s Deon Lacey refused to shake hands with Bo Levi Mitchell and Rob Cote during the coin toss. And in that same tilt, the moment when the crowd erupted as McMahon Stadium’s resident hare flipped into the endzone for a touchdown of his own.
In 2018, when Rene Paredes sent the Green and Gold back up the QEII after booting a 44-yard field goal through the uprights for the walk-off win.
And personally, in my first year working for the team in 2022, the Labour Day Classic landed on my actual birthday.
That was a surreal moment. Taking in the atmosphere at McMahon Stadium, seeing the team debut the latest version of the black jerseys and watching the CF-18 jets fly over us from the sideline.
This upcoming Monday marks the fourth Labour Day Classic I get to work, and I can’t explain how excited I am for it. But I’ll try.
The weather calls for 28C at kickoff (us born-and-raised Calgarians will keep our fingers crossed that doesn’t change).
The West Division is only getting tighter as we head down the stretch of the 2025 campaign, so it’ll be a hard-fought battle as the 7-3 Stampeders take on Cody Fajardo and the Elks, who’ve won three games in a row.
Plus, many Stampeders including Vernon Adams Jr. will make their Battle of Alberta Labour Day Classic debut, and I can’t wait to see them suit up in black and don their barbed-wire and chrome horse logo helmets for the first time.
Kickoff goes at 4 p.m. MT. There are still some tickets available, get them while you can.
