A pre-pandemic birthday gift is my reminder that what should have been Grey Cup week has just passed.

On my birthday back on March 4, I was given a T-shirt and a baseball cap to mark that the Grey Cup festival was going to be in Saskatchewan this year. Unfortunately, coronavirus gripped the world, causing most of the sports world to shut down. In North America, that was on March 11 and 12.

After trying to figure out a scenario to take the field, the CFL officially cancelled its 2020 campaign on Aug. 17.

Actually back on May 20, the CFL decided to move the Saskatchewan Roughriders hosting rights for the Grey Cup to 2022. On that day, the CFL said the Grey Cup host for 2020 would be the team that had the best record going into the game.

The CFL then experimented with the notion of having Winnipeg host the circuit in a hub city format, before ultimately cancelling the campaign.

Across Canada, diehard fans lamented the loss of the CFL season. In Saskatchewan, the pain hit a lot of fans as the Roughriders have a welldocumented passionate following.

I have wavered back and forth over whether I miss the CFL. I know when and if I ever get back to Mosaic Stadium for a Roughriders home game, the reality of missing the CFL will hit me in a bigger way.

In that situation, I suspect I will see a lot of friends that I haven’t seen in a while that I usually see at Roughriders games. Seeing familiar faces will reinforce I am missing something.

As strange as it sounds, I don’t really miss the CFL on most days. After being involved with the sports industry as a sports reporter for 24 years in some shape or form, I realize that sports are a business.

I also realize that no matter how much I love a team or a league that something can happen that will take that team or league out of my life. That team or league will leave my life due to business.

I’ve conditioned myself to know that happens, and when it does, I just move on with my life. I always cherish the memories I made, and I’ve made lots of outstanding memories in sports over the last 24 years.

I chalk things that I can’t control up to being the way they go sometimes.

It is on to the next thing. I actually don’t dwell on what life will be like if the CFL does or does not continue to exist.

That does change on days I see people who are hooked in with the league. If I am at the Gordie Howe Sports Complex and I visit with a number of the CFL athletes that train there, then I really miss the CFL.

That is a point in time I wish the players could be playing and the fans could be in the stands.

Some of the CFL athletes that train at the Gordie Howe Sports Complex include Jorgen Hus, Patrick Neufeld and Evan Johnson, along with CFL Draft selections Mattland Riley and Colton Klassen.

If I talk to Roughriders left guard Brendon LaBatte on the phone, I miss the CFL.

If I interact with Roughriders players Jordan Reaves or Chad Geter online, I miss the CFL.

If I see social media posts of Rider Nation home-game regulars like Michelle and Paige Hansen, Lisa Lukye or Connie Dobson, I miss the CFL.

I do hope the CFL survives the COVID-19 pandemic, and we can all go to CFL games again one day.

If it does or doesn’t come back, life goes on for me and I will focus on adjusting the best I can.

-Darren Steinke