Football Funk & Other Football Friday Fun

It's been a while since I've touched base with you, my readers!  Even I feel like I've been leaving my blog out.  Now, I was on vacation for 10 days so that's a thing and then there's the vacay prep as well as getting back into the groove afterwards.  I *think* I might be caught up.  In spite of May being my busiest month of my teaching musical life I found a few hours to put some thoughts down for you in blog form.

I hope you enjoy Football Funk & Other Football Friday Fun.

Say that 5 times fast.  Thursday there was the major announcement from General Manager Jeremy O'Day via live stream that the Roughriders had signed Solomon Ele…elemi...ele…  Elimimian.  Yeah, there's that.  We have a couple weeks to learn how to say the Riders newest all stars name correctly.

I was away for 10 days over Easter Break in Utah and Arizona and it was FANTASTIC.  While shopping for snacks in a market in Kabab, Utah and sporting my Roughriders tank top a man remarked about it.  He knew what it was and I smiled and it made my heart feel well.  Rider Nation is recognized everywhere.  Also while out hiking we at Bryce Canyon National Park we saw an SUV with Saskatchewan plates and a sticker that said Carlton Honda.  My people.  My home away from home.  In all seriousness though, go see Utah, it's amazing.  Also if you haven't heard or tried "fry sauce" it might change your life.

Check out my Instagram: smilingriderfan for more vacay photos!

Wednesday Ricky Ray announced his retirement from the CFL.  What a stellar career he's had and nothing rocked the football world (CFL anyway) like the trade from the Eskimo's to the Argo's.  My only wish was that his career could have ended on the 2017 note and not that horrific injury from 2018.  What I don't get it why when something like this is announced that journalists/columnists/fans feel the need to rank their play.  It really doesn't matter who thinks who is the most legendary...let's appreciate what they did while we got to watch them play.

Tuesday Dan Clark was in a car accident and it was reported he was in "stable condition" in hospital.  He was enroute from a speaking engagement in Cudworth to his home when the accident occurred.  As fans I think we forget how much players do for our/their communities in the offseason.  I'm sure most players give back but it seems to me that players from Saskatchewan get out to more places in the province and do more than any others.  I don't know what this means for Clark's season but I hope he fully recovers and we see him back on the field soon.  Also, let's not pass judgement on the use of seatbelts, not much is going to hold a person the size of this O Lineman in his seat in a rollover.  This aspect of the crash should be the least of our concerns.

Before I embarked on my epic trip I had made a social media comment about how I've been feeling that my excitement has been waning for this 2019 season.  My season tickets arrived and I'm still a bit "meh" about it all.  I did receive a few responses from people who are feeling the same and they weren't all Rider fans.  Usually at this time of year it's all I can do to contain myself from the excitement of camp opening.  But is it really opening or are the players going to strike?  We just don't know.  It would be fun to plan an ABC Rider Fan meet up at camp...but there might not be much to meet up for.  It's really hard to stay in my fandom state of mind and I've found myself delving farther and farther into other interests.  I've even watched basketball.  Send help.  Or, get a jump on the Roughriders season by staying in the know by "liking" the ABC Football Facebook Page and joining ABC Rider Fans.  We are coming up on our 1 year anniversary.  Thanks to everyone who continues to make it a success!

As things try to ramp up it was announced that the Nu Era merch is coming soon.  I am excited about this because not only does my old Reebok jersey have a hex on it (it's been crumpled in the back of my closet since last season) but I'm looking for a better more comfortable fitting jersey.  The design of it or whether the pattern is different doesn't really matter to me.  I want a jersey that makes me feel comfortable.  Fingers crossed.  I also have a gift card to spend so YAY!  At the same time, in recent days I've seen an alarming amount of "sponsored" posts on Instagram and Facebook advertising CFL items.  It's buyer beware.  These items are not CFL licenced and the logos are used illegally.  Usually the items come from the US or outside Canada and are over priced and under delivered.  The sparkly bunnyhug I saw on Facebook, which did look amazing in pictures was really unwearable as reported by one fan and another said the sparkles were actually a print on it and not sparkles at all.  If we really want to support our CFL teams let's ensure we purchase from team stores or they include CFL logos so we know they are official merchandise.  When we finally get to see our Riders hit the field we want to look our game day best. #UniteinGreen.