Bernie Sebastian isn’t afraid to show his Rider Pride, but when the green and white let him down with a loss, the Regina man lowers the team’s flag in front of his home.
Sebastian unintentionally began the tradition a few years ago when he started lowering the flag to half mast following a Rider loss.
“Because of the frustration of losing and playing poorly – I must admit – and I’m leaving it down until we win again.”
Unfortunately, Sebastian has had the flag lowered a lot during the past two seasons. He was glad to be able to raise it after the Riders’ win in the Labour Day Classic.
“I was optimistic with the game against Winnipeg … because of the changes, and I knew that the guys were going to come out with fire. So I decided, yeah, they won. So I put it back up.”
Sebastian admitted he hoped the flag would stay raised a bit longer, but stuck with his tradition and lowered it after the Riders lost in the Banjo Bowl.
Sebastian, who was a member of the University of Regina Rams when the team first began in the 50s, knows that the Green and White likely won’t see his flag in south Regina. However, he doesn’t mind the idea of it serving as motivation for the team to bring out another win.