Calgary fans celebrate Stamps' Grey Cup win at downtown rally

Hundreds of Calgaryfootball fans came out tohelp the Stampeders celebrate their Grey Cup victory with a noon-hour rally outside City Hall on Tuesday.

The Stampsbeat the Ottawa Redblacks 27-16in Edmonton for the CFL's championship trophy on Sunday.

"Regardless of what I said a couple of weeks ago, we love Canada," shouted head coachDave Dickenson to the crowd, a reference to a heat-of-the-moment comment he was caught hollering at officials during the West Final gameagainst Winnipeg.

Dickenson and the rest of the team donned white cowboy hats as they appeared on a stage set up just outside City Hall at the Municipal Plaza for the celebration.

Nearby streets were closed for several hoursto make room for the party.

"It is sweet, after those two frustrating losses, this is fantastic," said fan "Big" Don Edy, who arrived early for the rally with his pal, "Little" Steve Gohdes.

"I was telling some other people, I've been a Stampeder fan now for 63 years. When I was nine years old, I started to cheer for them."

"It's the heart and soul of the city. We are Stampeders fans, tried and true," said Gohdes.

Fans Shelley Regnier and Maureen May agreed the Grey Cup win is just the kind of boost the city could use.

"I'm so happy for them, so thrilled for them. And this is a dynasty now," said Regnier.

"This is huge, Calgary really needs something like this," said May, who recalled buying her first season's tickets when she was 12 years old.

Calgary quarterback Bo Levi Mitchell the CFL's most outstanding player this season after tossing a league-best 35 TDs was the game MVP with two touchdown passes.

• Fans welcome Calgary Stampeders home after Grey Cup victory
• Stamps' Grey Cup victory in pictures

The team was welcomed back to Calgary onMonday by dozens of fans, who cheered ashead coach Dave Dickenson hoisted the Grey Cup at McMahon Stadium.

Sunday's win was the Stampeders' eighth Grey Cup, and the team'sfirst victorysince 2014.

The team suffered back-to-back disappointments in 2016 and 2017, making it to the final matchupboth years but coming up short.

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