DAYTONA HOMES FRIDAY RODSERVATIONS

For those of us who visit Evraz Place on a near daily basis, we take for granted the evidence of the new stadium around us.  After Thursday’s new stadium design unveiling, several blog readers and SportsCage listeners outside of Regina have asked for some pics of what’s going on in the heart of the Queen City.  So after Thursday’s radio show I drove over and snapped some photographic confirmation of what’s gone on so far…

The new stadium is almost in the shadow of the current Mosaic Stadium.  It’s what, 300 or so yards to the west?  The Grand Ol’ Lady as Bob Hughes called it will be demolished in 2018…

This is what used to be a parking lot at the Brandt Centre, home of the Regina Pats…

Confederation Park between the Brandt Centre and the new Mosaic Stadium.  According to the stadium drawings, the park will be left alone…

Quite possibly the coolest cat I’ve met in a good long time — stadium designer Mark Williams.  The Dallas, Texas product calmly swatted aside the hard questions from the news media at the early morning debriefing.  What about parking?  (There will be 100 additional spots from what we have now). What about the wind?  (They’ve examined Regina weather patterns going back 100 years and have finely-tuned instruments which helped with the design to work with the wind, not against it).

For Thursday’s CKRM 10:00 am news I had to call in a report about the stadium design before it had actually been unveiled.  I thought long and hard to come up with a comparison for the listeners but came up empty-handed.  Williams smiled at that notion, saying that’s something he’s the most proud of.  There’s nothing else like it.  He said in his Texas drawl that this stadium will provide more bang for its buck than any other on the planet.

I waded through a crowd of reporters and got Mark’s attention, introducing myself as “The Brad Sham of Regina”.  (He’s the voice of the Dallas Cowboys).  Williams smiled ear-to-ear and said, “Oh yah Rod!  I’ve heard ya!”  I’d hoped we’d hit it off.

Williams revealed that after building, designing or renovating stadiums for the Dallas Cowboys, Indianapolis Colts, Minnesota Vikings, B.C. Lions, Hamilton Tiger-Cats and Toronto FC, and having spent significant time in those cities, he’s come to the conclusion that Roughrider fans are the greatest in the world.  Some scoffed that he says that wherever he goes, but it sounded good at the time.

Williams started making treks to Regina and to games at Mosaic Stadium five years ago and he quickly deduced this is a special place.  He said all through the process the Rider Nation was right there on his shoulder basically telling him, “Don’t screw this up”.

One of the most popular questions about the new stadium is whether or not it will be able to replicate the atmosphere of the current Mosaic Stadium.  Many times (like Mosaic Place in Moose Jaw compared to the Crushed Can) the electricity of the crowd doesn’t carry over to the new facility.  SportsCage co-host Kelly Remple asked Williams about that on Thursday’s show.

“I’m glad you mentioned that because the other beautiful thing about the roof form is that it actually throws the sound back down towards the field,” Williams explained.  “So we’re taking that raw energy and actually throwing that sound and energy back down to the field which you know, can actually be an extremely intimidating piece of the puzzle.

“The whole 13th Man and taking that to another level, that’s an incredible thing to feel and to have so we’re making sure we’re doing that.  There’s a lot of dominoes if you will in a design like that and you’re starting to understand that a component like the roof can do so many different things.

“Shaping of it for the wind, not letting snow pile up on it as much as it might under a different shaped roof, protecting over half the crowd from the sun, throwing the sound back down, it’s doing a lot of different things.

“Plus being one of the most iconic signature pieces of the design, there won’t be anybody in Canada that doesn’t look immediately and know ‘that’s the home of the Roughriders’.  They don’t need to wait and see green or wait and see Darian on the screen and say ‘oh they’re playing tonight?’.  We want them to look at this building and say, ‘That’s the Roughriders’.”

Rest assured this project is in good hands.

