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| The Hilltops and Thunder take part in a prayer circle on Sept. 27. |
REGINA, Sask. - Earlier this season, CJFL provincial rivals
the Saskatoon Hilltops and Regina Thunder could be found taking part in what
those in some parts of the world and political spectrum would say is the most
controversial moment of their rivalry – a prayer circle.
Back on September 27, the Thunder edged the Hilltops 24-21
at Saskatoon Minor Football Field. Following that contest at centre field, a
sizable contingent from both the Hilltops and Thunder got together in a circle,
took a knee and said a prayer.
If anybody on the far left wing saw this, they would say
this is an injustice toward humanity. Religion and especially the Christian
religion have no place in sports. Those extreme leftists would view both of
those teams as evil.
For those on the right wing, those players would be viewed
as athletes who are not afraid to show their faith in the Lord. They would be
viewed as having extreme courage and being heroes.
Those on even the further right use this display as those
players taking a step towards being part of the maple version of the Make
America Great Again movement, which brought Donald Trump into power as the
President of the United States of America.
Those on that right wing spectrum might even use it as an
example of the influence late American right-wing political activist Charlie
Kirk had on the youth of the world and helping move the world towards what they
viewed as a better place.
The truth is the Hilltops and Thunder players formed a circle,
took a knee and said a prayer to show their faith in a Higher Power. Football
teams are multicultural, and some of those players might not believe in
Christianity and were praying to the Higher Power they believed in. There was
nothing more, nothing less about that prayer circle than what I just wrote.
Everything that I wrote about those on the extreme left and further
right wings is all spin doctoring 101. These are traps teams in the United
States are falling into by doing nothing else than being themselves. That also
includes activities like walks to the rink for hockey teams, because players on
both the men’s and women’s side of the sport are well dressed during those walks
to the rinks when they are posted on social media or regular media channels.
At the moment, the Hilltops and Thunder haven’t fallen into
any of these traps to my knowledge, but they very well could have.
For myself on the political spectrum, I find these days I
don’t fit in either with the right or left wings. I am not a Trump fan, and the
same goes for former Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who has acted as
part of the extreme left in his career in my view.
I actually think Kirk is a sympathetic figure. When I have
seen videos of him interacting with others and interacting with his family, I
just see him as a Christian good guy.
I don’t agree with everything he said, but he struck me as
the type of guy you can agree to disagree with and then go off and have a pop
or two together. I think it would be easy for a friendship to form with someone
like him, even when you have differing views.
That unfortunately in this world has become a lost art. The
fact Kirk was gunned down on September 10 is an example that agreeing to
disagree and forming friendships with someone with a different view is a lost
art.
All of this serious talk actually makes anything that has
occurred in the football rivalry between Saskatoon and Regina seem small and
insignificant. For the older veterans of that football rivalry, we are all just
old men telling old tales, and if you are in the right mindset, humour can be
found in the old tales.
That brings us today’s championship final of the CJFL’s
Prairie Football Conference, where the Hilltops downed the Thunder 30-27 in
overtime at Mosaic Stadium. When kickoff happened shortly after 1 p.m., I wasn’t
there.
I was on a spot at the edge of the north shore of Wascana
Lake visiting my dad’s resting place for the first time since the summer of
2020. God, family, and then football. My late friend in CFL icon Cal Murphy
would say I had my priorities in the right place, if that is where a Higher
Power says you are meant to be at that place in time.
For me, it felt like I was in the right place at the right
time as I contemplate a bigger than football and sports moment for myself. That
is resulting in a longer column here and a lot of contemplation over the last
three days.
After visiting my dad’s resting place, I ventured over to
the University of Regina to start typing this piece. If you needed to find me,
I was in the spot where the old University of Regina Rams table existed in the
main food court. Again, it felt like the right place at the right time to be as
I feel a significant part of me when I am at my best was formed at my time at
the U of Regina living here from 1995 to 2001.
