All championship experiences in sports are not created equal. When a team is a pre-season favourite, or spends the most money, or is stacked with the best players in the game, its never quite as special. This is why the Kansas City Royals, who finally dropped a post-season game by losing 7-1 to San Francisco in the opening game of the World Series Tuesday night, have a chance to go down in baseball history as one of the more remarkable champions of this generation. Already the Royals have made winning look more fun than anyone else in sports. The Royals don’t just celebrate like millionaire athletes. They have that pinch-me-I-can’t-believe-this-is-happening-and-it-reminds-me-of-what-it-felt-like-to-be-a-kid-again kind of fun. They buy rounds of drinks for their fans in bars after games, they have a player who gave out playoff tickets to a fan on Twitter and agreed to go to dinner with him. It’s become fashionable in sports for players to place winning championships above all else in sports. The standard answer as to where an athlete should want to play? Why wherever gives him the best chance to win a championship, of course. Teams such as the New York Yankees have used that selling point since the dawn of free agency in the 1970s, with baseball’s other big spenders such as the Angels, Boston, or the Dodgers also opening their wallets to do what some might call invest in talent, and what others might call buy a winner. Even in a salary cap league like the NBA, we saw The Big Three Found set things up, not just so that they would be able to play together, but so they could win a string of championships. That’s what it was all about and to a degree it worked. But the thrill of victory is never what it could be when one celebrates the accomplishments of a team that had the deck stacked in its favour before the season even began. The Heat winning two championships was maybe good for the NBA. But there was hardly anything magical about it, no sense of witnessing something that made you remember where you were when… It’s just a fact of life that the greatest celebrations in sports are always those that seem the least likely, the emotional energy inversely proportional to the likelihood of it occurring, for both participants and spectators. The greatest celebration I can recall ever seeing in sports? Probably the 1980 US Olympic Hockey Team in what became known as the “miracle on ice,” a scene that appeared on the cover of Sports Illustrated magazine without a headline. The scene simply spoke for itself. The Royals aren’t quite that kind of story but their journey thus far does feel different. There’s a little more unbridled joy, a little more enjoy-it-while-it-lasts. Yes the Royals remind us that even in professional sports, there are different degrees of joy. Brandon Parker Jersey . 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Youth Raiders Jerseys . 28 with a Vancouver entry for the first time in 10 years and a novel new collective bargaining agreement.CALGARY - Players on both sides of the football look to either establish or re-establish themselves as impact players in the CFL when the Calgary Stampeders host the Montreal Alouettes on Saturday. Calgarys Bo Levi Mitchell and Montreals Troy Smith will be the starting quarterbacks in a CFL season-opener for the first time in their careers. Both want to reinforce their No. 1 status. You can watch the game live in the first half of a doubleheader on TSN and TSN GO at 3:00pm et/Noon pt. or listen to the game live on TSN Radio 690 Montreal. Former NFL star Chad Johnson will begin the revival of his football career as an Alouettes receiver. Prominent Stampeder receiver Nik Lewis is back after missing over half of last season with a broken leg. The 32-year-old slotback feels he has something to prove. The sentiment can also apply to Tom Higgins, who returns as a CFL head coach with Montreal after six years working as the leagues director of officiating. His last coaching stint was with the Stampeders from 2005 to 2007 and Calgarys record in his final season was 7-10-1. Its serendipitous his first game back will be at McMahon. "When you think about, why not?" Higgins said Friday. "I knew how to get here. The bus driver went the wrong way and I said no, no, you make a right here." Theres also players still feeling out their new teams such as Josh Bell, a former Lion who will make his Stampeder debut at starting safety Saturday. "I want to see how we adjust really when we have success and when we dont have success," Bell said. "How do we adjust? Thats the biggest thing in football." The Stampeders topped the CFL with a 14-4 record last season, but were upset 35-13 at home in the West Division final by the eventual Grey Cup champion Saskatchewan Roughriders. The Montreal Alouettes went 8-10 and lost 19-16 in the East semifinal to Hamilton. Star quarterback Anthony Calvillo missed the final 10 games of the season with a concussion and subsequently retired in the off-season. Smith, a former Heisman Trophy winner with Ohio State, got a crash course in CFL football going 2-1 to conclude the season. "What you do know about Troy is he brings a level of leadership, he has a very strong arm and hopefully he has a cast around him that he doesnt have to carry the football team," Higgins said. "If we do our job properly, hopefully we can spread that football around enough that he doesnt always feel he has to be on top of his game for us to win." Mitchell won his three starts and came off the bench to win another in 2014. Stampeders coach and general manager John Hufnagel handed the 24-year-old the ball for the opener, but indicated he could have just as easily given it to Drew Tate. "It was a photo finish between he and Drew," Hufnagel said. "I said earlier in the week when I made the decision both quarterbacks will play football for us this year. It just so happens Bo is getting the first start." "He has earned the oopportunity to play.dddddddddddd Hes won every game hes played as a Calgary Stampeder, so thats not a bad track record." Both Mitchell and Smith recognize opportunities to be a CFL starter are limited and they must perform to earn more. "Every game, every play, every snap, every rep is concreting or cementing who you are," Smith said. Added Mitchell: "Now that Ive been given the job, Im going to make sure I keep it, run with it and have a lot of fun." Lewis broke his fibula Aug. 17 and did not play again in 2013. It was the first time in a decade as a Stampeder he was unable to produce over 1,000 receiving yards. Lewis was annoyed Friday that hed been made a designated international for Saturday, which could limit the slotbacks playing time because he cant replace a Canadian on the field. "I dont make these decisions. I just play football," Lewis said. "In this business, its what have you done lately. Last year, I wasnt able to play, so Ive got to continue to go out and get better and prove that I can play. "Ive never had an injury like I had last year, so I am so motivated to get back on the field and just show it is possible. Maybe Week 1, well unleash the beast." Stampeder offensive lineman Dan Federkeil will sit out Saturdays game. He took a hit to the neck in practice this week and has had a concussion before. Hufnagel wants to be cautious with the Medicine Hat, Alta., native. So with internationals Stanley Bryant and Edwin Harrison both suiting up on the offensive line, Hufnagel said "it disrupted our ratio a little bit." "I had to make one of our receivers the DI," Hufnagel explained. "Nik will be the DI, but were still going to have three on the field and they all are going to have their roles. Its not like Nik wont be playing the game." Lewis is considered one of the CFLs colourful, and at times controversial, players. Montreals Johnson could join him in that category. The six-time Pro Bowler and one-time "Dancing With the Stars" contestants Twitter posts often include "sensitive material" warnings. He changed surname to Ochocinco in 2008 only to return to Chad Johnson in 2012. He spent 10 seasons with the Cincinnati Bengals, but hasnt played a game since 2011. The 36-year-old wide receiver wasnt among the handful of Alouettes available to the media at McMahon on Friday. Smith indicated Johnson is still adjusting to the Canadian game. "Chads OK, man hes done great," the quarterback said. "Hes accepting the different nuances of the game and tried to perfect them the best he could, but his backbone and his foundation will be guys like S.J. Green, guys like Duron Carter and guys like Brandon Whitaker who can give him the ins and outs . . . on things he can do during the game if hes not feeling too up to par with whats going on. "We have an incredible group of veteran guys who do nothing but help tremendously and Ive relied on them also." 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