Sudden interest surge shows how sport can link community

Supporters come out of closet for football title games

The Hilltops charge out to the SMF Field turf on Oct. 29.

The phenomenon of “sudden interest” has likely been around in the sports world since there has been a sports world.

Even with that being a trend that seemingly repeats itself, it still always comes as a surprise when it happens. When it does happen, it shows how sports can link a community.

In Saskatoon over the past four weeks, the “sudden interest” phenomenon repeated itself in the football scene for the CJFL’s storied Saskatoon Hilltops along with the Aden Bowman Collegiate Bears and the Holy Cross High School Crusaders in the high school football scene. “Sudden interest” perked up as all three teams took part in championship games on November 11 on Remembrance Day, which fell on a Saturday.

The Hilltops were playing in the CJFL championship game – the Canadian Bowl – against the Westshore Rebels at Starlight Stadium in Langley, B.C., which is a suburb of Victoria.

The Bears traveled to Weyburn to take on the Weyburn Comprehensive School Eagles in the Saskatchewan High Schools Athletic Association 5A provincial championship game at Darold Kot Field.

The Crusaders stayed home to host Regina’s Miller Comprehensive Catholic High School Marauders in the SHSAA’s 6A provincial title contest at Saskatoon Minor Football Field.

Bears receiver Brady Blackburn, right, sprints past a defender.

As the time approached for those three squads to play in their respective title games, a flood of messages from well wishers came their way. A lot of the positive messages for the teams came could be seen in the comments section of posts make on the Facebook page for the Gordie Howe Sports Complex.

It seemed a lot of the people passing on good luck messages followed the teams only casually, but stronger connections from the past were hinted at. The connections could have included being former players, coaches or staffers of those squads, or you could have had family members on those teams.

Some of the people were more engaged fans at one point in time of their lives maybe in childhood, or in the case of the Bears and Crusaders, when they were students at those respective schools. No matter where the link came from, it turned out to be a positive link.

The Hilltops, Bears and Crusaders have existed for decades and all have their own storied histories. The current Hilltops in their modern day era were formed in 1947.  Aden Bowman Collegiate opened in 1958, and Holy Cross High School opened in 1963.

Due to being in existence for a lengthy span of time, it shouldn’t come as a surprise people will reconnect with these squads, when they make an appearance in a championship game. People who are reconnecting with these teams aren’t able to follow them on an avid basis, because life has a tendency in the current day to keep people busy.

Some of the people passing on “good luck” messages to the Hilltops wanted to know if the CJFL championship game was going to be on national television. Those folks have been so involved in their own lives they didn’t realize how much the media - especially the sports media - has been cut in Canada, which meant the CJFL title game would not be on television.

Elias Flory slings a touchdown pass for the Crusaders.

Those asking about the game being on television had to settle for the CJFL’s online broadcast, which was really good.

For the Bears and Crusaders, people did ask if their championship games were going to be streamed online. Unfortunately as far as I could find, there were no online streams of those contests, and they weren’t picked up by the community channels of SaskTel or Access 7.

People didn’t realize the majority of the sports world in Canada depends on volunteers. In the United States, there is a much larger chance paid professionals will make those broadcasts happen.

Ultimately, it was cool to see these teams get their surges of “sudden interest” even for a short time.

The “sudden interest” phenomenon was seen in Saskatchewan in the professional football world in recent days as former Saskatchewan Roughriders star quarterback Cody Fajardo was playing in the Grey Cup in Hamilton, Ont., on Sunday against the Winnipeg Blue Bombers. The Alouettes prevailed 28-24 in the CFL title clash at Tim Hortons Field with Fajardo executing a game-winning scoring drive that ran seven plays and covered 83 yards.

He concluded the drive throwing the winning touchdown pass from 19 yards out to Canadian receiver Tyson Philpot with 13 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter. Following the Alouettes win, Roughriders fans poured out congratulations messages for Fajardo on various social media networks.

Cody Fajardo raises the Grey Cup.

The Hilltops would see congratulations messages too. On Nov. 11, they downed the Rebels 17-10 to capture the Canadian Bowl and their 23^rd CJFL championship in team history.

The Bears fell 35-15 in their 5A provincial championship game to the Eagles. The Crusaders dropped a 12-10 heartbreaker to the Marauders, who won the 6A provincial title for a third straight year.

It was a great thing that these “sudden interest” moments materialized in Saskatoon. If these moments continue to happen in the future, it would be a welcomed thing.

U.S. road trip was good one for Raiders

The Raiders bang their sticks on the boards prior to a faceoff.

One of the toughest challenges in the WHL is to make a road trip through the U.S. Division.

For the Prince Albert Raiders, their jaunt through the U.S. Division was one that saw them make strides forward. In total, the Raiders played seven games on the trip make a stop in Lethbridge to face the Hurricanes on November 8 before venturing into the United States.

The Raiders took the clash with the Hurricanes 4-2 to get some good vibes going. The Raiders posted a 4-2-0-1 record on the trip to allow their overall regular season mark to sit at 13-10-0-2.

On the jaunt, the Raiders downed the Chiefs in Spokane 3-2 on November 10 before falling to the Tri-City Americans in Kennewick, Wash., 5-4 on Remembrance Day. The Raiders proceeded to down the Seattle Thunderbirds 3-2 in Kent, Wash., on November 14 before dropping a 4-3 decision to the Silvertips in Everett one night later.

The biggest moment of the trip came this past Friday, when the Raiders slipped past the Winterhawks in Portland 2-1. It is huge challenge for any visiting squad to pull off a win in Portland.

Raiders netminder Max Hildebrand stole the show in that contest making 42 saves in the win. Oli Chenier and import left-winger Krzysztof Macias potted single for the Raiders.

The trip ended this past Sunday with a 4-3 loss after a tiebreaking shootout to the Wild in Wenatchee.

Now the Raiders get to enjoy being back at the Art Hauser Centre for a couple of nights. This coming Saturday, they host the Moose Jaw Warriors at 7 p.m. on a night the #16 jersey of Raiders all-time great centre Dan Hodgson will be retired.

This coming Sunday, the Raiders host the Brandon Wheat Kings at 6 p.m. at the Art Hauser Centre.

I wrote a column in the Prince Albert Daily Herald talking about how the Raiders would get a significant test on the U.S. Division trip. That piece that ran on November 15 can be found by clicking right here.

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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