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  • Ottawa Downs Las Vegas 54-50 in 1994 Labour Day Weekend Shootout

    Labour Day weekend is arguably the biggest deal in the Canadian Football League outside the Grey Cup. The end-of-summer holiday features games between the CFL’s fiercest rivalries. Saskatchewan versus Winnipeg. Calgary versus Edmonton. Hamilton versus Toronto. Now back in 1994 one of the CFL’s Labour Day weekend matchups included the Ottawa Rough Riders playing host…

  • Five Canadian Football Players Lost in 1956 Plane Crash Part II

    The 1956 plane crash that claimed the lives of five Canadian football players garnered widespread newspaper coverage across Canada and parts of the United States. Melvin Becket, Mario DeMarco, Gordon Sturtridge, and Ray Syrnyk of the Saskatchewan Roughriders and Calvin Jones of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers were aboard Trans-Canada Air Lines Flight 810 when it…

  • Five Canadian Football Players Lost in 1956 Plane Crash

    On Sunday, December 9, 1956, tragedy struck Canadian football when five professional players lost their lives in one of the country’s worst aviation disasters. Trans-Canada Air Lines Flight 810 left Vancouver that evening bound for Calgary with 62 passengers and crew onboard. Among the passengers were four members of the Saskatchewan Roughriders (Melvin Becket, Mario…

  • Calgary Companies Celebrate the Opening of McMahon Stadium

    Last week’s post was about the construction of Calgary’s McMahon Stadium in just 103 days. The stadium replaced Mewata Stadium as the new home of the Calgary Stampeders. The first game played at McMahon Stadium featured the Stampeders hosting the Winnipeg Blue Bombers on August 15, 1960. On the day of the game, many Calgary-based…

  • Calgary’s McMahon Stadium Built in 103 Days

    McMahon Stadium turned 65 this month. It is one of just a few of the “old” CFL stadiums still in use. Most CFL teams are playing in either relatively new or refurbished facilities. But back in 1960, the new McMahon Stadium was hailed as one of the finest football stadiums in the country. Talk of…