I would like to weigh in on "toughest place to play" comment.
You could look at it in one of two ways. I think Calgary being a tough place to play as a statement to how different the Stamps play at home compared to on the road. In the last 3 years or so Calgary has been a middle of the pack CFL team overall, but the difference between wins and losses at home, and margin of victory at home and away, must be staggering. I would like to see what the stats actually are, but without researching, I would guess that the Stamps have the biggest difference in the league, or at least close to the biggest. The "toughest place to play" arguement I think speaks to how crappy this team can be on the road and conversly, how good this middle of the pack team can look at McMahon. Now that the Calgary has a new coaching staff, and are on the verge of breaking out of the CFL pack and back to an elite squad McMahon has to be considered the toughest play to play, or at the very least one of the toughest places to play.
Now, Casey, I think you were talking about environment. And that is something different all together. Many places could make this claim, including Taylor (mosaic) field when the team has a winning record. I have no doubt that the Riders have that place going crazy right now, but like Calgary, and I'm sure most every CFL city, I've seen that stadium dead and empty to start the fourth quarter when the riders are down by 21 and the team is in last place.
Calgary, maybe more than any other canadian city, has people from all over Canada, and seemingly especially from Saskachewan. Without hyperbole I would say that 30 % of Saturdays sold out crowd will be supporting Sask. and that will make for a pretty wild atmosphere.
I could not have drafted a better response, this is exactly what I meant by toughest place to play. Because of both the way the team plays and mix in the crowd and atmosphere. They are a different animal at home and with all of the injuries on Sask, this one I feel will be really ugly. Good luck this weekend. :toast: