5 Things Every Roughrider Fan Should Know

Does the weather in Saskatchewan have you down?  I hear you.  I don't ever remember it being -43C ever before.  As I'm bundled in my warmest clothes and not wanting to crawl out from under the warm blankets in the morning I think back to the warm summer night games at Mosaic Stadium and also look forward to what the team will look like in 2019.  With CFL 2.0 put into action by Randy Ambrosie there might be an influx of new CFL fans wanting to know who they should pledge their allegiance to and if the Riders are their choice (and they should be) then this post includes everything that a first time Saskatchewan Roughrider fan should know.

5.  It's ROUGHRIDERS not Rough Riders.  One word.  Change your spell check and correct Siri.  At one time in the CFL, as odd as it was, there were two teams with the same name and the only difference besides location was the difference of one word or two.  The Ottawa Rough Riders were founded in 1876 and was one of the oldest teams in the league...that was until 1996 when the franchise fell on hard times.  Then along came the Ottawa Renegades but they ceased to exist in 2006.  Then in 2014 the Redblacks entered the CFL for the 3rd kick at the can.  Meanwhile, the only change for the Roughriders was a name change from being known as the Regina Roughriders to the Saskatchewan Roughriders and why not?  Rider Pride is province wide.  The community owned team, founded in 1910 has had hard times but due to fan support, a couple telethons and outside donations the organization made it through to become one of the most prosperous teams in the CFL.  We say Rider Pride is World Wide but that's only because of the plethora of any and all merchandise found everywhere on the globe.

4.  Who was Piffles Taylor?  Neil Joseph "Piffles" Taylor was a World War I pilot and also a football player.  He lost an eye when his plane was shot down and spent a year as a German prisoner of war.  Even though he was missing an eye he was able to quarterback the team to the Hugo Ross Trophy.  He was a player, a head coach and became a football executive in the west.  The then home of the Roughriders Park de Young/Park de Hughes was renamed in his honour Taylor Field.  It remained Taylor Field as a stadium was built which was much later named Mosaic Stadium and the street it was located on named Piffles Taylor Way in Regina, Saskatchewan.  When the new Mosaic Stadium was erected a block away, the old stadium was auctioned off, dismantled and toppled over.  There isn't any new development on the site yet and I bet it now looks much the same as it might have when Piffles himself played there.

3.  The duo of Ron Lancaster and George Reed is legendary.  Ron Lancaster was the starting quarterback for 16 seasons and led the Saskatchewan Roughriders to their first Grey Cup victory over the Ottawa Rough Riders in 1966.  Because of his small stature he was nicknamed the "Little General" but nothing about him was little.  He led the team to 14 consecutive play off games and played in the Grey Cup 5 times.  He won 170 games with his only losing season his final with the Roughriders.  By his side, was running back George Reed.  He is known as the best running back in CFL history.  Mr. Reed played his entire 13 year career with the Roughriders.  Both of these outstanding men have their jersey's 23 and 34 retired and their statues can be seen outside new Mosaic Stadium.  While Ron Lancaster passed in 2008, George Reed still lives in Regina and visits Roughriders practices and has the best seat in the house for home games.

Screen grab after a re-creation of the 1989 kick during a game in the Farewell Season

2.  One of the Saskatchewan Roughriders biggest rivalries is with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers.  The Winnipeg Football Club hasn't won the Grey Cup since 1990 and it's fun to remind them about that.  They also like to remind us Rider fans that we've only won 4 times and while this is true they are 4 of the most epic wins in history...or at least I'd like to think so.  The first win as mentioned above was in 1966.  It was a game in which everyone thought Ottawa was going to win, so much so according to George Reed that all the championship regalia had to be moved from the Ottawa locker room into the Riders locker room.  The next Grey Cup championship didn't come until 1989 which many CFL fans tout as the best championship game of all time.  Everyone had counted out the Roughrider team.  We were the under dogs who won on the leg of a Robokicker aka Dave Ridgway.  The next game came in 2007 against those aforementioned Blue Bombers.  For all accounts, the Bombers should have won too if it weren't for their starting quarterback Kevin Glenn breaking his arm the week before.  The next Grey Cup win came in 2013 at home in front of Rider Nation at Taylor Field in a rematch of 1989 against the Henry Burris led Hamilton Tiger Cats.  They didn't stand a chance.  There was a lot on the line for Saskatchewan - redemption for the 13th man fiasco in 2009, the monkey on Darian Durant's back and just the pure pressure of getting the win at home.  You can kid us all you want about these 4 championships but it's the down time, the heart break and frigid temperatures that make Roughrider fans all the more passionate in Saskatchewan.  The Roughriders are bidding on the 2020 Grey Cup.  Can we do it again at our new home?

1.  Roughriders helmets are green and watermelons are green so why not wear a watermelon on my head?  If you have any doubts and have gotten to this point on the list and thought wha?  It's true.  Roughrider fans are known for wearing fruit on their noggin's.  I've not personally carved out a helmet, but word has it that you have to do it far in advance so that the rind dries out enough for you to wear it.  Otherwise you'll end up with a drippy sloppy mess on your head and I'm not sure that's the conditioning treatment your beauty regime really needs.  It's likely because of this that newer fans are opting out of this head gear.  You can bet that on special game days that anything and everything goes at a Rider game.  Star Wars fan?  Check out the crew at Piffles Podcast in their game day attire.  Are you more of a Saskatchewan Pirate?  We've got fans who dress as those too.  Everyone looks better in green and the more green the better.  A trip to the nearest Rider Store will have you decked out head to toe in everything from jerseys, pants, nail polish, and your green hearts deepest desire.  Don't forget, it's not just for game day either because Roughrider fans wear it everywhere.  It's worn at weddings, funerals, on vacation and at other sporting events.  There's one in every crowd and there's no other group of people I'd rather identify with.  Rider Nation are my people.  Why not make them yours too?

5 Reasons CFL Trumps NFL

Sunday February 3rd is Superbowl LIII (53) featuring the New England Patriots (patooey) and the Los Angeles Rams.  This is one of the biggest events in sports in the world.  It's true that I am a CFL fan and blogger so what does that have to do with the topics I generally write about most?  Well, after I saw someone comment on one of the many (and they're growing) Facebook pages that Superbowl was like the American Grey Cup, I got to thinking, first that it was a hilarious statement but secondly why do we compare the two leagues and why do us CFL fans believe our league is better?

I present to you, this weeks Football Friday 5 aka 5 (tongue in cheek) Reasons the CFL Trumps NFL.

5.  LIII  Okay I know those are Roman Numerals but did you know that they don't even teach Roman Numerals in school anymore? It's true.  Roman Numerals along with Cursive Writing has gone the way of the Dodo bird.  I had to google it myself to see what number LIII actually is and found out it's 53.  Why can't they just say Superbowl 53?  Is it more prestigious to use Roman Numerals?  Meanwhile, the last Grey Cup was 106th Grey Cup.  It's so much easier to understand and fans who don't have one foot in the grave can read it and understand how many years the Coupe de Grey has been around.

4.  The Superbowl victors call themselves World Champions.  Forgive me, but world champions of what?  The Superbowl is mostly an American game played in the United States except for the odd preseason game which is taken to Europe.  They didn't have to play different countries to gain the title only teams from other conferences.  Players in the CFL hail from many countries outside of Canada including Australia and in 2019 for the first time Mexico.  If anyone can call themselves world champions it may be players in the CFL.  However, we are far far too nice for that.  Players merely say they are Grey Cup Champions and leave it at that.  They're so humble.

3.  Our balls are bigger...or are they?  A few years ago the dimensions of the CFL football was realigned to be similar to the NFL ball.  Instead we can look to other differences and how the rules differ.  The size of the field is different, goal posts are located in different places and the number of downs is different just to name a few things that sets each league apart.  The number of players on the field, the waggle and the Rouge are bigger differences.  In my opinion, players in the CFL have to be better athletes because there is far more movement and because of that pre-snap movement both receivers and defensive backs have to be far more explosive.  I also think the rouge is the most under rated part of the CFL game.  Because of this little kicking strategy it's possible for a team to win by 1 point.  1 point can be huge when it comes to heading to over time or winning in regulation time.  Oh and don't get me going on how much better over time rules are in the CFL than NFL.  We witnessed that in action in the NFL playoffs this year didn't we.

2.  The CFL Family.  We are all fans of our own CFL teams but when it comes to someone in need or helping each other out there is no family like that found in the CFL.  When it comes to picking a team we've seen posts from Joseph Lozito and Brenden Kudlo post on social media asking who they should align themselves with and oh boy does the CFL family ever respond.  It shouldn't be that hard to choose because there are only 9 teams as of right now but in the NFL how does one choose?  Colour of uniform?  Favourite city?  Warmer weather?  One place the CFL fosters comradery is the week prior to the Grey Cup game.  Every year there is a CFL festival held with each team hosting pavilions where fans can meet up, drink, eat perogies, share, win prizes and meet players.  The cost of attending these festivities is much more pocket book friendly as well because you don't have to pay your life's savings to attend the game.

1.  The number one reason that the CFL Trumps NFL is how accessible CFL players are to fans.  I'm sure NFL players support charities and do player appearances but it's nothing like the contact we have with CFL players.  In 2018, I was able to not only meet every single Saskatchewan Roughriders player at Training Camp.  My American family always ask me how I manage to meet these players and honestly it's because they are just regular people like us.  Kory Sheets needs a ride from Saskatoon to Regina and a fan steps up.  Shawn Lemon bikes to a burger joint and fans meet him there.  Duron Carter takes 50 fans to the movies.  Do you want to work out like a pro in the off season and you can talk to Jovon Johnson and have him train you.  CFL players are touchable and that's part of what endears them to us and in return we give them our hearts.  While we do cheer for the name on the front of the jersey, the name on the back does a lot for community service and that's more important to Canadian fans that the dollars in their bank account.