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?

Friday Football 5 ~ Grey Cup Edition ~

Is there any Canadian Football League event more anticipated than the week leading up to and including the Grey Cup?

1.  Admittedly it would be 1000 times more exciting if our own home team was participating in the Grey Cup and I don't mean just my Saskatchewan Roughriders but if you are reading this and are a fan of any other CFL team, especially the Eskimos, you'd be wishing your team was included too.  Here we are with the match up of the Ottawa REDBLACKS versus the Calgary blackreds...er, Stampeders.  What a feast for the eyes this TSN broadcast will be.  The Stampeders elected to drive by bus to Edmonton.  They made quite an entrance in their "western" attire. (Alex Singleton 😍😍) I thought this

Who wore it better? Bo Levi Mitchell or Pharell Williams?

was a brilliant move...the bus not the clothing.  By this time in the season the team building should be done but much has been to-do about how this isn't the same Stamps team we've seen in the passed.  Just like hockey teams travel by bus, the Stampeders arrived under horse power and as a complete unit.  Of course this wasn't an option for our plaid clad friends from the east and their arrival shouldn't be diminished.  A good portion of Rider Nation (ABC!) is rooting for the Rough Riders/Renegades/Redblacks.  It also shouldn't be over looked how well this Rick Campbell coached team has done since rejoining the CFL in 2014.

2.   What We're Made Of. Alex Dormuth of Piffles Podcast sums up the sentiments of CFL week perfectly in his article. "It’s about making lifelong friends that you may only see once a year. I can’t wait to get to Edmonton and enjoy Grey Cup this week and see some of the great CFL Family that I haven’t seen in a year."  The CFL Family puts rivalries aside for a massive celebration.  What I've learned is that when you need to count on help and support from a community of people no one steps up more than fans of the Canadian Football League.  Case in point of how members of Rider Nation banded together to send New York native Joe Lozito (@joe_lozito/Twitter) to Mosaic Stadium for the Labour Day Classic.  I've personally experienced something similar when fans reached out to us in 2016 when we were in Ontario for medical appointments.  I don't know of any other community with such heart.

3.  I've watched on Twitter this week as fans tweeted their excitement about packing and hitting the road or flying to Edmonton for the 106th Grey Cup festivities.  While, as I said above, it's amazing, those of us at home are feeling a little left out.  Sure, the best way to remedy this is to ensure we are all there, but sadly responsibilities and the cost of it all get in the way as well as the apprehension of desire to sit outside in frigid prairie temperatures.  Talk is snowballing about moving the season up and this blogger (@smilingriderfan/Facebook) thinks the CFL better think strongly about it.  If each team only played each other twice the season would already be two weeks shorter.  I think if the Grey Cup was held closer to the beginning of November instead of the end, attendance at Grey Cups would skyrocket and by the way, I've heard there are still approximately 300 tickets left for this years game plus all the others being advertised for sale around social media.

4. "It ain't about me"  Those were the words Thursday night when Saskatchewan Roughriders General Manager, Vice President of Operations, Defensive Coordinator and Head Coach Chris Jones was presented with the Coach of the Year award by Henry Burris.  I remember that it was only days after the 2015 Grey Cup when it was announced that Chris Jones was hired by Riders President Craig Reynolds.  I

Merry Christmas 2015

had seconds earlier turned on my Christmas lights which I had wrapped around my Roughrider bear and reindeer which was handcrafted by my father several years ago.  It was a Merry CHRISmas and a "new era" in Rider football began.  Social media is such an interesting place and while I was always on board with everything Jones has done many fans have held grudges and gone to the extreme of cheering on ex-players and their teams against us which I could never fully comprehend.  Saskatchewan sports media often commented "he wears too many hats".  This season we saw him adopt our Rider green by wearing the Strength is Diversity tee shirt every game as mandated by his group of players who it's apparent love him tremendously.   2016 was a massive gutting and rebuild which saw many fan favourites leave for bluer pastures.  In 2017, CJ brought the Riders within 3 minutes of a Grey Cup birth. In 2018, Jones and company brought Rider Nation a home play off game, the first since 2013 and the very first at new Mosaic Stadium. I can't wait to see what Chris Jones has in store for Rider Nation in 2019.  