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A COMMENTARY

With some time to kill after snapping the photos above and before picking up a child from an after-school activity, I cruised a few short blocks down Dewdney Avenue to a nearby restaurant.  It struck me that it was the first time I’d seen a security guard in a restaurant at 6:45 pm.

The Montreal-New York hockey game was on a television in the establishment and I pecked away at a salad while visiting with a cab driver at the next table.  What I saw around me was jaw-dropping.  Two teenaged girls, one pregnant, came up to the cabbie’s table and asked him to buy them ice cream.

He declined, telling me the pair had been fares of his in the past but he no longer drives them because of things they’ve done.

“You don’t come here much do you?” the cabbie quizzed.

“As a matter of fact I don’t,” I answered.  “Is this normal?”

“What goes on here is terrible,” he continued.  “This whole area.  Real bad news.”

It was disturbing.  It reminded me of our Project First Goal trips with the RCMP and Regina Pats to East Hastings St. in downtown Vancouver.  Thursday evening neighbourhood kids were sneaking in to fill up their empty cups with pop from the fountain dispenser.  The staff turned a blind eye, likely feeling sorry for them.  They all looked like they’d seen a ghost.

What would Sir Edgar Dewdney think of what’s become of the street named after him?

Normally I wouldn’t re-tell a story like this but it struck me as severely ironic.  On the same day a multi, multi-million dollar facility was unveiled at a news conference rivalling a rock concert in front of all the suits in town, just four or so blocks down the street, I was later exposed to the little-seen, or seemingly cared-about, segment of our population that’s crying out for help.  If not attention.

They could give a rat’s ass about the new stadium because they’re wondering where their next meal is coming from.  But they’re our people too.

However you have to help yourself first.

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CFL LABOUR TALKS

I’ll stick with my prediction from earlier this week that CFL training camps will start on time in 2014.  However no one seems to agree with me, but that’s fine.  If I’m wrong, it won’t be the first time.

Examining the events of the past 48 hours, CFL Commissioner Mark Cohon dropped what seemed to be a “Take it or Leave it” proposal on the players on Wednesday.  One CFL alumnus texted me saying it was a “heel to the face” of the players, but didn’t think it was uncalled for.  I’m told Cohon has since softened his stance and there’s still some wiggle room.

The Players Association took a roundhouse right between the eyes on Wednesday and they were left staggering for 24 hours.  Sportsnet’s Arash Madani reported the players were told by the P-A to vent their anger on Twitter and several of them did, including the Ticats’ Craig Butler and the Riders’ Ricky Foley.

I can’t think that helped their cause, particularly in the court of public opinion.

Listening to Players Association executives Scott Flory and Marwan Hage stammer with their comments at noon on Wednesday, it left me feeling this war is simply between the jocks and the suits.  The players are swimming with the big boys now and it’s like sharks against goldfish.

My prediction is that Cohon’s pre-emptive strike will shatter the union and bring a quick conclusion to talks on the new CBA.  There’s word the players are battling amongst themselves, some publicly and some privately.  If they collect themselves, they could become strong again as a union and this could go on for awhile.  Or, they could completely unravel.

Many observers feel the players are simply receiving bad advice from their lawyer Ed Molstad.  After seeing him at the news conference on Wednesday, does he instil confidence in you?

At this point employees of the teams are “optimistic” that training camps will in fact start on time, for a variety of reasons.  Roughriders staff is going to Saskatoon no matter what, I’m told, until they hear otherwise.  I’ll be booking a hotel in Saskatoon for training camp, making sure there’s a cancellation agreement if things go awry.

Really no one knows what’s going to happen, but I’m hoping for the best.

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FROM THE CANADIAN PRESS

REGINA – Police in Regina have made an arrest in the beating and robbery of former Saskatchewan Roughrider Al Ford.  The 70-year-old was attacked outside a liquor store on May 12.

Police have now charged 22-year-old Jarrel Ashton Desjarlais with robbery.  Ford had just left the liquor store when he was accosted and told to hand over what he bought.  When he refused he was punched in the face.  His injuries included a fractured jaw and fracture to the bone around his eye.

