No Sports Jersey? No Problem! Pep Rally Time!

There has been some buzz building in the past few days, people, and it's all about Fort Mac's bid to host the 2015 Western Canada Summer Games. The selection committee will be in the city today, June 1st, and we need to show our Fort McMurray Big Spirit.

Here's the funny thing, people. I'm not really a sports fan. I don't watch football, or baseball, or hockey. I've only ever played one organized team sport in my life (soccer, decades ago), and I'm not really "into" the sports world in general. What I am, though, is completely aware of how sports can build and unify a community. A common interest in a sport or a team or a sports event can become a touchstone for an entire city, or even an entire country (hello, Canucks?!?). Sports can build spirit and mobilize people like nothing else I've ever seen, and as such even a non-sporting type like me can completely appreciate the important role sports play in our community. That's why I think hosting these summer games would be an amazing experience for our city, as well as being yet another opportunity to show the rest of the country what this community is really about.

Mayor Melissa Blake has declared today Sports Jersey Day for the RMWB, and we've all been asked to don our favourite jerseys. I don't own a sports jersey, and I'm not planning to buy one, either. What I am planning to do, though, is to attend the 2015 Summer Games Bid Pep Rally happening at MacDonald Island today at 11:30. I may not be wearing a sports jersey but I fully intend to show my big spirit and pride in this city. I plan to show the selection committee that not only is this the best place to hold these games but that it is really the ONLY place to hold them because of our irrepressible pride and spirit. We are a can-do city, people. Things that others say can't be done we do. Things that others wouldn't even try we attempt, and, quite often, we succeed (and even when we fail we hold our heads high knowing that there is no shame in failing, only in failing to try).

So, Fort Mac, c'mon out to the Pep Rally today. If you don't have a sports jersey, don't worry. Just come sit beside me in my decidedly non-sportswear attire. We will show that selection committee, and the country, that with or without sports jerseys we have big, Big Spirit. See ya there, people!