LABOUR DAY WEEKEND RODSERVATIONS

11 QUICK HITS

1 – LABOUR DAY CLASSIC L: Happy Labour Day long weekend!  By my count, Sunday marks the 50th Labour Day Classic and as we all know it’ll be the last-ever in Old Mosaic Stadium.  The Riders are just hours away from announcing a sellout but because they haven’t already, that must mean some tickets remain available.

From the records I’ve kept over the past number of years, the Roughriders are 33-16 all-time over Winnipeg in the Labour Day Classic and have won the past 11 in a row.

2 – MORE: The forecast calls for clouds and 18 degrees Celsius.  Plus, the Bombers are favoured by 4.5-points.  Don’t the oddsmakers know the Roughriders always win on Labour Day Weekend?

3 – WELCOME BACK DRESS: Blue Bomber receiver Weston Dressler declared himself fit to play in Sunday’s Labour Day Classic L after spending the last several games on the Injured List.  You know what’s odd?  The only people talking about Weston’s return are the people from Winnipeg.

It’s not that we aren’t interested in his return, or that we’ve forgotten what he did for this club.  I suppose there’s just so much that’s been going on around here lately that Dressler’s return got lost in the shuffle.

However he’ll be properly feted on Sunday and, I suspect, honoured by the club.  A simple solo shot of him on the SaskTel MaxTron for a pregnant moment might even suffice.  It would send the crowd into hysterics.

Weston’s a franchise giant, we all love him, and he’ll get his due.

4 – WEEKEND/GAME PLANS: The GoodLife Fan Fest opens its doors extra early, at 10:00 am, on Sunday on the practice field.  There will be a Mosaic Watermelon Patch with watermelon helmet carving, watermelon face painting and watermelon slices for everyone in attendance.  In fact the first 1,000 watermelon-themed Rider fans will receive a pair of commemorative WatermelonFest socks courtesy of Mosaic Company.  And 45 minutes before kickoff, a giant group photo of all participants will be taken to commemorate the final Labour Day Classic at Mosaic Stadium.

Don’t forget on Saturday is the sneak peek/open house at New Mosaic Stadium from 8:00-4:00 pm.  Fans are asked to enter at the northeast corner of the new facility and be patient as you line up down Elphinstone St.  Roughly 10,000 fans are expected for the event.

The honoured Rider alumni for Sunday’s game are: Andrew Greene, Cleveland Vann, Lawrie Skolrood, Larry Bird, Lorne Richardson, Robert Mimbs and Eddie Davis.

5 – WHIZ KHALIF:  The first thing I thought when I opened my emails during Wednesday’s new stadium tour and saw the Riders had signed Khalif Mitchell was, “Holy Sh*t!”.  Then, I was excited he was a Roughrider.  He was almost unstoppable during his time with the B.C. Lions and was impactful as an Argonaut too.  His penchant for saying offensive things on Twitter got him toasted in Montreal but it seems that won’t be an issue now since his Twitter account has been locked down by Chris Jones.

On his first day of practice I thought Mitchell was dominant but he may have been running on adrenaline.  Plus he wasn’t in pads.  On Day 2 he slowed down considerably but remember he hasn’t played football in a season and-a-half.

Sportsnet’s Arash Madani figures the signing of Mitchell was less about football and more about Jones and the Riders making a statement to the CFL.

They’re dumping on us in Toronto – from small things to big things – and the Riders are starting to push back.

6 – MORE ON THAT HERE: In case you haven’t wet your finger and stuck it in the wind, there’s something blowing between the CFL head office and the Saskatchewan Roughriders.  It’s bubbling and simmering now, but could be headed towards a bloody stand-off.

Madani covered it well on last night’s SportsCage in Hour 3 which is available at www.sportscage.ca.

I’ve only danced around the story for the past number of weeks but am ready to pull the trigger at any time.  It includes the backroom politics of the offices on Wellington Street, and what’s turned into a very tumultous tenure for the CFL’s 13th Commissioner.

Stay tuned.

7 – NEW MOSAIC STADIUM: Others are calling it Mosaic Stadium 2.0.  Who cares?  The fact remains it’s the most beautiful facility I’ve ever seen or been in and still haven’t come to grips with the fact it’s ours.  I’ve pined for a lifetime to have something like this and now it’s here.  INCREDIBLE!

