November 25th this year (2012) will be the 100th year anniversary of the Grey Cup and the Canadian Football League (CFL).

Congratulations Canada across the land, football fan or not. The 100th Grey Cup Championship will take place at Rogers Centre at 6:00 P.M. on Sunday, November 25, 2012.

If you can't be there you can still watch on TV, listen on the radio or live vicariously through Twitter.

100th Grey Cup Sites to See

• 100th Grey Cup
  The Official Tumblr of the 100th Grey Cup.

• CFL on Twitter
  On Twitter, type the hashtag #100GC

• Canadian Football Hall of Fame and Museum

• CBC Digital Archives - Grey Cup: The Fans and the Fanfare

• Grey Cup - Wikipedia

The first Grey Cup game with the early Grey Cup to the side.

If it all began in 1909 how is 2012 the 100th Grey Cup game?

Yes, 1909 wasn't 100 years ago but, for the Grey Cup, it was 100 games ago.

In 1916, 1917 and 1918 there were no Grey Cup games due to World War I. Also, due to a rules dispute there were no play off games or Grey Cup in 1919.

So the CFL is calling the game this year (2012) the 100th Grey Cup game.

How did the Grey Cup Festival itself begin?

In 1948, fans of the western champion Calgary Stampeders partied in the streets of Toronto dressed in western gear, square dancing, flipping flapjacks, and even riding a horse through the lobby of the posh Royal York Hotel.

The 100th Grey Cup Coin from the Canadian Mint Lord Earl Grey's trophy will be presented for the 100th time

In 1909, Albert Grey, 4th Earl Grey, (the Governor-General of Canada at the time) was an ardent sports fan. He commissioned a trophy and planned to donate it to Canada's senior amateur hockey championship. However, the Allan Cup had already been donated there. So, Grey gave his trophy to the Rugby Football Championship of Canada. The trophy became known as the Grey Cup. The first Grey Cup was played in 1909 on Rosedale Field in Toronto and won by the University of Toronto Varsity Blues.

Originally, winning the trophy was only for teams registered with the Canada Rugby Union. Eventually, the Rugby Union evolved into the Canadian Football League and the Grey Cup became the property of the DFL. Since the 1920's, the Grey Cup is given to the winning football team in a final contest between the east and west. Since 1954, only the teams of the CFL have played for the Grey Cup.

The trophy has a silver chalice attached to a large base on which the names of all winning teams, players and executives are engraved.

The Grey Cup has been broken (and repaired) several times, stolen twice and held for ransom. The Grey Cup survived a fire in 1947. Other artefacts in the same building were destroyed.

In 1950, a player came close to drowning in a mud puddle at the "Mud Bowl".

In 1962 the game was halted during the final 9 minutes due to fog. The "Fog Bowl" was finished the next day.

In 1977 they played the "Ice Bowl" on the frozen turf at Montreal's Olympic Stadium.

The CFL (officially founded on January 19, 1958) is the second oldest, continuously-operating Gridiron football league in North America.

Do you care about history?

I love reading a bit here and there. I studied history in high school. I would have taken it in college but it wasn't available among my optional courses.

Mostly I like reading about women in history ancient history and old cultures and customs. Being a Pagan/ Witchy type person I tend to read about superstitions and old traditions connected to nature and ceremonies too. I once spent several hours in the public library reading about wedding traditions and omens. That was long before my own wedding.

When I first heard of Wicca I went to the library to read about it. I wanted to know where it came from and who was involved. How did they feel about the things that matter most to me? That's all history too. Most, of the people who created Wicca are no longer here to tell us their side of things. If you go even farther back, the first Witches and Pagans are hopelessly lost to us. We couldn't even come up with a reliable source to know who the first Witch really was. Just some woman gathering herbs and helping people I would guess. But, you can't know. That's something lost to history.

History gives us a past, an anchor. Whatever else you learn about, it's all current or in the future. Nothing but history teaches you about mistakes, conquests, people and possibilities that have come before you.

Not everyone appreciates history. Some think of it as just dusty old books that don't matter any more. But, I think differently. How can you follow your path if you don't know where you've been and what you've passed along the way?

Originally posted to 'BackWash: Where the Wild Things Are' newsletter, March, 1, 2003.

A Breath of January

The last day of the first month. It sounds magickal. But, so far, I've never heard of anyone else having a special ritual for this day. I've always thought January was a special month. Not just cause it's the first month of the new year.

It's named for Janus, the Roman god of portals. Each year January is our portal to a fresh start. But, I feel it's not like most Pagan holidays. Usually there is some looking back, some sorting out - decluttering. Instead I think January is a month to only look ahead. Don't start planning your Spring cleaning. Don't look at old photographs, old journals or anything with dust of the past on it.

January is like a fresh breeze sweeping in to clear away the cobwebs. Think of it as a door opening to a room that has been shut up for a year. Imagine that first current of fresh air flooding into the old air and pushing it aside, enlivening the whole place all at once. That is what January feels like to me.

January is a portal, use it, pull yourself ahead into the new year. No looking back at what was, what might have been or what never will be. Today, on the last day of January the portal is wide open. The future is there, staring you in the face. Fortune favours the bold, reach out and grab it. What ever you want to bring into your life this coming year is there, in the path, just ahead of you. If you're bold, like January, you can get there. It might take you till the end of this year, but you can get there.

Every journey starts with one single, small step.

Happy January 31st.