Ford’s wife, Sally, said recently that she found the daytime attack frightening.

“It was such a random thing and it makes me sick to think our society has come to that,” she said. “But we can’t stop because some crazy did that to him.”

A 29-year-old man had been charged earlier but those charges were eventually stayed. Police have not said why.

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QUICK HITS

– Folks we need your support today!  Our weekly television show In The Huddle on Access 7 is up for the award of Best Sports Programming in the Canadian I Heart Local Cable awards and we need your votes.  We’re 300 behind some curling show.  If you can, please click on this link http://www.iheartlocalcable.ca/vote/ and cast your ballot.  Voting ends June 30 and you can vote every 24 hours.  THANK YOU!

– Roughrider receiver Geroy Simon is just returning from a vacation in Rome, Italy and will resume contract talks with the team next week.  I’ve heard from a few sources that his days as a Roughrider are behind him, but frankly that’s just rumour.  However it’s clear the ball is in his court.

– Regardless of a work stoppage it appears CFL teams will still stage rookie camps and this week the Riders extended an invitation to 6’4″ Regina Thunder WR Preston Bews.

– Correct me if I’m wrong but the Roughrider Grey Cup ring ceremony is planned for May 30 and the CBA doesn’t run out until May 31.  Doesn’t that mean they can still legally gather to get their jewellry next week?  For now, the ceremony is still a ‘go’.

– We’re just over a week from the scheduled start of CFL training camps and the Ottawa REDBLACKS still have not named their radio play-by-play man yet.  The reason?  The entire Canadian sports broadcast industry is waiting for the first domino to fall and once it does, it’s going to be the wildest game of musical chairs you’ve ever seen.  As it stands today, everyone is waiting on Rogers Sportsnet.

– Regina Red Sox GM Bernie Eiswirth told the SportsCage on Thursday that a group of local investors is pooling their resources to fund the construction of a new baseball park in Regina.  I didn’t think to ask where the facility would be located.  The Red Sox open 2014 training camp at Currie Field and they’re still in need of billets.  If you can help out – and it would be a fantastic experience – email Nancy at bnlegard@sasktel.net.

– Loved the story this week on the SportsCage from Yorkton Terriers coach Trent Cassan regarding L.A. Kings forward Jarret Stoll of Neudorf, SK.  Cassan said on the day of the RBC championship game in Vernon, BC, Stoll texted a note to the Terriers saying, “You know what to do!”  I took it to mean that the team simply needed to trust themselves and go out to finish the job.  However Terriers alum and SportsCage analyst Trevor Secundiak took it to mean, “Send me the bill for another pregame meal!” since Stoll had bought their three prior pregame lunches.  The Terriers won all of those games on the way to capturing their first-ever Canadian Junior A title.  WHO LET THE DOGS OUT?!

– The Regina Pats spring camp goes this weekend at the Cooperators Centre at Evraz Place.  The recruits will be on the ice Friday at 6:00 pm, Saturday at 10:00 am and Sunday at 10:00 am.  Included in the field is phenom Sam Steel.

– And a belated happy birthday to my hero and hockey mentor Rich Preston who celebrated on Thursday.  Rich and I were hired by the Regina Pats in the summer of 1995 and he quickly took me under his wing.  Once called “The Coolest Man In Hockey”, Rich is the son of former Roughriders General Manager Ken Preston and played 580 games in the NHL with Chicago and New Jersey.  I shot him a quick text yesterday and he said he is closely watching the CFL labour situation.  Everybody is.

– For you early risers, tune into the Global Morning News at 7:30 am as I’ll be on live with Kayla Buchanan from the new stadium site.  For those in the Ottawa area, I’ll be on TSN 1200 Radio with A.J. Jakubec at 1:05 pm ET, 11:05 am Sask time talking CFL and stadium.

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THAT’S ALL! SEE YOU IN THE CAGE AT 4 PM
RP
@sportscage