The #1 question I’ve gotten since Wednesday’s unveiling is, “What do you really think about the new stadium?”  My reply is: What do you think I think?  I couldn’t have been anymore descriptive or open about my thoughts on the radio or in Thursday’s photo-blog.

Not one single thing has been missed by the designers of this stadium or the Roughriders and City of Regina personnel who were part of the design and construction.

For years I’d come back from the west coast trip with the Pats and be depressed for weeks over the fact we played in that old dump of Mosaic Stadium/Taylor Field.  (Although I’ve always been a huge fan of the Brandt Centre and still am.  It’s as good as anywhere in the Dub).  Now, we don’t need to travel anywhere for a world-class experience.

Wednesday’s tour guide said the question he gets the most is when or if there will be a roof added to New Mosaic Stadium.  The easiest answer to that is NO.  Enjoy what we have.

And, incidentally, that new stadium wouldn’t be sitting here if it wasn’t for Pat Fiacco and Jim Hopson, and subsequentally Rider fans, the people of Saskatchewan and Regina, and the Founding Partners of the Roughriders.

8 – NEW HOCKEY ARENA?: That buzz continues but it’s quieter now than it was a year ago.  Would the Pats owners want to leave Evraz Place which is becoming the hive of the entire province?  You wouldn’t think so.  However after seeing New Mosaic Stadium, all its amenities and spin-off benefits, I started wondering if QCSEG might get a little envious.  Or at the very least, get tired of hearing about how great it is and living in the shadow of it.

The Pats owners certainly have the resources to build a facility on their own with no public money.  The rumour is it could go right downtown on Dewdney Avenue or west of the city on land the owners currently possess.

Interesting times on the Regina sports scene.

9 – EXCEPT LAST NIGHT: The Pats got spanked 6-1 last night by the Swift Current Broncos in WHL preseason play.  They were listless and barely crossed the Broncos’ blueline all evening.  Keep in mind too that the Pats were without Adam Brooks and Austin Wagner, but they should’ve been better than being outshot by that wide of a margin.

The Cooperators Arena was jammed and afterwards I got a ton of messages from fans who went to the game at my urging and left disappointed.  Hey – I was surprised too!

I sat with the Pats staff and scouts and although they weren’t impressed either, they know there’s a long ways to go yet.  Like home games tonight and Saturday, plus 72 regular season games!

I’ll go on record today as saying this will be the greatest Pats season in 30 years.

10 – KAEPERNICK: I’m not sure how much time Canadian sports networks have devoted to the Colin Kaepernick story because my TV’s been on ESPN ’round the clock all week.  Everybody knows by now that the San Francisco 49ers quarterback refused to stand for the Star Spangled Banner during NFL preseason games and his boycott will continue into the regular season (if he’s not cut before then).

Now, news has broken that on August 10 Kaepernick was wearing socks during practice that featured cartoon pigs wearing police officers’ hats.  It was caught on video.  ESPN analyst Herman Edwards had some very stern words for Kaepernick last night.

What a maroon this guy is.  If you want to sit down during the anthem, that’s your business.  But mocking law enforcement officers given his public position and influence on youngsters is another thing entirely.

Hopefully, instead of dealing with this saga over the next several weeks, 49ers coach Chip Kelly just cuts his ass and the whole matter will be behind us.

11 – MORE:  Meanwhile, ESPN Radio morning co-host Mike Golic (a longtime NFL defensive lineman) went on an epic rant trashing the CFL for allowing coaches to have contact with their quarterbacks right up to and during the play.

A CFL assistant coach explained last night the intricacies of how the coach’s mic into the quarterback’s helmet no longer shuts off.  It’s an innovation he was against.

The gist of Golic’s tirade?  The new CFL isn’t football.

So now the CFL is getting ripped by ESPN for its rules and advancements.  E-S-P-freakin’-N.

But it’s the Saskatchewan Roughriders who damage the integrity of the CFL.

Give me a break.

——

THAT’S IT! HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND AND STAY SAFE
RP
@rodpedersen

www.realtyoneregina.com