Recently I attended a PD (professional development) session for new teachers. At my table was a proud (and extremely knowledgeable) young Metis women, and a 35-ish-year-old man, originally from Romania, to then Montreal, to Texas, to somewhere in Ontario, to Regina, with three separate degrees. He said to me, after we had engaged in discussion about Regina's lack of public transportation system that only encourages people to own their own vehicle if they live further than a 15-minute walk away from their place of work, that as a new citizen of the city of Regina, he feels a real pressure to conform to this "Rider Nation" theme.

Don't get me started, I said.

You've heard this before. I come from a home that didn't value the watching of sports, and by the time I became old enough to feel stupid for not knowing every NHL/CFL team, let alone name more than one or two players, I was old enough to think that I knew better than to care. And it takes a lot of work to care. To be up on games. To devote three hours of the day to watching and yelling. I can say more on violence, sexism, hyper-masculinity. Blah, blah, blah.

Instead of going on that rant, I simply stated that I felt the same way. I listen to CBC radio on the majority of my daily commutes, and recently all that it has been is Rider this, Rider that.

Why do people here have such pride in one team? he asked.

Well, it's all we've really got, myself and my female counterpart said.

What about music? Theatre? Art? Culture? he asked.

It seems like those things are on the fringe, I said. 

No one would say that about Quebec or Ontario, he said.

He's right. I often feel embarrassed by the fact that people in Saskatchewan (Regina, especially) grasp so tightly onto the pride they feel for the one thing, perhaps, that we feel has made a name for ourselves. One team's retail sales being 60% of all CFL merchandise is not something to brag about. It's desperation. I went to the mall the other day, and the Rider Store had a lineup of about thirty people. There was a guard at the door. Good grief.

I get that it is a "historical moment" for the Riders; sure, it's exciting. Of course I will be happy if they win. My real point is that people who come here from places who have pride in things other than one team only have incentive to leave, and are left baking cookies in their home, petting their dog named Bartholomew on the head while Netflix plays on their tablet, propped up near the sink, planning trips elsewhere.