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Video: Saskatchewan premier Brad Wall picks up his banjo ahead of Sunday’s game

andrew bucholtz

One of the greatest rivalry games in the CFL is the famed "Banjo Bowl," the back half of the Labour Day Classic between the Winnipeg Blue Bombers and the Saskatchewan Roughriders that's played in Winnipeg the weekend after Labour Day. The game has been a regular CFL occurrence for a long time, but it got its name in 2003 when long-time Bombers kicker Troy Westwood (now a radio host in Winnipeg!) called Saskatchewan fans "banjo-picking inbreds" ahead of a playoff game between the teams. Bombers' board member David Asper seized on the comment the next year to market the Labour Day rematch, and it's stuck ever since, to the degree that many Rider fans show up playing banjos. The latest to join them? Saskatchewan premier Brad Wall, as shown in this YouTube video he posted Friday:

Yes, that's the premier of Saskatchewan dressed in a Riders' jersey (one of Gene Makowsky, the famed Riders' guard who's now an MLA in Wall's Saskatchewan Party) and playing a banjo, and yes, he takes a pretty good shot at the Bombers there. "I've just been practicing the banjo. I guess I'm not very good at it. Like the Bombers are at football!" Harsh words, but fair ones, considering that Winnipeg's 1-8 going into Sunday's game. Meanwhile, the Riders are 8-1 for the first time ever, and they beat Winnipeg 48-25 to get there. Thus, Wall should be feeling pretty good about the state of this rivalry right now. Awesomely, though, Manitoba premier Greg Selinger has already fired back on Twitter with a 13th man joke:

Despite the differing states of the teams, though, Winnipeg and Saskatchewan fans always manage to have a good time together, and this week's game should be no exception. It's nice to see politicians embracing the friendly rivalry, too. The Banjo Bowl's turned into one of the league's most interesting games annually, and that should continue this year despite the teams being at opposite end of the standings. Hey, the premiers are still pumped up for it, so everyone else should be as well.