LABOUR DAY OUTFITS BIG ITEM

Barry Smith proudly displays his custom built hat, a scale model of Mosaic Stadium complete with 9-volt batteries to run LED lights for the stadium lighting as well as a colour-coded seating scheme to match the stands.

Photograph by: Troy Fleece, Leader-Post

There's little doubt about the dedication football fans in Saskatchewan have for their beloved Roughriders.

But that level might even be surpassed by Roughriders fans who live outside the province, especially those willing to show off their Green and White in the home of the archrival Winnipeg Blue Bombers.

Take Winnipeg's Barry Smith, for example.

He can't be at Mosaic Stadium for every Roughriders game, so he made sure Mosaic Stadium would be with him all the time.

For his annual trip to the Labour Day Classic, the lifelong Roughriders fan constructed a scale model of the stadium that he can wear as a hat. That's right . . . Mosaic Stadium . . . as a hat.
"The last few years, I've really loved the way people dress up in Regina," said Smith, who works for Manitoba's department of justice. "I've been to every other stadium except for Ivor Wynne (in Hamilton) and there's always more green than there is the home-town (colour).

"The Rider fans go the extra mile and Labour Day is the ultimate. The costumes that have been coming out have been fantastic so last year I decided, 'I want to do something.'
"The dimensions are a little off, but what are you going to do? It's a hat."

His first stop was a local craft store for blocks of foam out of which he cut a square base that serves as the turf and is mounted atop a green hard hat. For the stands, Smith cut out jagged pieces of foam and on them painted squares with the same colours as the seats in Mosaic Stadium. The model also includes the Mosaic logo on the front, the posters of Ron Lancaster and George Reed, the SaskTel MaxTron with the score from the 2006 Labour Day Classic (which Saskatchewan led 16-0 at the time of the photo) and working lights attached to three nine-volt batteries.

The hat was on display all weekend alongside the dozens of other wacky costumes that come out this time of year. There was the guy in the barrel (who has become a Labour Day fixture), a Roughriders martian, one woman with green paint in her hair which was wrapped around two plastic beer cups on her head and, of course, hundreds of watermelons heads — including some of the foam variety, which a few fans chose to wear as slippers.

Even those who travelled from Manitoba didn't shy away from the wild looks. Some even chose to steal a page from Roughriders fans with watermelon heads painted blue and gold. At least one fan was caught in a fork in the road and unable to put his allegiance on one side or the other, instead opting to wear a half-green, half-blue Michael Bishop jersey with half of the

quarterback's last name on each colour of the last two CFL teams for which he has played.
For Smith, though, there was never any doubt which way his look would go.

"I remember the first time I came to Taylor Field — it was 1987 — and it was awe-inspiring for a Rider fan to come here," Smith said of his inspiration. "Ever since then, I've been coming every year to Labour Day and the first place I stop off is Taylor Field. It was a no-brainer from there. This is the place. To me, this is Labour Day."

Smith's devotion to Saskatchewan's CFL team goes even deeper. His 13-year-old son's name is Ryder. His 10-year-old daughter's name? Kaitlyn Taylor.

That's some allegiance for Smith, who was born in Regina but moved away with his family when he was all of two months old.

"Once you drink the water here, you're hooked for life," Smith said with a laugh.
There must be something about the water in Winnipeg that keeps people coming back for Roughriders games too.

Bob Antymniuk hails from Regina but has made Manitoba his home for nearly 40 years. He remains a Roughriders season-ticket holder, but has never gone through more to get to a game than Sunday's contest.

On Sept. 1 he and his wife Olenka drove to Regina and parked their car at the airport. From there, they flew to Vancouver for a wedding on Saturday before returning to the Queen City on Sunday, landing an hour and a half before the game.

"It was a little nerve-racking hoping the plane would leave on time," said Antymniuk. "Interestingly enough, the third person in our row was an ex-Regina person heading back for the game (Sunday). We had an instant rapport."

Antymniuk is getting to know the 572 kilometres of the Trans-Canada Highway between Winnipeg and Regina pretty well too. He and his wife make the trip for every Roughriders home game (barring unforeseen circumstances), including pre-season and playoff games. They have been doing so for over 10 years.

"You can look at it as being tough, but you can also look at it as a passion," said Antymniuk, a real estate broker for Avis and Young. "Because of what I do for a living I can also do some business. Plus I've got family in Saskatoon, here in Regina in Moose Jaw . . . and believe it or not there's some nice shops for my wife to go to. It's a great community so it's not hard at all."
It's good that Antymniuk thinks that way as he is doing all kinds of travelling this season. For his 60th birthday, Antymniuk's wife gave him travel packages to see the Riders play in every CFL city. So far they have been to Toronto, Calgary and Montreal and will still make the trip to Edmonton, Vancouver and Hamilton. They'll also return home this weekend to be at Sunday's Banjo Bowl at Canad Inns Stadium.

"When you're watching on TV and you don't see as much of the game, you don't appreciate what's going on elsewhere," said Antymniuk, a quarterback and offensive end in his days at Thom Collegiate, where he was a year ahead of Riders president and CEO Jim Hopson. "On TV, there's so much to miss."

Thankfully for him, Olenka made sure Antymniuk won't miss much. And that includes any playoff run or trip to the Grey Cup should Saskatchewan make it that far.

"We're counting on it," said Antymniuk.

tswitzer@leaderpost.canwest.com