DAYTONA HOMES FRIDAY RODSERVATIONS

An anatomy of a road trip from Regina to Florida. Stay tuned — it’s entertaining!

4:30 AM Thursday morning – Arrive at Regina International Airport amidst a mini-blizzard and lots of fresh snow on the ground. Fortunately there’s a parking spot relatively close to the terminal, marked 3-10. Check and double-check the radio gear, GPS, wallet, phone, and head inside.

4:35 AM – The check-in man at the Delta counter smiles and says “Another combiner!”. Immediately I assumed he was talking about my farming background and then, once I remembered I was wearing a Rider windbreaker, I realized he was talking about all the Rider personnel who had checked through ahead of me on their way to Florida.

He continued, “Corey (Chamblin) came through yesterday and I mentioned all I work with is women. He said ‘me too’!”

4:57 AM – Standing in the ever-growing lineup to pass through security, I encounter several people I know: the Dobson family of Rouleau headed to Orlando, Evraz Place CEO Mark Allen headed to Vancouver and Regina model Kelly Carmichael headed to Las Vegas. Another guy, whom I don’t know, said “I’m going to Phoenix to watch the Coyotes and Oilers. Who should I bet on?”

I told him to throw some change on the Yotes.

5:45 AM – Climb aboard the air vessel bound for Minneapolis and discover longtime Rider athletic therapist Ivan Gutfriend and video guy Chris Rewniak are on the flight. We chitchat and I tell them I’ve got a car rental and they’re welcome to jump in for the ride from Tampa to Brandeton (50 miles). No, they say, they’re getting picked up.

Cool. So I download Thursday’s news on the USA Today app and prepare to take off. Up, up and away.

8:55 AM (LOCAL) – Touchdown in Minneapolis where there’s snow on the ground and ice on the lakes. These people are honourary Canadians. It’s also home to the NHL’s Minnesota Wild, one of six teams in the Big 4 whose name does not end in an “s” (the others are the Heat, Magic, Jazz, Thunder and Lightning). Correct me if I’m wrong.

9:30 AM – Hustle through the Minneapolis airport and get our seats assigned for the 10:10 AM flight to Tampa Bay. A tall, well-built young gentleman notices my jacket and comes over to me. 

He smiles, takes his headphones off and introduces himself as Jon Jennings, a graduating quarterback from Saginaw Valley State. He’s coming to Bradenton for the camp. We chat a bit about his background, I ask him how he’s feeling, and wish him good luck. I then introduce him to Ivan, who smirks and nods. John thought I was a coach at first and likely was disappointed to learn I’m the football club’s play-by-play man. Then, off we go to Tampa.

But there’s no TVs on the flight, which sucks big time. Delta’s proud to announce you can now leave your tablets and smartphones on during take off and landing as long as it’s not transmitting. “We hope you’re as happy with this change as we are,” they tell us. I’d rather have the TVs. This is going to be a long flight. And now I’m peeved at myself for not buying a local newspaper.

10:15 AM – Oh. My. God. Well that didn’t take long. They seated me in the exit row next to the flight attendant and she immediately struck up a conversation. She’s a Kentucky gal who does all the Cincinnati Bengals charter flights. Yep. They fly on a 757 with three leather seats on each side with the middle seat always remaining empty. The Bengals coach is Marvin Lewis and if players are caught without a tie on road trips, it’s a $2000 fine. She doesn’t know all the players but she knows quarterback Andy Dalton. “Everybody knows Andy!” she laughed.

There’s only one particular player on Cincinnati whom she doesn’t like but I won’t name him here. Scan their roster and you’ll be able to pick him out guaranteed.

An inside look at an NFL charter flight? The Bengals ALWAYS have Chick-Fil-A cater their trips home and there’s a cart at the front of the plane where the players can select what entrees they want along a selection of sauces. The family of franchise founder Paul Brown flies with the team and sits in the front row. Brown’s son is guessed to be about 70, his daughter “in her 40’s”. They make most road trips with their team.

A steak or chicken meal is served mid-flight, but most players are too full by then. Then trays of candies are served, including Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups.

The media travels with the club as well, but they sit in the back of the aircraft.

Well that killed 30 minutes! Wish I could have gotten a photo with her for this report.

10:45 AM – A 30-minute nap followed and then it was time to crunch some numbers regarding the Roughriders’ current roster heading into this weekend’s camp. Keep in mind few of the 76 players listed on the team’s website roster may participate in Florida. But here’s the breakdown on the number of players they have signed by position:

DL (11)
DB (14)
LB (12)
REC (15)
QB (3)
RB (9)
OL (8)
P/K (3)

That should add up to 76. Does third string QB Seth Doege (Texas Tech) win the #3 position behind Darian Durant and Tino Sunseri by default? Not on your life. Certainly Jon Jennings has other ideas.

One guy I’ll be keeping a close eye on is 6’4″, 220 lb receiver Chaz Schilens out of San Diego. Not only does he have a spectacularly cool name, but he comes with an NFL pedigree as well. He’s been given #86. I’ll be sure to write him up in my full reports from IMG Academy.

With 30 minutes left in the flight my Kentucky gal manages to wrangle me a NY Times and the print copy of USA Today. There isn’t a single write-up in the USA Today about the NHL but there’s a real nice feature in the NY Times about Alex Ovechken mentoring Evgeny Kuznetzov in Washington.

Front page in both newspapers is the Washington Redskins’ signing DeSean Jackson. It’s … the …. off-season.

2:05 PM: TOUCHDOWN TAMPA BAY!  Whoa, I just sounded like legendary Buccaneers broadcaster Gene Deckerhoff there. Anyways, it’s sunny and 75 degrees here. Now, off to get the radio equipment off the baggage carousel and get the rental car.

2:30 PM – Rider staffers Hugh McKay and Mikey MacNeil are waiting at the arrivals gate to greet the players and fellow staff and give them a ride to Bradenton. After a quick hello, I’m into the rental car station (a Ford Fiesta, the cheapest available) and onto the freeway I go to Bradenton. 

The stereo quickly finds 99.5, “Tampa Bay’s Country Station”, and Blake Shelton and Luke Bryant keep me company on the 50 mile drive south down the Florida Gulf Coast.

How did a farm kid from Milestone, SK get so lucky?

I learn on the radio the Calgary Flames are in town to face the Lightning. Dang it, I can’t get there because of CKRM commitments.

3:38 PM – Thanks to an out of date GPS unit, I took the scenic route to my hotel. Another hotel was nice enough to print off Google Map directions to my abode.

5:30 PM – Arrive at my hotel and call in reports for the Friday morning sportscasts on 620 CKRM including breaking the news of the Riders’ addition of QB Jon Jennings, record the morning SportsCage report and work more on this Friday morning column.

6:00 – 8:00 PM – Co-host the SportsCage on 620 CKRM with Phil Andrews and Kelly Remple and discuss this free agent camp amongst all the other daily sports happenings.

8:30 PM – After getting cleaned up, it’s time to hit Bradenton with friends. And wouldn’t you know it, my phone dies!

TALK TO YOU IN THE CAGE AT 4:00 PM!
RP
@sportscage