It's a matchup that's no stranger to football fans. Today riderville hosted the Winnipeg Blue Bombers in the labjour day classic. And fans were out in style long before the 2:00 pm kickoff.
Dennis Empey from Saskatoon drove to Regina bright and early for today's game.
"We left Saskatoon around 7:30, we got here just before10:00. Got an afternoon ahead of us, should be a good time. Lots of hotdogs, lots of burgers."
Dressed head to toe in roughrider gear, new and old friends gathered for a late morning pre-game breakfast complete with hashbrowns, sausage and of course roughrider green pancakes.
Pre-game parties have become a tradition at a Regina home on Elphinstone for years. Visitors have come from as far as Slovakia, many on them introduced online.
"There's a lot of people that come from all over the place and we just felt let's have a place where people can come and get together." says Tom Gartner, co-host of the pre-game party.
For the Lucas family, attending the labour day classic wraps up bringing their son to college in Saskatchewan. The family, who is from Ontario, are year round Hamilton Tiger-cats fans. But today, they picked up some rider gear, and got to the stadium early to get in on the party.
John Lucas says it's about getting in on the experience. "Well we wanted to see the whole thing, the whole experience, because they don't really have the bumper parties in Hamilton, so we wanted to get here early and check that all out."
With both Saskatchewan and Winnipeg in last place in their divisions, this years classic has a different feel from years past. However, for most fans, the home team's losing streak has not dampered their excitement.
"It doesn't matter if the Bombers are undeafeated and the Riders 1-6, the Riders always show up for this game." says Blue Bomber fan Pat Rathwell. "So I'm hoping that our team actually shows up this game and we have a good classic."
Guy Scarf drove from Lloydminster for the game.
"It doesn't matter about who wins or loses, it's Saskatchewan. It's a Rider Fan. It doesn't matter, we're not all about winning, it's about being there."
