THE MONDAY MORNING GOALIE
MONDAY NOTEBOOK
1. COUGAR PRIDE: The University of Regina’s Centre for Kinesiology, Health & Sport (CKHS) was the place to be this weekend as Steve Burrows’ Cougar mens basketball team held off the Winnipeg Wesmen 75-69 in Game 3 of a Best-of-3 play-in playoff series. We took in Games 2 and 3 and they were thoroughly entertaining back-and-forth affairs with great crowds. The Cougars now advance to the quarterfinals and will visit the Thompson Rivers Wolf Pack in Kamloops next weekend. If you missed the excitement, you can catch Dave Taylor’s womens basketball team this weekend at home when they host the Calgary Dinos in a Best-of-3 playoff series. … It was a glorious couple of evenings immersed in amateur sport, devoid of annoying video replays to delay the game. It also made the officiating better. However the addition of a video scoreboard in the gym would enhance the experience. … One wonders why there’s been no corporate naming-rights sponsor for the “Cookhouse” (CKHS) as its name doesn’t exactly roll off the tongue. It’s one of the finest facilities in all of the CIS. … Perhaps it should be nicknamed “The Drummond Centre” after all of the financial support provided by Gary Drummond to the basketball program over the years, the Regina businessman and co-owner of the NHL’s Arizona Coyotes. As Steve Burrows noted last week, “without Gary, we’d be sunk.”
2. SILENCE OF THE RAMS: Over the weekend the CKHS stands were filled with local athletic supporters including several folks connected to the University of Regina Rams football program. The hot topic was who will be named the next head coach of the Rams and 10 days ago we were informed the two finalists are Sheldon Gray and Stephen Bryce. One Rams alum commented that “Bryce is a given”. Hopefully we’ll find out soon. … Over lunch with a pro football type last week he mentioned, “Oh the Rams. I forgot about them!” This coaching search has definitely gone under the radar but whomever is the lucky candidate will have his work cut out for him in a conference which boasts heavy-hitters like Brian Dobie, Brian Towriss, Chris Morris, Wayne Harris Jr. and Blake Nill.
3. BACK TO THE SUNSHINE STATE: The Saskatchewan Roughriders are ready to announce plans for their annual spring minicamp in Florida. This year’s camp will be held at historic Dodgertown in Vero Beach, FL with workouts scheduled for April 10, 11 & 12. 620 CKRM’s SportsCage will be live from the minicamp with shows daily at 4:00 pm. The camp will be for first year CFL’ers with not a lot of veterans participating however quarterbacks Darian Durant, Keith Price and Brett Smith will all be present. The Riders’ John Murphy will provide more details on the SportsCage’s Rider Monday today at 4:00 pm.
However long before that Florida camp, the SportsCage will be in Glendale, Arizona this Thursday for the Riderville Arizona Tour II at the Coyotes’ home game against the Anaheim Ducks. Our Rider tailgate party will begin at 2:00 pm at Salt Tacos & Tequila in the Westgate Plaza with our radio show beginning at 3:00 pm local time. There will be several Rider alumni on hand including Ray Elgaard and Carm Carteri to mingle with fans. Many are wondering what exactly is planned but it’s nothing too extravagant! There will be hundreds upon hundreds of Rider fans in attendance and the whole idea is to get everybody together and celebrate Rider Pride. Fans will sit together inside the Gila River Arena and there will be video tributes to Canada’s Team by the Coyotes on the in-arena scoreboard. There’s already double the amount of tickets sold from last year’s inaugural event. Hope to see you there!
There’s still time to get your tickets at www.arizonacoyotes.com/riderville. People are very excited about this event. I am too.
4. SLOW TO GET ON BOARD: It was a hot topic on the SportsCage on Friday — are you on board with all of the off-season moves made by the new Chris Jones Roughriders regime? The exodus of Chris Getzlaf to the hated Edmonton Eskimos on Thursday seemed to rile up several Rider Priders and it’s what I’ve been hearing more and more of late. One lady even blasted Jones on Twitter over the weekend, writing “getting rid of our only players that were good was the stupidest thing I ever seen. Thanks? Riders find a new coach“. Ouch.
And these aren’t anonymous message board commenters. Several of my friends have emailed or texted saying, “I hope they have a plan”. Of course they do, and the plan is unfolding daily. But fans are having a tough time saying good-bye to their heroes, especially when they don’t know the replacements.
