Finding path forward was a big challenge in 2021

The Hilltops raise the PFC championship trophy.

As I sit at the keyboard on the final day of 2021, I don’t know what to write.

When it comes to tackling a year-end column, my plan seemed to change as this month went along. If I typed this column up four weeks ago, it likely would have been a lot more upbeat.

Like everything during these times with the world still stuck in the grips of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, this column will likely be a roller-coaster.

Due to these crazy times, I didn’t think it was appropriate to type out a top 10 cools things post I saw during the year. If I do such a post in future years, I’m not sure what look it will take.

I will note the highlight of the year didn’t come from the sports front. The highlight was attending my niece’s wedding in Jasper, Alta., on September 4.

The weekend was a good one on the family front. I don’t want to get into too much detail there as most of my family aren’t public figures, but on the need to know front, that wedding weekend was an outstanding weekend.

For 2021, the goal was just to find a way forward. I couldn’t describe what that looked like.

Basically, you are trying to follow your gut as you navigate the world.

One thing that was always in the back of my mind was to be aware that setbacks could occur at any time even after progress was made depending on developments on the COVID-19 pandemic front.

The biggest challenge for me and one I am still mindful of is navigating the fact that everyone is out to satisfy their selfish needs. I wrote in my year end post for 2020 that I’ve become a little more jaded in general when it comes to dealing with people.

All set for my niece’s wedding in Jasper.

I wrote people are basically out trying to be their best versions of Professional Football Hall of Fame diva receiver Terrell Owens.

Basically, you see people out there saying, “Teams is spelled M, E, me. Me. I’m the greatest. Me!”

If I was more jaded in general when it can to dealing with people thinking they were selfish in 2020, I’ve pretty much accepted that is the norm in 2021. In general, people just see the world through their own personalized world view and more and more they will not change or adjust that view.

If people are in a position of power, they use and abuse that position of power to help make their own life situation better.

Unfortunately when I apply those jaded observations to how most things unfold in the world, it always makes everything line up in the big picture of why things happen the way they do.

On the sports reporting front, I think one of the big things I’ve had to adjust to was that fans went back to acting like they did before the COVID-19 pandemic really sunk its claws into the world in March of 2020. In North America, the first pauses due to the COVID-19 pandemic took place on March 11, 2020.

Living in Saskatoon, the most obvious example came from watching fans of the CFL’s Saskatchewan Roughriders react to the fortunes of their team.

The CFL lost its entire 2020 campaign due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and there was no certainty the circuit was going to return to the field. When the Roughriders hit the field at Mosaic Stadium to open their regular season schedule on August 6, the honeymoon was on.

A sellout crowd of 33,350 spectators watched the Roughriders down the visiting British Columbia Lions 33-29. As the Roughriders started out 3-0, the prevailing feeling among fans was that everyone was thankful to be able to go to a CFL game again.

By early October when the Roughriders found themselves sporting a 5-4 record, the honeymoon was definitely over. 

It seems everyone is their own best version of Terrell Owens.

It was easy to find commentary that the quarterback sucks, the coaches all suck, the general manager sucks and everyone seems to get ripped including the ball boy.

The Roughriders defence seemed to get the least criticism outside of comments of not coming through in the clutch.

Saskatchewan ultimately finished the regular season with a 9-5 record and fell in the West Division final to the eventual Grey Cup champion Winnipeg Blue Bombers.

In recent days, the fan uproar about the International Ice Hockey Federation’s world junior tournament in Edmonton and Red Deer getting cancelled after three days of games due to the COVID-19 pandemic has been all over the place.

The ragehol is real.

Rightly or wrongly, I find I have developed the ability to tune all that noise out pretty quickly.

It did surprise me how fast those normal fan reactions returned.

In the case of the Roughriders season, you wouldn’t have known a season as missed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Ultimately for the fans, the fact a team wins or loses a game or an event gets cancelled doesn’t directly affect their lives unless they allow those things to affect their lives. At the end of the day, those developments don’t alter how fans pay the bills or put food on the table.

On July 11, all public health restrictions in Saskatchewan were lifted. Ultimately, mask mandates and proof of vaccination requirements would be install in the province on October 1.

People liked to beat up Cody Fajardo (#7) and the Roughriders.

At the time of July 11, it felt like numerous people rushed to declare the COVID-19 pandemic as being over. Actually, there are a number of people that still believe it is over.

During July when things were progressing more like normal, opportunities started to come up to get back into covering the sports scene.

I actually admit I was hesitant to get back on that track. It was always in the back of my mind that you could start covering various local teams and leagues and things could still change suddenly and fall off track.

I took a lengthy break from writing on this blog this year, because I felt like I got mentally unhealthy always writing about cancellations and dealing with constant rage people had regarding the COVID-19 pandemic.

To be honest, I’ve lost a few friendships and associations over differing views with regards to the COVID-19 pandemic, where that factor was the only deal breaker. There are times I’ve allowed myself to feel sad over that development.

In getting back in the swing of things on the sports reporting front, I took a measured approach about what I was going to do. I haven’t jumped back into covering all the teams and circuits I once did.

Part of that came due to the fact I’ve become more present in the home and with family during the pandemic.

On the sports front, I decided to get back covering the CJFL’s Saskatoon Hilltops and the WHL as a league. On the WHL front, the focus has been on covering the Prince Albert Raiders and Saskatoon Blades.

I decided to keep a smaller focus, so I don’t get dragged down with all the waves every league deals with in navigating the COVID-19 pandemic.

Mason Ochs (#73) and the Hilltops had big moments in 2021.

For me, it was extremely good to get back to covering the Hilltops, Raiders, Blades and the WHL. Working games involving those teams felt so good for me mentally.

I always feel like I am in a good place when I am in the building or stadium covering those games.

After missing the 2020 season due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it was fun to see the Hilltops win the PFC final for a seventh consecutive season. The Hilltops downed the Thunder in Regina for the PFC title 29-9 on November 14 at Mosaic Stadium.

The Hilltops weren’t able to win a seventh consecutive CJFL title as they fell in a CJFL semifinal contest 17-14 to the host Rams at McLeod Stadium in Langley, B.C., on November 20. The Rams advanced on to with the Canadian Bowl as CJFL champions.

The Hilltops made history as linebacker Emmarae Dale became the first female to play games in a CJFL season. Unfortunately, she aged out after one campaign.

Hilltops all-time great left tackle Mason Ochs, right tackle Jonathan Chisholm and boundary cornerback Jared Giddings all returned for a fifth and final season with the team. They were integral in keeping the Hilltops vibe and culture intact coming off a missed season.

I did start to branch into going to a handful of University of Saskatchewan Huskies football and hockey games as U Sports got going.

It was a thrill to be at Griffiths Stadium on November 20, when the Huskies football team downed the University of Manitoba Bisons 45-17 to capture the Hardy Cup as Canada West Conference champions.

The Huskies advanced to the U Sports title game – the Vanier Cup – for the first time since 2006. They fell 27-21 to the University of Western Ontario Mustangs in that championship clash on December 4 at Stade Telus – Universite Laval in Quebec City, Quebec.

It has been great being back on the WHL circuit again.

The Huskies had a number of good guys return after their 2020 campaign was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic including quarterback Mason Nyhus, running back Adam Machart, utility player Colton Klassen, receiver Yol Piok, right tackle Nick Summach, defensive end Riley Pickett and defensive back Charlie Ringland.

It was great to see those players take the Huskies program back to heights that hadn’t been seen in 15 years.

With the emergence of the Omicron variant of COVID-19 playing a major factor on the world stage in recent weeks, it feels just uncertain what is going to happen in 2022. Most provinces in Canada have added a number of public health orders in recent weeks.

On the overall COVID-19 front, I decided to check Worldometer to figure out how many people in the world died from it in 2021. In 2020, Worldometer total deaths from COVID-19 to be just over 1.82-million for that year.

At the time this post went life, I calculated from Worldometer’s information that 3.63-million people died of COVID-19 in 2021. Knowing people, they are going to spin those facts in any direction they like.

I post that number to show the COVID-19 pandemic isn’t over, even though most of the United States seemingly acts that way, while most of the rest of the world has some sort of restrictions to deal with COVID-19.

Like the past 22 months, the challenge seems to be the same. You try to adjust the best you can to the changes that are out of your control that COVID-19 has an effect on.

You ultimately have to follow your gut to find the best path forward.

The Huskies raise the Hardy Cup as Canada West champions.

As love or hate him and always winning NFL head coach Bill Belichick says, “It is on to Cincinnati.”

If you have any comments you would like to pass along about this post, feel free to email them to stankssports@gmail.com.

-------

If you like what you see here, you might want to donate to the cause to keep independent media like this blog going. Should you choose to help out, feel free to click on the DONATE button in the upper right corner. Thank you for stopping in.

When COVID-19 restrictions are announced, social media is not the place to be

Facebook can be a really crappy place at times.

It appears it was a great week to be a rageaholic.

The rageaholics came out of the woodworks this week anytime new restrictions were announced to combat the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic that has gripped the world.

On Tuesday, rageaholics went off the rails in Alberta, when new restrictions were brought forward in that province.

On Wednesday, it was Saskatchewan’s turn to be a rageaholic stomping ground.

Of course, new restrictions are being brought in because the number of new COVID-19 cases are spiking across Canada. Just for Alberta and Saskatchewan alone the cases have been rising at an incredible rate.

As of Friday, there were 14,217 active COVID-19 cases in Alberta and 3,263 active cases in Saskatchewan.

Back on Nov. 1, there were 5,172 active COVID-19 cases in Alberta and 798 active COVID-19 cases in Saskatchewan.

Back on Oct. 1, there were 1,596 active COVID-19 cases in Alberta and 144 active COVID-19 cases in Saskatchewan.

When new restrictions get announced, social media is not the place to be. On Facebook and Twitter, it is quite easy to find posts full or rage, hate and piss and vinegar.

Of course you get the side that goes off that the restrictions are too tight. You also have the side that hammers down the restrictions don’t go far enough.

Looking at all the social media posts, you come away with the impression that everyone in society in general is some sort of version of former NFL diva receiver Terrell Owens.

When Owens used to play in the NFL, one of the common acts to imitate him was to go on a rant and say, “It is all about me. Me! I’m the greatest. Me! Team is spelled M, E. Me!”

In general, it is safe to say all humans are selfish to a certain extent. During the COVID-19 pandemic, it feels like the selfishness of humanity has hit new levels. We are definitely not in this all together.

I hate to say it, but some loud people in the sports world - that includes some in Alberta and Saskatchewan - seem to have abandoned preaching the importance of team and seem to be saying things that makes them symbolize all those “me” traits Owens used to show off.

The urge to play in an effort to stay relevant seems to be the most important thing in the world to those people.

Starting on Friday in Alberta, all sports in that province have been cancelled for a three-week restriction period, but exceptions may be granted.

Hockey Canada’s selection camp for its world junior team is going on at the moment in Red Deer, but the sport body announced on Wednesday that players, coaches and staff had entered a 14-day quarantine retroactive to Monday. All camp activities are paused until Dec. 6.

The Bears won’t enjoy any more wins for a bit.

The shutdown came after the confirmation that two players at the camp have tested positive for COVID-19. A staff member had tested positive for COVID-19 on Nov. 21.

A new batch of restrictions took effect in Saskatchewan on Friday. All team sports and group activities are suspended.

Athletes and dancers 18-years-old and under may keep practicing in groups of eight or fewer if they use masks and physical distance three metres from each other. Fitness activities of groups of eight or less are still allowed as long as masks are worn and there is three metres of physical distance between participants.

Capacity at casinos, bingo halls, arenas, live theatres, movie theatres, performing arts venues and other facilities that had a capped capacity of 150 people will be restricted to 30 people.

Indoor gatherings such as banquets, weddings, funerals, conferences will also have a limit of 30 people and food and beverage service will be prohibited.

All places of worship must reduce capacity to 30 people, and no food or drink can be served.

Restaurants and licensed establishments are limited to seat four at a single table.

Mandatory non-medical mask wearing was extended to more areas. That includes all students, employees and visitors at schools, all employees and visitors in common areas in business and workplaces and all residents, employees and visitors in all common areas in provincial and municipal correctional facilities.

These new measures and public health measures that were all ready in effect in Saskatchewan will remain in effect until December 17.

On Wednesday, the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League junior A circuit announced it won’t be playing any games from Friday through to Christmas.

As sports got going again during the pandemic, it felt like there were some in minor sports bodies and with teams that acted like sports would not be shut down again, and it seemed like that message filtered to some players and parents.

