Wins, losses, atmosphere all play part in Labour Day Classic clash

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One knows about success on Labour Day.

The other has yet to taste victory in the big game.

Now as Calgary Stampeders teammates, Reggie Begelton hopes to help Adam Konar experience the right side of the annual Labour Day Classic.

“I’m excited,” said Konar, whose LDC resumé consists only of losses — six total — during two tours of duty with the team from up north in Edmonton. “It’s always an exciting game to play. But it’ll be fun to be on the home side for the first time — get a little different feel to it.

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“And I’m excited to play against those guys and see some old friends on the field and go to battle against them.”

Indeed, Konar hopes Monday’s battle between the host Stampeders (4-6) and the Edmonton Elks (3-8) at McMahon Stadium (4 p.m., TSN, QR Calgary) marks his first LDC victory.

The veteran CFL linebacker signed with the Red and White in the off-season.

“I played Konar in a lot of games when he was in Edmonton and I was here,” said receiver Begelton, also a CFL veteran but on the winning side for five of six Labour Day tilts since his arrival in Calgary. “And it’s good to have Adam on our team now. He’s a baller. We’re going to help him get on that other side in the winning column.”

That’s certainly been the thing for the Stamps in the LDC.

They have prevailed in 10 of the last 11 Labour Day meetings with their Alberta rivals since 2012.

Overall, the teams have played 58 times on Labour Day since 1959, and the Stamps lead the series 31-26-1.

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Konar, who returns to the lineup after sitting out last game with a hamstring injury, wants to be on the right side of that success …

Finally.

“Calgary has always been a tough place to come and get a win, especially on Labour Day, when there’s that much more to the game,” said Konar, whose time with Edmonton was broken up by two years with the BC Lions, during which the Green and Gold won the LDC in 2021.

“I wouldn’t say I’ve been a bad-luck charm,” continued Konar, with a chuckle. “I would say Calgary’s done a good job of holding down the home fort. I just want to keep that going.”

So, too, does Begelton, who still remembers his first Labour Day Classic, although he didn’t get to dress for it in his rookie year back in 2017.

“I always wanted to wear that black jersey in my first actual Labour Day game,” Begelton said. “I didn’t get to. But later in the year, I got to wear the black jersey in the last home game. But it’s not the same. It’s not quite the same.

“But being on that sideline, with the jets flying overhead and everything, standing there for the first time, the adrenaline and the excitement was still there. Just being on that sideline and being on this team in that atmosphere is a blessing.”

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Since 1982 and for all but two seasons since 1969, the Stampeders have faced their provincial rivals at McMahon on the first Monday of September.

It was in 1949 that the now-familiar Calgary-Edmonton Labour Day matchup was born, as the Alberta teams played five straight years in Edmonton before the series was briefly abandoned. Then, in 1959, the rivalry was renewed with Calgary serving as hosts. And with only a few exceptions, it is in this form the tradition continues to exist.

But sometimes that tradition — as it is so far for Konar — is remembered for the wrong reasons.

“It’s funny — I always remember the losses more than the wins,” said Stamps GM/head coach Dave Dickenson. “My biggest memory was a hot, hot day — we had the old turf, and it was hot. And we went into overtime, and we got down on third-and-one when we were down by three points. We put Mike McCoy in for the sneak, and he got into the endzone.

“But somehow they claimed they called a time-out right before the play. So we run it again and lose. That one stands out for me.”

That was 1999 in a 33-30 OT victory for the team from up north.

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And that was back in the days — “crazy” ones, said Dickenson — when the teams turned around and rematched in the Labour Day Replay in Edmonton on just three days rest.

Now, there are four days between the games, with the replay slated for Saturday at Commonwealth Stadium (5 p.m., TSN, QR Calgary).

“Those stories are funny,” said Begelton, when asked about hearing tales of the incredulous three-day break between games in the annual series. “But I just look at what the tasks are ahead and I don’t worry.

“It is a different day, though, especially this year being that the West Division is so close that every game from now on — especially against West opponents — matters. You want to win the series. We play Edmonton three times, and this is the start of winning that series. We need win number one.

“So priority number one is to win,” continued Begelton. “You don’t want to go to Edmonton, trying to claw back and try to get a win after a loss. You want to win both of them, and the West is on the line. And Monday is the start of catching that blessing.”

Indeed, just one win separates the arch-rivals — and just two Ws differentiate the top and bottom teams in the West standings — which fuels the fire even more.

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“It’s that time of year that the CFL gets a little more intense,” Konar said. “You kind of get into that playoff atmosphere.”

There’s hope the fans will help that along, too.

The Stamps are asking for a fans to fill McMahon dressed in black — to match the players’ jerseys, of course — as part of the Stampeders’ Labour Day Blackout event.

“I know we’re going to have a good crowd,” added Dickenson, whose own regular-season success against Edmonton is 14-of-18 — as sideline boss, dating back to 2016 — and 32-of-40 — as a Stamps coach dating back to 2009. “I’m reading that sections are sold out, and I’m excited about that. I felt like Labour Day back in the ’90s that you knew it was going to be a sell out, you know the jets were coming, you knew you were going to have a battle …

“And then you throw in that Labour Day black, which I love, and it’s honestly a great day of football.”

SHORT YARDAGE

A moment of silence and pre-game salute is being planned ahead to remember Johnny and Matthew Gaudreau ahead of Monday’s game at McMahon … OL Bryce Bell (calf) is a game-time decision for the Stampeders … Another key cog joining Konar in returning to the lineup after missing the loss to the Ottawa Redblacks is offensive lineman Sean McEwen (hand). Also in are WR Tyson Middlemost (hamstring), OL Eric Smith, DB Bailey Devine-Scott, DL Kail Dava and DL Charles Wiley … Those Stamps coming out of the lineup are RB Ron Tiavaasue, WR Rysen John, OL D’Antne Demery (hand), DL George Idoko, DL Elliot Graham, DL Kwadwo Boahen (back) and DB Kenyon Reed.

tsaelhof@postmedia.com

http://www.x.com/ToddSaelhofPM

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