5. GETZ’S RETURN: If Chris Getzlaf cracks the Edmonton Eskimos’ roster – and there’s no reason to think he won’t – his return to Mosaic Stadium will be on Sunday, September 18. On Friday Getzlaf mentioned to Regina reporters that he doesn’t know what type of reception he’ll receive on that day, but it’ll be a very strange feeling when he lines up in the visitors’ tunnel. I’m curious to see how the fans will react as well, given the fact they booed him lustily after a dropped pass at home a few years ago. In his typical humble fashion, Getzlaf told reporters after that game, “I deserved it”.
In fact the whole topic of former Riders’ return games was another hot topic on the SportsCage last week. A listener felt the Riders should honour Weston Dressler, John Chick, Getzlaf, etc. with video tributes prior to the games. To me, that’s a tad excessive. I say let the fans take it into their own hands and you likely will with loud standing ovations a la Bobby Jurasin in 1998. That would be the classiest thing to do.
6. SO LONG, AND THANK YOU, DAVE: There’s no easy way to say this so I’ll just come out with it. Longtime Roughriders and Grey Cup supporter Dave Ash passed away Sunday morning after a long battle with cancer. Dave, the founder of DASH Tours, was one of the greatest backers of the CFL who ever lived and will be sorely missed. A friend of Dave’s told me at Grey Cup that he’d be lucky to see March and he almost did. Details on funeral arrangements are forthcoming and many will want to pay their respects. I’d gotten close with Dave over the past few years and the phone call I received Sunday morning was a punch to the gut. Rest easy David, and thank you for all you did for us.
7. TINO RESURFACES: Former Roughriders quarterback Tino Sunseri has landed on his feet. Sunseri – released twice by the Roughriders in 2015 but a Grey Cup champion in 2013 – is the new Offensive Quality Control assistant coach at Florida State University. The Seminoles get to work in spring ball on Monday and this will be Tino’s first foray into coaching. He will have a long and productive career in the coaching game.
8. SHEETS RESURFACES AS WELL: 2013 Grey Cup MVP Kory Sheets is mounting a comeback as a professional football player and worked out last week for the CFL’s Ottawa RedBlacks. Sheets announced the tryout via Twitter, thanking the RedBlacks for the opportunity. If he doesn’t make it back as a football player, Sheets would make a heckuva social media strategist. He’s very active on Twitter, but we hope he finds his way back to the football field first. One thing we know for sure, it won’t be with the Saskatchewan Roughriders. This regime is looking ahead, not behind.
9. TEBOW TIME: Were you watching the NFL Combine coverage on the NFL Network over the weekend? If so, you may have caught OSU coach Urban Meyers mention on Saturday that his former quarterback at Florida, Tim Tebow, is interested in resurrecting his career and might be willing to explore the CFL. Meyers suggested he try to hook with a team north of the border. The 2007 Heisman Trophy winner did some great things with the Denver Broncos but fizzled in later stops with the Jets, Patriots and Eagles. Remarkably, Tebow’s still only 29 years old but this story would carry more a lot more weight if it was Tebow himself who said he’d give the CFL a try. When I met Tebow in New York in 2011 he was less-than-interested in discussing the Canadian game.
10. GO PATS GO: It’s the first of its kind. The Regina Pats will hold their first-ever Hockey Day Game on Monday at 11:30 am when they take on the Red Deer Rebels in the Brandt Centre. Thousands of Regina and area school kids will play hookey for the day and come out to watch the Queen City Kids. It may not be a great start time for you but it’s ideal for me! Looking forward to seeing the Pats get back on track after dropping back-to-back games over the weekend on the heels of a seven game winning streak.
SEE YOU THERE!
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THAT’S ALL FOR TODAY. THANKS FOR STOPPING BY …
RP
@rodpedersen
"getting rid of our only players that were good was the stupidest thing I ever seen. Thanks? Riders find a new coach"
Absoultly – agree 120% and more and never agreed with the hire !!!!!!!!!!!!!
What a very stupid ignorant statement by one of 120% Ignorant people with ignorant opinion. Jones/Murphy on their way to rebuilding a "consistent winning Roughriders on field product long term". "Roughriders will absoloutly not find a new coach, they have one already", a great coach with the accruded professional football credentials to lead a badly floundering franchise back to respectability.