The trigger of my challenge came when I messaged the Thunder
about getting a media pass to work the PFC final at Mosaic Stadium, because the
staff at Mosaic Stadium, while friendly, is tight with security there.
At 6:30 a.m. on Thursday morning, I received this message
from Thunder president Murad Al-Katib, “I am sorry. We are unable to provide
you with field and media floor access. This access is limited to accredited
media as per PFC policies.
“As for stats access, I suggest you request from your Hilltops
contacts. Greg (Peacock), team president, is on copy.”
I received a media pass to work Thunder hosted games at
Taylor Field and later Mosaic Stadium with no problems or questions asked in
the past. Because of responsibilities covering hockey with regards to the WHL
and by extension the CHL, I didn’t make any CJFL road games in 2023 and 2024.
The response from Al-Katib in my mind is spin doctoring.
I went through the CJFL code of conduct and social media
policies online and didn’t find anything regarding media accreditation. I can’t
find any PFC policies online. Maybe I looked in the wrong place.
I’ve had CHL accreditation for almost three decades working either
for mainstream media outlets or as an independent. Any time I work Hockey
Canada events, I get accreditation pretty much immediately.
So that brings us to what changed on the Thunder’s side.
I give the straight goods, and I don’t blow smoke up anyone’s
asses to be old school. I know that is no longer the common practice in today’s
world. Here is the thought process from my side.
On October 20, 2024, the Thunder downed the Hilltops 24-19
in that year’s PFC final. On the second last play of that contest, Thunder
middle linebacker Stephen Smith nailed Hilltops quarterback Trey Reider with a blatant
and illegal helmet-to-helmet head shot that was not flagged for penalty. Had a
penalty been called, the Hilltops would have had maybe one or two plays to
score the winning touchdown from about the Thunder 12 yard line or closer depending
on the call.
The Hilltops ran a trick play on that play, which likely
resulted in the foul being missed. The play happened right in front of me along
with Shane Clausing of then 650 CKOM in Saskatoon, who also got the smoking gun
video of that play.
The smoking gun video had been viewed about 999
times on Platform X. I thought it was more that that.
I actually found that video today on Platform X and double
checked it. It is right here for anyone that is interested.
I along with Clausing wrote about the missed call in our
game pieces. In old school style game reporting, that is what you do when there
is an obvious call of a dangerous play late in a contest that is missed by the
officials that could have changed the result of that game. You do that because
that goes down as something that sticks in the memory of those who watched the game
in the stadium that day.
When I posted the link on my Facebook page to the story on
my blog, John Tokar, who was the athlete development coordinator of the Thunder
at the time and now their leadership development coordinator, wrote a comment
that I spread disinformation about Smith and that the play never happened.
When I first saw the comment, my mind quickly switched to my
experiences in the WHL.
My first thought was, “Wow. If this happened in the WHL,
their communications department would see it in quick order, hand the
screenshots over to their department of discipline and a fine or fines would
likely be given out within a period of two days for violating that circuit’s
social media policy.”
When I talked with Clausing, he said he hadn’t heard anything
on his side from the Thunder. He couldn’t believe I took all the heat, because
he took the smoking gun video of the play from the sidelines.
I also realized the WHL has a sizeable league office staff
of paid full-time employees. The CJFL is a volunteer run league. I believe the
only person in the CJFL who is compensated with a full-time wage for the months
the season goes on is Ryan Watters, who is in charge of communications and
digital media.
Being a volunteer run league with limited resources compared
to the WHL and the overall CHL, I was under the impression the CJFL didn’t have
a code of conduct or a social media policy. That would be due to the fact they
wouldn’t have the resources to enforce those policies like in the WHL and CHL.
I contacted CJFL commissioner Jim Pankovich asking if the
CJFL had a code of conduct or a social media policy.
He said the CJFL did have code of conduct and social media
policies. He asked what I came across and to send all the information I had his
way. I sent him some screenshots that included Tokar’s comments and stills from
Clausing’s video and the link to Clausing’s video on Platform X.
Pankovich thanked me for the information and said the league
would review and investigate further if necessary.
A couple of days later, I was contacted by Tokar. He
apologized, and we had a really great back and forth.
He was brave enough to ask if all the comments under my Facebook
post could be deleted. As a show of good faith and to show it was all water on
the bridge, I said that wouldn’t be a problem, and I deleted all the comments under
my Facebook post.
During my almost three decades covering the WHL and CHL, I
have had times where I have dealt with very passionate coaches and general
managers that would say to my face they didn’t agree with something I wrote or
said.
Red Deer Rebels general manager and owner Brent Sutter, who
often served as his team’s head coach, is notorious for his fire-type passion,
and I consider him a best friend in the game even after the times we had
disagreements. It has actually only been one or two times we have really
disagreed with each other as I believe Sutter and I view a lot of things in a
similar way.
If a situation came up where we agreed to disagree, we
agreed to disagree, and I believe in every one of those cases each side had a
better understanding of where the other was coming from.
The next time I would meet with anyone in the WHL and CHL
after a disagreement, it was all water under the bridge and you forged ahead in
a positive manner. That is the way in that level of hockey.
While my contact with Tokar was outstanding, I had contacts and
talks with various folks in the football community connected to the Thunder and
Hilltops. When that all wrapped up, I came away with a feeling that this whole
situation wasn’t over, and I got a gut feeling that ill will was going to be
held against me.
I have been doing media work since 1996, so I believe I have
some type of ability to read humans. Plus, we live in the age of Trump, where
society is more filled with division and hatred than ever before casting a shadow over all parts of life.
With social media and all the communication tools at our
disposal, we are more connected and disconnected with each other at the same
time. This is due to the lack of face-to-face interactions especially
interactions in a social setting.
Also in my personal life then at the time of the 2024 PFC
final and now, I deal with pressures from my 80-year-old mom and my family to
be in the sports world less and to be more present at home. Everyone on the
family front was full support with my pursuits covering the sports world and my
activities in, but once the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic hit, the dynamics
and expectations on the family front changed.
I am not stating this as a complaint. I am stating this as a
part of life.
As a result, I went into this CJFL season really with one
foot out the door. I actively wouldn’t be covering it on this blog, if the
Hilltops hadn’t requested more help from me to put pieces together for their
game program. I have been doing that since 2017.
In relation to the CJFL, I have been what you would old
school call a Hilltops beat writer since I moved back to Saskatoon after a
10-year stay in Medicine Hat, Alta. During my years in the Hat, I had only here
and there interactions with high-level football above the high school level. Believe
it or not, most of those interactions were with the NFL due to Medicine Hat
product and Medicine Hat High School grad Dan Federkeil playing four years on
the offensive line with the Indianapolis Colts and having to block for “the”
Peyton Manning.
With that said, I had gone 10 years without being heavily
involved with high level football above high school until I returned to
Saskatoon in 2014.
During summer, I went to a couple of Saskatchewan
Roughriders games at Mosaic Stadium in Regina. I ran into a handful of Thunder
staffers, and our interactions, while cordial, were awkward.
I would say since October of 2024 the only Thunder staffer I
have encountered face-to-face that was jovial and legitimate extremely happy to
see me was receivers coach and long time old Rams bud Chris Ashman. That was at
the Saskatchewan Sports Hall of Fame induction night when my old Regina Rams
from 1997 and 1998 along with long time friend and Rams alum Jon Ryan went into
the Hall.
On one Roughriders game in August, I ran into one Thunder
staff, who have I have known for about a decade and has the purest heart you could
know. We had a great chat about baseball, but it felt like that staffer was
torn to be talking to me and was holding back wanting to tell me something.