If anyone really believed that, they were delusional, because what happens with the pandemic is out of anyone’s control. Everyone in any sports organization should know that the risk on going ahead with play in these current pandemic times is that games and competitions can be scrapped and sports organizations and teams can lose substantial amounts of money by playing.

It felt like there were some out there that knew the risks, weren’t truly honest about them and got burned by them.

There are also a large number of sports organizations and teams that are honest with their players.

Actually, there have been a number of coaches that have done admirable work in being honest with their players.

Special shout outs go to Saskatoon Hilltops head coach Tom Sargeant, University of Saskatchewan Huskies football team head coach Scott Flory, Prince Albert Northern Bears head coach Jeff Willoughby, Saskatoon Stars head coach Robin Ulrich, University of Regina Cougars women’s hockey team head coach Sarah Hodges and University of Saskatchewan Huskies women’s hockey team head coach Steve Kook.

Those special shout outs come from interactions with the players on those teams as well as the coaches themselves.

There won’t be any Stars victory celebrations for a while.

That list could be expanded, if it wasn’t for limited interactions due to the pandemic. I know I have left a large number of good coaches out.

Still, it feels like society in general is not in this all together when it comes to dealing with the pandemic. The sports world is not immune to this.

It seems the only way out of this is to hope the mainstream media stories that there are at least three COVID-19 vaccine candidates out there that could possibly be rolled out in 2021 becomes reality. That could optimistically return everything to normal by September of that year.

Relying on humanity as a whole to get on the same page to battle the COVID-19 pandemic right now looks to be a non-starter.

The mystery of Rangers’ Maracle, other notes

So were there Indigenous hockey players in the NHL before the late Fred Sasakamoose?

It appears there was a least one for sure. It also appears that it took some painstaking work a journalist to uncover that one, which might add some historical snapshots of time.

The one Indigenous player that came before Sasakamoose was Ayr, Ont., product Henry Elmer “Buddy” Maracle.

Maracle played 11 regular season games at left wing for the New York Rangers in 1930-31 collecting one goal and three assists and was held pointless in four playoff games. He was a member of the Mohawk tribe.

Irene Schmidt-Adeney, who is a reporter at the weekly Ayr News, has spent a tonne of work uncovering Maracle’s history.

He was born in Ayr, Ont., on September 8, 1904 and passed away on June 20, 1958 in Dallas, Texas. Schmidt-Adeney said Maracle passed away due to a kidney disorder. He was a produce truck driver at the time of his death.

She added that stories about Maracle during his hockey career often had racist headlines. His final season of hockey was with the minor league San Diego Skyhawks in 1943-44.

After his hockey career finished, Schmidt-Adeney said Maracle became a United States citizen. According to her research, Maracle gave up his Mohawk status in 1955.

His Texas death certificate from 1958 said his color or race was “white.”

Historical archives and newspaper archives were able to show facts on Maracle. They help paint a snapshot in time.

At the point in time Maracle lived, it was likely more advantageous to renounce your Indigenous status. The fact he did that likely made it harder to track down his cultural background.

As a result, Sasakamoose, who is from the Ahtahkakoop Cree Nation, is often recognized as the NHL’s first Indigenous player with treaty status when he played 11 regular season games for the Chicago Blackhawks in the 1953-54 campaign. Sasakamoose passed away on Tuesday after being recently hospitalized for COVID-19.

Sasakamoose will always live on as a legend, because he did a tonne of work to help better the lives for Indigenous athletes. He always identified with his culture and will always be viewed as a hero.

On Maracle’s front, you can’t fault him for choices he made with the facts that have been uncovered in his life. He was a product of his point and time in history.