It took awhile, but thanks to another article on this blog, I finally understand why exactly some people don't like the player transactions made by the current Rider management team. It has to do with the "folksy", small town character of Rider nation and Saskatchewan. We are not the biggest, don't have the most resources but we'll work very hard to do the best we can. We'll also support our own as much as we can. We know who everyone in the community is and form very strong relationships with people. While this is a great way of life, it… Read more »
It's sad really that a few fans are coming out swinging and are pissed off about the releases of Getz, Dressler, Chick etc… Wake up people! None of these players were as good as they were when we won the cup more than two years ago. And they certainly are not worth the money they were being paid. Can we all just please let these guys play a meaningful regular season game before we shat all over them? Chris Jones et al have forgotten more about football than these goofy, know it all fans will ever know. Give it a… Read more »
Well said
"I hope they have a plan".of course they do = not a chance
BS big time
Firing people is not a plan
They have yet to sign more than 2-3 decent players and no receivers
Bunch of BS by Jones and Murphy
Jones and Murphy the best thing for the Roughriders since sliced apple pie, hmm hmm good for the organization.
There was a time when we'd never heard of Dressler, Getzlaf or Chick. New Rider heroes will emerge.
U of R needs to change that Rams moniker to Cougars asap. Rams were a junior football team of a long ago past.
You guys are hilarious. I'm sure that when Jones was interview and asked about his plan, he said, "I might sign a few guys, depending who's available, I'll probably cut all the fan favorites, just to piss everyone off, and we'll just hope it turns out in the end."
Idiots
People who are mad about the changes must like losing. Lets remember how pathetic the 2015 Riders were. The changes have been great and I guarantee the 2016 Riders will be a playoff team
Sad news about Dave Ash…we attended the annual Dash Tours Grey Cup trip this year in Winnipeg and he never mentioned his health issue's.
Classy business owner and person – RIP Dave.
Sad to hear about the passing of Dave Ash.
One lady even blasted Jones on Twitter over the weekend, writing "getting rid of our only players that were good was the stupidest thing I ever seen. Thanks? Riders find a new coach".
Rod, can you tell me just how many Grey Cup championships this alleged 'Lady' has won?
Tom
I guess the Coyotes attendance is so bad that they are the only NHL team that has to stoop so low as to pander to CFL fans to sell a few more tickets. That franchise is an absolute joke.
I don't understand why we didn't keep Dressler and Chick for the amount of money they wanted. Why hire new younger blood?? This is just nonsence. We want Dressler and Chick to stay here forever….and play for the Riders forever. They are our heroes…how can we move on from them?? That's just crazy!! LOL
The biggest joke on this blog is the Jones bashers! The olod team needed to be blown up and Jones did it. The proof of his decisions will be shown in November.
I thought Rider fans were most knowledgeable in the league? Just crazy comments, all scared of change etc. No offence but that's a loser mentality.
Once again, another day to just eliminate comments on here altogether. All from anonymous meaning they have no creedence whatsoever.
This matter is wrought with stupidity beyond anything I've seen wherever I've lived. Teams in the NFL and MBL release and change all the time and hardly a word. Here when a washed up player is sent packing there seems to be a lunatic fringe that gets on their devices and sends out the most stupid comments known to man. You would almost think there is some sort of vicarious romantic connection. When stars like Fantuz and Butler shunned us for greener pastures again hardly a word. These guys were in their prime. Yet when oft injured and poorer performing… Read more »
All the crazies and Jones haters are out in full force. If these fanatics had there way we'd still be cheering for Don Narcisse. It would be critical to get his 1 pity pass to keep his consecutive games with a reception streak alive at 578.
Its the same 1% that complains about everything. They seem to be the loudest.
1.Sit down
2.Shut up
3.Wait until the season plays out before you complain.
Rod, I share your grief with the passing of Dave Ash. Whoever had the opportunity to meet Dave will never forget his undying passion for the CFL and especially the Riders. It is lore that when he started Dash tours in the early 80's that he predicted that the Riders would win a Grey Cup before the decade was finished. In addition, I had the opportunity to partake in a Dash tour trip to BC. This trip was to see the Riders play the Lions in the first regular season home game for the Lions at BC Place. Thank you… Read more »
The old riders kept players that were fan favourites and ones born in Saskatchewan. The new Riders keep players based on their football skills. What an interesting concept…
IMO you don't cheer players on other teams you boo the opposition even if its Dressler, Getzlaf or Chick. Treat them how we've treated Austin, Fantuz, Burris, Foley, Glenn, Willy, Williams, and other ex-Riders. If they ain't in green on game day then they are the enemy. Shake their hand and congratulate them after the time says 0:00.