To add to everything, since 2024 I felt like from the CJFL
office it would be kind of better if I silently went away. There seemed to be a
fear of what to do if anything else happened that needed to be checked into.
That thinking doesn’t come from a malicious place. It comes
from a place of worry about all the time that gets spend dealing with these
types of issues. They really are time sucks.
I wrote all of that to be able to add background for where I
am coming from, when I saw Al-Katib’s response early Thursday morning.
I will admit my first reaction came from my influence of the
WHL’s Prince Albert Raiders side of my life. Starting a game by putting your
five toughest players on the ice to instigate a five-versus-five line brawl to
send a message is the obvious road that wouldn’t lead anywhere and make things worse.
In today’s age, that would get you a lifetime suspension from the sport.
Same would go with my old late friend Donn Clark who as the
Raiders head coach in the 1993-94 season challenged Medicine Hat Tigers head
coach Bob Loucks to fight behind the Zamboni at The Arena in Medicine Hat,
Alta., late in a WHL game on January 15, 1994, when Clark felt the Tigers were
taking advantage of his younger team. Just to be clear, that is how that night
is remembered on the Prince Albert side of things where the Raiders players
loved the fact their coach had their collective backs.
The Hilltops did give me a team personnel field pass to be
used for today’s game. I decided against using it and going just to avoid a
bitter Thunder staffer from finding a code of conduct issue to be used against
the Hilltops and myself. I didn’t feel like putting any more time into bitter
issues.
During my thoughts, I reflected on the last time I went into
a season covering a team where one foot was out the door. In this case, it was
a pair of teams.
I went into the 2016-17 U Sports campaign covering the
University of Saskatchewan Huskies Men’s and Women’s Hockey Teams with one foot
out the door due to some issues that arose late in the previous campaign that
were also unresolved that were far different from the one I have been writing
about regarding the CJFL.
There came a point early in that Huskies campaign, where I
just decided the best course of action was for me to divorce the two Huskies
hockey teams. The divorce turned into a marriage separation, and I will give
the Coles notes version of why that was.
 |
| Kaitlin Willoughby - the ultimate professional and leader. |
Kaitlin Willoughby, who was an assistant captain of the
Huskies women’s team and would later become their full-fledged captain, rose up
like a phoenix and became the ultimate professional and leader. She handled it.
When I reflect on that, it comes as no surprise she is still playing these
days in the PWHL with the Montreal Victoire.
I was back covering the Huskies hockey teams full time, and
was doing regular stories on the Huskies football team until I got knocked off
course by the COVID-19 pandemic. After the COVID-19 pandemic, I never really
got any momentum again on that front outside of working like one to three overall
Huskies events a season.
With all that said, the overall point here was Willoughby
showed the type of leadership that is extremely lacking in today’s world.
Now with all of that background established, I have made a
decision.
Leading up to and working the upcoming CJFL championship
game – the Canadian Bowl, it will be my last ride in covering football for this
blog. I will go into a marriage separation status with the game of football
after the Canadian Bowl when it comes to writing about it on this blog and that
goes for all levels of the game in Canada. I will leave myself leeway for
writing about the NFL and NCAA Division I for fun whenever rare times come that
I feel like doing that.
I have decided that the whole is greater than the one, which
means myself. I have also decided the whole is greater than the one team, being
the Hilltops. To be honest, the Hilltops are like the children in caught in the
marriage separation thing in my eyes out of this whole thing.
I have come to the conclusion there are maturity issues with
some inside the Thunder team, but I admit I can’t pinpoint who those folks are.
I am judging from the body language of their staffers I have encountered in more
fun settings that those issues are there.
I am kind of old school, and I will not apologize for covering
the head shot hit late in the 2024 PFC final in an old school way. I know my
type is a breed that is near extinction, but for better or worse, I stick to my
guns in the old school way on that front.
