DAYTONA HOMES FRIDAY RODSERVATIONS

Jim and Brenda Hopson

FRIDAY NOTEBOOK

1 – FAREWELL JIM:   The curtain may have officially come down on Jim Hopson’s illustrious 10-year tenure with the Saskatchewan Roughriders on Thursday night when the outgoing team President & CEO was appropriately honoured at a dinner attended by several hundred patrons at Regina’s Queensbury Centre.

There were dignitaries as far as the eye could see, including Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall, CFL President Michael Copeland, Regina Mayor Michael Fougere, MP Ralph Goodale, Rider Chairman Wayne Morsky, new Rider President Craig Reynolds and a host of others including Rider alumni, current team staff, team sponsors, fans and dozens of Hopson’s friends and family.

The event was coordinated by Hopson’s Executive Assistant Laverne Cuddington and Phoenix Group VP Darren Mitchell and it could not have come off better.  I would think it was exactly what Jim would have wanted for a send-off.  The evening included an outpouring of video tributes to Hopson from a variety of personalities.

As one Rider staffer said to me, “If he doesn’t shed a tear tonight, he’s not going to” but the big guy kept it together.  Hopson admitted to being “humbled” by the tribute, and now he’s set to ride off into the sunset.

His address included stories of his upbringing in North Regina, playing high school, junior and pro football, his career in the public school system and of course his stewardship of Canada’s Team.  That phrase came up a lot.

Hopson was, simply put, the perfect candidate for the Roughriders Presidency at the time.  What followed over his next 10 years was, remarkably, exactly what Hopson envisioned when he presented his case to the hiring committee in the offseason between the 2004 and 2005 Roughrider seasons.

Hats off Jim!  There will never be another.

2 – THE SHIV:   Hopson gave a 26-minute address to the Regina media Thursday afternoon at Mosaic Stadium in which he doled out a lengthy list of thank you’s and reflected on his time with the team.  However it’s difficult to look at Hopson’s legacy without discussing the firing of GM Roy Shivers in August of 2006.  It was, perhaps, the most poignant time of his Presidency and it came early on.  It set the path for the next decade and Hopson doesn’t regret the move.

“I don’t want this to sound harsh.  But the decision to recommend that Roy leave was the hardest decision, maybe,” Hopson revealed.  “And that’s not a knock on Roy Shivers.  I personally like Roy.  I’m not sure if he personally likes me but I personally like Roy.  And I have great respect for what he did for us, in terms of making us a better team.

“But I thought we had to change how we viewed ourselves.  We saw ourselves as ‘okay’.  Rob Vanstone talked about us being ‘mediocre’ and I thought with that decision, with the new hire, we started to change the perception that we’re not just ‘okay’ or ‘lovable losers’.  We were gonna be a great team.  We were gonna be a great franchise.

“That was a very hard decision and a very good decision.”

Within the hour, Shivers was contacted by a former Rider staffer and informed of Hopson’s comments.  However I’m not sure what his response was.

But the firing of Shivers illustrates what Jim was all about in his time in charge of the Roughriders.  He had nuts.

3 – TO THE WALL:  Saskatchewan’s Brad Wall was introduced by MC Pam Klein as the “most influential of Canada’s Premiers” and it’s always a treat to hear from the Swift Current product in a setting such as this.  Unlike his fiery debates in the Legislature, Wall is much more relaxed at these types of functions and his humour shone through.  He opened his address with a crack about our province’s refusal to participate in Daylight Savings Time.

“To the province’s 110,000 golfers,” Wall smirked.  “Get up earlier!  We’re not changing the clocks!”

Great!  I like being two hours behind Eastern Canada.  Hockey games come on sooner.

Regarding Hopson’s success in making the Saskatchewan Roughriders the CFL’s flagship franchise during his time in charge, Wall had a funny about that too.

“When the Riders went 2-14 in back-to-back seasons in 1979 and 1980,” Wall smirked.  “Who besides John Lynch thought the Riders would become the country’s flagship football franchise?”

Hopson had some fun with Wall when it was his turn saying, “Nice shoes Brad!  When your feet get better, will you still have to wear those?”