• On Wednesday, Softball Saskatchewan announced it was suspending all sanctioned activities until January 15, 2021 due to the rise of COVID-19 cases in Saskatchewan.
• On Wednesday, the WHL announced that the WHL Cup tournament was cancelled for the 2020-21 campaign due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The event features the under-16 teams from British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba.
• On Wednesday, a Saskatchewan Amateur Football Mega 50/50 lottery was announced to support the CJFL’s Saskatoon Hilltops and Regina Thunder and the WWCFL’s Saskatoon Valkyries and Regina Riot. One prize will be drawn per month, and the draw dates are December 31, 2020, January 31, 2021, February 28, 2021, March 31, 2021, April 30, 2021 and May 31, 2021. Tickets can be purchased by clicking right here, and purchasers must be in Saskatchewan in order to buy tickets.
• On Friday night, the 50/50 jackpot for the Hockey Harvest Lottery sat at $220,520. The lottery is being used to raise money for the player scholarship funds of Saskatchewan’s five WHL teams in the Moose Jaw Warriors, Prince Albert Raiders, Regina Pats, Saskatoon Blades and the Swift Current Broncos. Tickets can be purchased by clicking right here, and purchasers must be in Saskatchewan in order to buy tickets.
• On Friday, the University of Wisconsin Badgers women’s hockey team opened their NCAA regular season schedule falling 3-2 to the Ohio State University Buckeyes in Columbus, Ohio. Sophie Shirley, who is an alumna of the Saskatoon Stars female under-18 AAA hockey team, had an assist for the Badgers. The Badgers roster contains Sophie’s younger sister, Grace, who is also an alumna of the Stars.

If you have any comments you would like to pass along about this post, feel free to email them to stankssports@gmail.com.

-------                                     

If you like what you see here, you might want to donate to the cause to keep independent media like this blog going. Should you choose to help out, feel free to click on the DONATE button in the upper right corner. Thank you for stopping in.

’Riders release of Carter part of Belichick effect on Sports

The Roughriders released Duron Carter on Saturday night.

    If you live in Saskatchewan, there is a good chance you were consumed by some degree with the news the CFL’s Roughriders released Duron Carter over the weekend.

    Late Saturday night while the Montreal Alouettes were in Ottawa falling 24-17 to the host Redblacks, social media went haywire with the news that the Roughriders, who were on a bye week, released Carter. The Roughriders confirmed the move with a note on the club’s website that night while the CFL game in Ottawa was still going on.

    Carter had been playing both receiver and defensive back for the Roughriders this season.

    It was one of those moves that wasn’t a surprise, but it did catch you off guard. The Roughriders (3-4) aren’t due to return to game action until Aug. 19 at 5 p.m., when they host the Calgary Stampeders (7-0) at Mosaic Stadium.

    It wasn’t a surprise from the standpoint that it feels like teams at all levels of sports these days try to mirror how the NFL’s New England Patriots and Patriots head coach Bill Belichick operate. Basically, what that means is information is to be guarded tightly by the secret society of that team.

Duron Carter makes a circus TD catch against Toronto last season.

    In media gatherings, you expect a team official to go in front of a podium and say in a monotone voice, “In order to have success, we must be better on offence, defence and special teams.”

    You repeat that answer to any question that is fired your way.

    A lot of teams to varying degree these days follow the Belichick effect.

    Carter, who is from Fort Lauderdale, Florida, has never been shy when it comes to speaking his mind since he broke into the CFL in 2013 with the Montreal Alouettes. The 27-year-old comes off as being genuine when it comes to saying what he things and believes.

    That alone will get you cut from a number of sports teams these days despite the fact it has brought Carter a lot of respect in many circles.

    On Sunday morning, Carter sent out a tweet saying he received calls from teammates on Saturday asking if he was still with the Roughriders. Carter said he sent a text message asking why he was being asked these questions to Roughriders head coach and general manager Chris Jones.

Carter said Jones called and said the receiver was being released.

    Jones spoke to the media about the move during a press conference held Sunday morning in Regina.

Duron Carter defends a pass as a DB this season.

    “Over the break, we are always evaluating our roster, our team and the way we do things, processes and coaching (and) things that we do at practice,” said Jones. “Upon that evaluation again made the decision that we were going to go in a different direction from Duron.”
    His answer mirrored a scene that comes from the 2011 baseball drama movie “Moneyball” based around the Oakland Athletics’ 2002 MLB season. In the one scene in the movie, Athletics general manager Billy Beane talks to fictional assistant general manager Peter Brand about how you tell players they have been released or traded.

    During that scene, Beane said you inform the player that the team was “going in a different direction” and nothing more needed to be said. Due to the fact players moves are made frequently in sports, this tactic is used to avoid having a discussion to give reasons why a player was let go in order to not get too bogged down with lengthy conversations.

    This tactic from the movie Moneyball is used often in professional sports.

    Jones was asked for a specific reason for Carter’s release during the press conference. He responded with an answer that was a mix from what you would see from Belichick and the movie Moneyball.

    “We’re not going to go into any kind of specifics or anything like that,” said Jones. “We’re not here to put a guy on trial or anything like that.