Actually to be truthful, I’ve had folks tell me in the WHL,
while I cover things in the old school way I am still a homer and I am pulling
for the best for the main teams I am covering at the time. Even with that,
those folks say I can still take a step backwards and be objective with regards
to the main teams I cover, and I can write stories on any team on the circuit
and those stories are as good as the one on the main teams I cover.
Jeff Chynoweth, who is the former owner and general manager
of the franchise that was one the Kootenay Ice, said pretty much those exact
words to me many years ago, and I have never forgotten them. Those types of
words rank as the greatest compliments I have ever received on my work.
I might not be like my long ago University of Regina School
of Journalism classmate Merelda Fiddler-Potter who has a long list of well-earned awards
and a whole host of degrees, but I cherish the compliments like the ones
Chynoweth gave me. Side note, I decided to mention Fiddler-Potter, because I saw a
poster at the U of R listing her accomplishments and I did have a crush on her
when we first met. We formed a pretty decent friendship in our school years.
Now remember, we are in the age of Trump, and that is also
considered in the decision making. With all the division and hatred that is prevalent
in way too many parts of the world, I am not into getting into fights over what
I consider petty issues in the big picture of things.
On the football front, I know how intertwined the game is in
Canada, and Thunder personnel are involved in the game at the provincial level
in various facets. In the grand scheme of things, I don’t have to be in that
world. If my departure will help everyone in the game being more comfortable in
the future, again, I believe in this case the needs of the many are greater
than the needs of the one, and the time has arrived for the many to go forward
without this one.
Being in the sports world, we all have expiry dates when
comes to teams and leagues, and my gut feeling is my expiry date with the CJFL
came after the 2024 campaign.
I will still allow myself freedom to do fun football posts
on the Canadian game on my own social media channels. If there are paid
requests through entities like The Canadian Press and the Prince Albert Daily
Herald to cover the game in Canada, I will fulfill those requests, unless my
busy life has me committed to other things.
Now that the Hilltops have advanced, I have had previous talks
with the staffers at the Daily Herald about doing a story on brothers Ryan Adamko
and Scott Adamko, who are graduates of the Prince Albert Carlton Comprehensive
High School Crusaders program. I will do a double check on the need there, but
I expect I will be doing a story on that front for the Daily Herald.
I will still do stories on football in Canada for the
platforms overseen by the Gordie Howe Sports Complex. I work there as a
communication coordinator, and that is part of my job there.
For the first time in my dealings with the CJFL, the
upcoming Canadian Bowl that the Hilltops will be hosting at Saskatoon Minor
Football Field on November 9 will be a suit game for me.
Like when I work covering games in the WHL and CHL, I will be bringing out the
suit and tie to cover the upcoming CJFL title game, which means I will be in a more
heightened business state.
Again, this is my last ride like Ray Lewis with the Baltimore
Ravens in the 2012 NFL season. Of course in life, I have learned to “never say
never,” so it will never be written in stone how long the marriage separation from
the sport of football in Canada will last on this blog.
I have already thought about paying more attention to things
I haven’t with the extra time I will have. That includes being more present in
the home and being around for my 80-year-old mom, being more focused on my work
on the WHL circuit, hopefully getting out to a Winnipeg Blue Bombers home game
wearing Bombers gear in memory of Murphy, and hopefully seeing Prince Albert
product Abby Soyko play with the University of Alberta Pandas Women’s Hockey
Team in their storied and historic home barn of the Clare Drake Arena in
Edmonton, Alta. She has been a super special person and supremely good influence that I have
dealt with in the sports world.
Oh, as far as possible controversies go from today’s PFC
final, I don’t know what happened as far as the blow by blows of the contest
went. If there was a controversy, I am perfectly fine if this one played out.
That controversy would be that the players on the Hilltops
and Thunder, if they felt moved to do so, would have once again gathered at
centre-field after the game to take part in a prayer circle to show their faith
in the Lord or the Higher Power that they believe in.
If you have any
comments you would like to pass along about this post, feel free to email them
to stankssports@gmail.com.
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