4 – ON TO OTHER THINGS:  I don’t know why it dawned on me to research the current Roughrider players with the most Twitter followers on Thursday but the study yielded some interesting results.  Here they are:

Darian Durant – 39,500
Chris Getzlaf – 21,800
Anthony Allen – 20,600
Weston Dressler – 18,100

Taj Smith – 8,300
Chirs Milo – 8,063
Brendon Labatte – 5,439

5 – THE NEW COMMISH:  Kudos to the CFL for keeping the hiring of new Commissioner Jeffrey Orridge under wraps until Tuesday morning’s news conference at the Royal York Hotel in Toronto.  Orridge’s name didn’t hit Twitter until shortly before the news conference began.  Who knows how Orridge will fare in this most-important role?  He certainly seemed sharp and enthusiastic in his interview on CKRM’s SportsCage later in the day.

On Orridge’s Wikipedia page – in a line shoved down to the bottom – it read that “He would become the first African-American commissioner in the CFL’s history and, at the time of his appointment, the only non-white head of a major North American sports league.”  To his credit, when asked about this, Orridge said it’s not a big deal to him but deep down it must be.

The New York product seems to have a youthful, athletic energy about him but the 54-year old has enough gray at his temples to show that he has the experience to know what he’s doing.

It will be great to make his acquaintance, and welcome him to the Rider Nation one day soon.

6 – BIGGEST BLUNDERS:  Ken Miller has gone home to his cabin deep in the North Carolina forest but he made a big impact in his few short days in Regina last weekend.  We’d discussed that the 13th Man incident may go down as perhaps the biggest blunder in pro sports history but some SportsCage listeners pointed out that the Seahawks pass play call in the final seconds of this year’s Super Bowl may now be the new leader.  Sorry, but that’s way different.  They blew it with what appeared to be the incorrect play call but, had it worked out as it was inches away from doing, Seattle coach Pete Carroll would have been heralded as a genius.  Remember, they were trailing at the time.

The Riders’ Illegal Substitution penalty was an entirely different kettle of fish.  They had the game in their back pocket but it was yanked out by their own gaffe.  That’s much different to me but at the time of this writing, I’m too tired to point out the reasons why.  Draw your own conclusions.

Others speculated that the “Guarantee” by B.C. Lions President Dennis Skulsky that his team would beat Saskatchewan in August of 2014 – only to wind up losing – might be pro sport’s biggest blunder.  However I would suggest that was pro sports marketing’s biggest all-time blunder.  In retrospect, how many people redeemed those tickets for a game at a later date as promised by Skulsky?  Many of those in attendance were Rider fans who wouldn’t be back for another Lions game.  Perhaps another opponent would have worked better for a “Guarantee”?

Methinks Mr. Skulsky simply got caught up in the heat of the moment.

7 – GO PATS GO:  The Regina Pats play their final home game of the regular season Friday evening when they welcome the Prince Albert Raiders to the Brandt Centre on CKRM Night.  One lucky fan in attendance will receive a cheque for $1000 courtesy of Saskatchewan’s Sports Radio, 620 CKRM.  I’ll be on hand to present the cheque at ice level at the game’s conclusion.

These final two games are purely ceremonial for the Pats as their second place finish has been solidified and all that remains to be determined is their first round playoff opponent.  As a fan, it makes no difference to me whether they play Swift Current or Moose Jaw in Round 1 but I’d prefer the Warriors due to proximity.  Either way, we’ll be taking the SportsCage on the road to get swept up in the series.

The loss of 16-year old rookie star Sam Steel is a mighty one for the Pats, even if the team is downplaying it.  The kid logs a ton of minutes and plays in all situations.  It’s true, it’s an opportunity for someone else to step up but Steel is special and not having him may mean the Pats won’t be a first round favourite.

I thought the Pats would have an edge in goal against Brandon in a second round meeting but they’ve got PLENTY of work to do before that.

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We’ll discuss these and other matters on CKRM’s SportsCage on Friday live from the Brandt Centre.  Scott Schultz and I will be joined by Rider Chairman Wayne Morsky, Jim Hopson, plus Pats personalities on Friday’s show.  Please tune in!

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THAT’S IT FOR THIS WEEK! THANKS FOR READING…
RP
@sportscage
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