    “We released a very good player. He is going to land on his feet. We decided to go in a different direction for our football team.”

Duron Carter makes a catch against the Argonauts last season.

    Jones did say the decision to release Carter had nothing to do with the fact the sideline boss worked out 44-year-old Pro Football Hall of Fame receiver Terrell Owens last week.

    Like anything that has to do with the Roughriders, interpretation of what went down is being spun in various directions by fans.

    Carter, who is 6-foot-5 and weighs 205 pounds, has had his share of well-documented antics during his CFL career including to getting into a fight with a practice roster player in October of last year. He is also an extremely talented football player.

    Last season in his first full campaign with the Roughriders, he hauled in 73 passes for 1,043 yards and scored eight touchdowns to be named a CFL all-star. On defence, he returned an interception 43 yards for a touchdown in a 30-7 victory over the Stampeders in Calgary on Oct. 20, 2017.

    This season, Carter has seen more limited time on offence catching eight passes for 111 yards and one touchdown. He started five games at cornerback and returned an interception 28 yards for a touchdown in a 40-17 loss to the Redblacks in Ottawa on June 21.

Duron Carter celebrates a TD catch last season.

    On the field, Carter did everything that was asked of him, and he returned kicks on occasion last season.

    During his time in Saskatchewan, Carter became a fan favourite for the Roughriders faithful. Carter acknowledged in a tweet on Saturday he loved the fans and his time in Saskatchewan was the most fun he has had in a long time.

    The majority of the fan responses to Carter on social media were those that wished him luck in the future. Carter embraced being in Saskatchewan and played hard, and that won him a lot of fans in Rider Nation. He was particularly awesome with little kids.

    There doesn’t appear to be any bad will between Carter and Jones when you view their statements over the last couple of days, so that has to be considered a positive sign.

    For my two cents, I do not see Carter as a diva receiver in the image of Owens and former NFL star veteran Chad Johnson. In the few encounters I have had with Carter, I see him as a good guy, but a different cat.

    I see him more as a person that gets his fun trolling on Twitter, playing video games and watching science fiction movies. I could never see him out at a nightclub or a fancy hotel partying it up like how former NFL star receiver Michael Irvin did in his heyday with the Dallas Cowboys in the early and middle 1990s.

    I think Carter is a high-maintenance player, and Jones said he had daily meetings with Carter during the 2017 season which didn’t happen this season. Those meetings included talking about other subjects besides football. It seems like the coaches didn’t want to put any more energy into the high-maintenance aspect of Carter.

Duron Carter always interacted well with young fans.

    In June, Carter pleaded guilty to drug possession after getting caught with marijuana-laced chocolate chip cookies at the Winnipeg airport, and he received an absolute discharge as well. Another charge of marijuana possession in Saskatoon is still before the courts.

    Those developments don’t bother me, because I believe marijuana should be legal. I also came across a situation where it led me to believe marijuana could possibly be used to treat cancer and more research needs to be done on that front, but I will save my views and debate that for another day unless someone asks me person to person out in public.

    It has been reported by multiple sources that the Alouettes, Hamilton Tiger-Cats, Toronto Argonauts and B.C. Lions have shown interest in Carter. Hopefully, he will find a new football home sooner than later.

    As for the Roughriders, their offence has been waffling all season. Part of that is due to the fact starting quarterback Zach Collaros missed time due to injury.

    Saskatchewan has shaken the deck a bit on that side of the ball too. Besides Carter’s departure, Bakari Grant, Rob Bagg and Nic Demski were all regular receivers with the Roughriders last season, and they moved the ball quite well in that campaign and are no longer with the team.

Duron Carter was always popular with the fans in “Rider Nation.”

    The steady influence of veteran quarterback Kevin Glenn from last season is missing too. Glenn is the backup quarterback with the Edmonton Eskimos this season. Cameron Marshall, who was a regular running back last season, is no longer with the Roughriders as well.

    For the present, Carter’s release has been made. Now, Carter and the Roughriders will go their separate ways in search of respective successes on the new path that was created.

    If you have any comments you would like to pass along about this post, feel free to email them to stankssports@gmail.com.

-------

    If you like what you see here, you might want to donate to the cause to keep independent media like this blog going. Should you choose to help out, feel free to click on the DONATE button in the upper right corner. Thank you for stopping in.