Randy Chevrier has played in his fair share of Labour Day Classics — Monday will be his 11th — and narrowing down his favourite memory from those games was not easy.

The Labour Day Classic has proven time and again that it’s a game where anything can happen — and usually does. Despite the teams’ records or who’s on the injured list, it’s a game both teams pride themselves on winning.

Labour Day has featured blowouts, game-winning field goals and bench-clearing brawls and fans of both teams circle the game on their calendars every year. 

When asked to recall his favourite Labour Day memory, the first one that comes to Chevy’s mind was a convincing win by the Stampeders in 2010.

“It was a pretty intense game,” says Chevrier. “We blew them out 52-5 and that was pretty neat to do for our fans because it is one of the games where our stands are full of our fans. I think when you can do that for your fans when they show up, it kind of inspires them to come out some more, so that was a good memory.”

He also remembers last season when it was a back-and-forth game that came down to an Eskimo field-goal try on the last play of the game. Grant Shaw’s 46-yarder sailed wide left and the Stamps held on to a 31-30 victory.

“Last year was really good because we did all we could and it was a tough-fought battle,” says Chevrier.  “I thought they played well and it came down to a game-winning or losing kick on their end… you can remember that emotion in the last minute.”

The Stamps long snapper has been on this side of the rivalry since 2005, but he was also an Eskimo during his first two seasons in the league (2002-03). Despite a 28-22 loss for his Eskimos, he will never forget the 2003 Labour Day Classic.

“Way back in 2003 we lost the Labour Day Classic game in Calgary and — actually TSN reminded me last night — we had a field goal returned on us for a touchdown by Calgary,” he says. “I didn’t remember that but the biggest memory from that game was a huge, huge bench-clearing brawl that I was kind of right in the middle of after a Calgary player had shoved Ricky Ray through the Gatorade table. I kind of went up to him and we were pushing and shoving and the next thing you know, a big brawl ensued and then spilled onto the field and both teams were there.

“As many people remember, Ed Hervey tried to take a swing with his helmet at Davis Sanchez but in the process knocked out a referee. It was just a melee. You don’t want to see that type of stuff in football, you don’t want kids seeing that, but as far as bad blood and emotion in a game, that was probably one of the most emotional games I’ve been in.”