Victor Butler was asked about the Saskatchewan Roughriders, and the peculiar tradition the team’s fans have developed with watermelons, which they hollow out and wear as helmets inside the stadium.
“Do they eat the watermelons first?” Butler asked.
Good question.
“Because that would be a big waste of food,” he said. “If they’re eating the watermelon, that’s pretty cool. If not …”
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Butler admitted he was not an expert. The 30-year-old defensive end has only been working in Canada since May, when he arrived for his first training camp with the Toronto Argonauts. He was sidelined by injury in July, when the team made its only trip to Regina.
On Sunday, Regina could come to him. The Argos will host the Roughriders in the East Division Final for the first time, with team management optimistic more than 20,000 fans will walk through the gates at BMO Field for a 1 p.m. kickoff.
The Roughriders promoted a special group ticket offer to fans through Twitter on Sunday night, which would allow them to sit together inside the stadium. While it has been reported the Argos were on their way to a season-high crowd before Saskatchewan won the East Division semifinal, the team’s presence should boost sales.
“I think a lot of fans, and a lot of people, don’t realize what that kind of support does for a team,” Butler said. “When you have to look up, and you can actually raise your hands and tell the crowd to get louder — and you hear them getting louder.”
Toronto drew its largest regular-season crowd in August, for a game against Montreal, with a ticket that also allowed fans entry to the Canadian National Exhibition. The promotion helped lure 16,326 into the stadium on a Saturday evening.
Saskatchewan led the Canadian Football League with an average attendance of 32,762 this year. It also led the league in road attendance, with crowds of more than 26,600 — which is almost 2,000 above the league average.
That is a lot of watermelons.
“They have support, and not just in that province,” said Argos defensive co-ordinator Corey Chamblin. “You’re in Mexico, you’re in Arizona — wherever you are — you’re going to see a green flag somewhere.”
Chamblin led the Roughriders to the 2013 Grey Cup title as head coach. The franchise had endured the tough times, he said, and now, “financially, they’re one of the strongest teams in the league, so they’re doing a good job to capitalize on that.”
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He said he has never worn a watermelon helmet.
“No matter where I’ve played — whether it was out in Edmonton, and you’re playing at home — sometimes it feels like you’re in Regina,” Argos quarterback Ricky Ray said with a smile. “They travel really well. It seems like they’ve got them all over the country.”
Over the course of his 15 years in the league, Ray said he has ventured through Riderville at least once at the Grey Cup, in the festival where Saskatchewan fans gather over pallets of Old Style Pilsner. (The beer was not readily accessible in his native California, so Ray said he had never tasted it until he made it to Canada.)
“It just makes it fun,” he said. “They’re such good fans. They bring a good energy to the stadium. They really love their team.”
“They’re certainly as important a franchise as we have in the league,” said Argos coach Marc Trestman. “Their fan base is dynamic and is overwhelming as it relates to the league. They’re all in, they come from everywhere.”
Like Chamblin, though, Trestman said he had never learned to carve a watermelon into a helmet: “I don’t get into all the traditions … I do respect their fans.”
James Wilder Jr., the rookie running back, made the first start of his CFL career in Regina, in July. He had not heard about the watermelons, but he had heard about the Saskatchewan fans.
“That makes the experience fun,” he said. “You feel good when you’re playing in front of your fans, but you feel great when you’re playing in front of a massive crowd. Period. No matter which is which.”
Wilder played football at Florida State University, and he was asked if any fans unusual traditions.
“We had two guys who always painted their full bodies in glitter,” he said. “They’d do the glitter thing, no matter the temperature. Home and away games, they were there.”
Why glitter?
Wilder shrugged: “It just makes them shiny.”
(Top photo: Steve Russell/Toronto Star via Getty Images)