5.  BOLD PREDICTION.  The majority of the CFL talk this Grey Cup week has been around the subject of the Jonathon Rose suspension due to events during the Eastern Conference Final and whether or not he'll play in the big game.  In case you missed it, Rose was ejected from the game after bumping into a referee. It turns out that while he's appealing his suspension he's allowed to play.  Something doesn't seem quite right with that rule if you ask me.  My belief is that this controversy will overshadow the Redblacks team.  It's often happened where this sort of thing occurs and the team just isn't able to fight through the adversity to come out with a win on the other side.  The Calgary Stampeders, twice the bridesmaids never the bride, will come out victorious as the 106th Grey Cup Champions.  With so many changes possible for this Stamps team in 2019, with all the talk of Bo Levi Mitchell trying out for the NFL among others and Devone Claybrooks possibly moving on to the BC Lions, this might be their last chance to win it all.  Is the 3rd time a charm?  Will the CFL's Most Outstanding Rookie and Special Teams Player Lewis Ward be called on in the dying seconds to kick the game winner?  Can Trevor Harris have another game of his life or will the CFL's Most Outstanding Player Bo Levi Mitchell reign supreme? That's why we'll all be watching at home on TSN (or following ABC Rider Fans Facebook Groups game thread) Sunday at 5:30 Saskatchewan time to see what transpires in this Canadian Football League we all adore.  Whichever way the cookie crumbles...this year a team wearing red and black will be winning the 2018 Grey Cup.

My favourite kind of CHRISmas cookie.

~Friday Football Five~

A long long time ago on another blogging platform the Friday Five was a regular blog that everyone in the circle would post.  I haven't thought about it for a while and decided today was the best day to return to that idea and format.  Is there a better subject than the horrendous Thursday night game by the Saskatchewan Roughriders?  I think not.

1.  Ugh.  It was day one of piano recitals (5 days of recitals with students in 11 of them) and I was at my work BUT I was keeping up with the Game Thread on the ABC Rider Fan Page.  If you haven't checked it out, please do, it's a ton of fun.  The game wasn't sounding good and I wasn't able to follow along after halftime and later upon my return home was informed the Riders hadn't played that awful in about 3 years. Yikes.  Regardless, I watched the game on pvr.

2.  Give credit where credit is due.  Let's not forget that the Redblacks had a whole week to prepare and prepare they did.  The Redblacks came to play and the Roughriders did not.  They did a better job of coaching and game planning.  The Redblacks were motivated and our Roughriders?  Maybe that yoga session on Parliament Hill made them a little too relaxed.  Whatever happened - Ufdah.  The biggest thing I learned from Darian Durant is the 24 hour rule.  Today is a new day.  Let's brush the nasty of this loss off our shoulders and get ready for the next home game.

3.  There are no more passionate and irrational fans than those in Rider Nation.  Calling for coaches to be fired or old players to come back doesn't help anyone and all it does is stir up social media.  In week Two of the CFL season no one will fire a coach.  Are you prepared for 3 more losing seasons?  We love those old players but wanting them back doesn't erase how the team played Thursday night.  Going back in time doesn't prepare the team to compete in the future. I for one also do not want a coach who panders to the fans.  I leave the coaching to the coach and never will I pretend to know better.

4.  Collaros concussed.  It's rather curious how it happened.  We can only assume it was the hit he took to his chin or jaw since there were no other bumps that would have jarred his head.  I'm not a doctor - just a fan, but that's how it appeared to me.  Is it possible that Chris Jones felt things were getting out of control and pulled him from the game?  We will find out next week when the Riders start preparing for Week 3 against the Montreal Alouettes. 

5.  Duron Carter is an incredible athlete.  Sports media has had a hay day trying to comprehend Duron Carter playing in the injured Marshall DB spot.  Should he?  Shouldn't he?  The guys saying last week he shouldn't are eating crow and the guys saying he should have now reversed their opinion.  Thank goodness DC gives them something to talk about!  Instead of debating it why not give the guy credit for getting his second career Interception which he's returned for a touchdown?!  Good on you Duron!  Let the haters hate because without you Life would be boring.