Ralph the Dog is the mascot of the Calgary Stampeders, a Canadian Football League team. Introduced in 1975, Ralph the Dog was the first mascot introduced by a CFL team. According to the team's official site, Ralph was "born" on Labour Day in 1974, and later "acquired" by the team in 1975. [1]
Ralph cheers the Stampeders during their games, and has entertained crowds during events such as the Alberta Children’s Hospital mini-Calgary Stampede parade. [2]
In 2006, the Stampeders banned the Saskatchewan Roughriders mascot, Gainer the Gopher from a game. The Stampeders organization justified the ban by saying Gainer's presence would take away from Ralph's. Stampeders president, Ted Hellard stated, ""Our fans have earned the right for us to be led on the field by our own mascot without competition from Gainer." [3] Regarding the issue, Saskatchewan politician, Glenn Hagel, stated, ""It is a sad day in Saskatchewan," and adding, ""Imagine our shock and dismay at our opponent's display of bad blood and poor sportsmanship." [3]
The Calgary Stampede is an annual rodeo, exhibition, and festival held every July in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. The ten-day event, which bills itself as "The Greatest Outdoor Show on Earth", attracts over one million visitors per year and features one of the world's largest rodeos, a parade, midway, stage shows, concerts, agricultural competitions, chuckwagon racing, and First Nations exhibitions. In 2008, the Calgary Stampede was inducted into the ProRodeo Hall of Fame.
Ralph Philip Klein was a Canadian politician and journalist who served as the 12th premier of Alberta and leader of the Progressive Conservative Association of Alberta from 1992 until his retirement in 2006. Klein also served as the 32nd mayor of Calgary from 1980 to 1989.
The Saskatchewan Roughriders are a professional Canadian football team based in Regina, Saskatchewan. The Roughriders compete in the Canadian Football League (CFL) as a member club of the league's West Division. The Roughriders were founded in 1910 as the Regina Rugby Club. Although Saskatchewan was not the first team to play football in Western Canada, the club has maintained an unbroken organizational continuity since their founding. The Roughriders are the fourth-oldest professional gridiron football team in existence today. The Roughriders are both the oldest professional sports team still in existence that continuously has been based in Western Canada and the oldest in North America to continuously have been based west of St. Louis, Missouri. The team changed their name to the Regina Roughriders in 1924, and to the current moniker in 1946. The Roughriders played their home games at historic Taylor Field from 1936 to 2016; in 2017, the team moved to the newly constructed Mosaic Stadium at Evraz Place.
The Calgary Stampeders are a professional Canadian football team based in Calgary, Alberta. The Stampeders compete in the West Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL). The club plays its home games at McMahon Stadium and are the fifth oldest active franchise in the CFL. The Stampeders were officially founded in 1945, although there were clubs operating in Calgary since the 1890s.
Norman Lim Kwong was a Canadian professional football player who played for the Calgary Stampeders and Edmonton Eskimos of the Canadian Football League (CFL). He was also an active businessman and politician being part owner of the Calgary Flames and serving as the 16th lieutenant governor of Alberta from January 2005 to May 2010.
The Battle of Alberta is a term applied to the intense rivalry between the Canadian cities of Calgary, the province's most populous city, and Edmonton, the capital of the province of Alberta. Most often it is used to describe sporting events between the two cities, although this is not exclusive as the rivalry predates organized sports in Alberta.
Harvey the Hound is the mascot of the National Hockey League's Calgary Flames. Introduced in 1983, Harvey was the first mascot in the NHL.
Gainer the Gopher is the mascot of the Saskatchewan Roughriders of the Canadian Football League. The Gainer costume is modelled after the Richardson's ground squirrel, commonly referred to as a "gopher" in many parts of North America. He is from Parkbeg.
The 97th Grey Cup was played on November 29, 2009, at McMahon Stadium in Calgary, Alberta, and decided the Canadian Football League (CFL) champion for the 2009 season. The Montreal Alouettes came from behind to defeat the Saskatchewan Roughriders 28–27, on a 33-yard field goal by Damon Duval as time ran out. Duval had actually missed a first attempt, but Saskatchewan was penalized for having too many men on the field, allowing Duval a second field goal attempt.
The 2007 Calgary Stampeders season was the 50th season for the team in the Canadian Football League and their 69th overall. After promising second-place finishes in the West Division in 2005 (11–7) and 2006 (10–8) they finished third in the West Division in 2007, with a disappointing 7–10–1 record, their first losing record in three seasons. They were defeated in the Western Semi-Final 26–24 by the eventual Grey Cup champion Saskatchewan Roughriders. The season was the last in which the team recorded more than two consecutive losses in the regular season in 10 years, recording three consecutive losses to close out the 2017 Calgary Stampeders season.
Michel Vigneault was a Canadian professional wrestler, better known by his ring name, Michel "Mad Dog" Martel. Martel is best known for his appearances with professional wrestling promotion such as Atlantic Grand Prix Wrestling, Stampede Wrestling, International Wrestling Enterprise and the World Wrestling Council in the late 1960s and 1970s. He was one-half of the tag team The Mercenaries with Frenchy Martin and the older brother of fellow wrestler Rick Martel.
Calgary is the largest city in the Canadian province of Alberta. It is the largest metro area within the three prairie provinces. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,680,000 making it the third-largest city and fifth-largest metropolitan area in Canada.
The 2010 CFL season is the 57th season of modern-day Canadian football. Officially, it is the 53rd Canadian Football League season. Commonwealth Stadium in Edmonton hosted the 98th Grey Cup on November 28 when the Montreal Alouettes became the first team to repeat as Grey Cup Champions in 13 years, defeating the Saskatchewan Roughriders, 21–18. The league announced on its Twitter page on January 29, 2010, that the season would start on July 1, 2010. As of 2024 this is the most recent CFL regular season to start in July.
The 1975 CFL Draft composed of eight rounds where 81 Canadian football players were chosen from eligible Canadian universities and Canadian players playing in the NCAA. A total of 16 players were selected as territorial exemptions, with the Montreal Alouettes being the only team to make no picks during this stage of the draft. Through a trade with the Calgary Stampeders, the Winnipeg Blue Bombers selected first overall in the draft. They would not choose first overall again until the 2011 CFL Draft.
The 1984 CFL Draft composed of eight rounds where over 71 Canadian football players were chosen from eligible Canadian universities and Canadian players playing in the NCAA. A total of nine players were selected as territorial exemptions, with every team but Montreal making at least one selection during this stage of the draft.
Calgary Expo, known in full as the Calgary Comic and Entertainment Expo, is an annual fan convention held at Stampede Park in Calgary, Alberta, Canada.
Charlie Power is a Canadian former professional football running back and fullback who played for the Calgary Stampeders of the Canadian Football League (CFL).
John Fotie was a Canadian professional wrestler and a painter, better known by his ring name, John Foti. He was best known in Stu Hart's Stampede Wrestling in Calgary from 1955 to 1969. He also wrestled in the American Wrestling Association and National Wrestling Alliance.