Canadian Bowl will be my last ride for football on this blog

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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The CFL game on the field is a gem, changes not needed

An Edmonton Eskimos promo poster form 1981.

Apparently, the CFL product on the field is a game that is “radically” flawed.

To me, it left like that was the message that was sent, when the Canadian professional football circuit announced some major rule changes on Monday with one phase of changes coming in 2026 and another phase in 2027. From what I understand, it was announced on Sunday that the press conference for the rule changes would happen on Monday.

Attention got more heightened for the Monday announcement when long time former Saskatchewan Roughriders play-by-play voice and current independent sports media pundit Rod Pedersen put out a post on Platform-X that he was told to be prepared for an Americanization of the CFL game.

On Monday, the following rule changes were announced that are coming in 2026. First, the famous rouge has been altered.

No points will be awarded for missed field goals, punts and kickoffs that go through the end zone via either through the air or a bounce. If a returner fields any of those types of kicks in the end zone and is tackled in the end zone or kneels down in the end zone, a single point rouge will be scored.

A 35-second play clock will replace the 20-second play clock in 2026. Next year once a play is blown dead, a 35-second play clock begins. Also in 2026, team benches at all CFL stadiums will be on opposite sides of the field.

In 2027, the field of play will change. The field of play between the goal-lines will be 100 yards instead of 110 yards. The depth of the end zones will shrink from 20 yards to 15 yards.

The width of the field will still be 65 yards. The uprights will be moved from the goal-line to the back of the end zone.

I elected to mull on the changes over a 24 hour period. During my life, one of my blessings was I got to be friends with the late iconic CFL coach and general manager and scout of the NFL’s Indianapolis Colts in Cal Murphy.

Murphy truly loved the game and his passion got you excited for the sport. He loved both the Canadian and American versions of the sport and the uniqueness each version of the game brought.

Murphy is best known for his time with the CFL’s Winnipeg Blue Bombers serving as either head coach or general manager or both from 1983 to 1996. If Murphy was still alive, my gut feeling is he would mirror current Blue Bombers head coach Mike O’Shea and current British Columbia Lions star quarterback Nathan Rourke in not liking the changes.

I think Murphy would say the rule changes are, “A crock of crap.”

Cal Murphy pictured during a Roughriders event in 1999.

Murphy was the lone voice in the league against United States expansion in the 1990s, and it turned out he was right with all the concerns he brought up with how that failed.

I guess I have hit the age where I am an old fuddy-duddy in liking the Canadian game of football the way it is.

When it comes to the game itself on the field, I felt there was nothing wrong with the game currently being played in the CFL and the Canadian version of the sport in general. 

I believe the Canadian version of the sport in its current form is as perfect of a version of the game you can get.

I know there are critics of the rouge and want it totally removed. I think that adds to the charm of the game.

I love the quirky moments that come with the rule in its current form like in the University of Regina Rams first post-season win in the U Sports ranks way back on November 3, 2000 at McMahon Stadium in Calgary. The Rams were tied 32-32 with the University of Calgary Dinos in a Canada West semifinal.

On the final play of the fourth quarter, the Rams had the ball at the Dinos 16 yard line. The Rams Canadian Football Hall of Fame head coach Frank McCrystal sent his future star NFL punter Jon Ryan into the game. Ryan booted a 36-yard punt single through the end zone to give the Rams a 33-32 walk off victory, and they continued on a run to an appearance in the U Sports championship game – the Vanier Cup.

I know in the current day there are pundits saying that is a horrible way to win a game like getting a single off a missed field goal. Back then, McCrystal and his staff were credited with their astute coaching work and mastery of the rulebook for getting in position where Ryan could win the game with a punt single.

Starting next season in the CFL, you won’t be able to boot a punt single through the end zone to win a game with a rouge.

Of course, the CFL’s problem has always been marketing and storytelling. There have been some years the marketing has been better than others.

I believe the Roughriders reached unprecedented heights in the 2000s and early 2010s by marketing themselves as “Canada’s Team” and putting up billboards outside of opposing team’s stadiums that displayed a big picture of their fans that make up Rider Nation with the caption “We walk among you.”

That rallied the Roughriders faithful around their team. That also rallied the fans of the other CFL clubs around their respective franchises due to being shown up by the folks that make up Rider Nation.

Jon Ryan kicked a rouge for the Rams first U Sports playoff win.

If you want to look at the weakness of the story telling of the CFL, just ask any CFL fan who were the “Alberta Crude?”

The “Alberta Crude” was the defensive line made up of Dave “Doctor Death” Fennell, Ron Estay, David Boone and Bill Stevenson. They played a crucial role in helping the Edmonton Eskimos win five straight Grey Cups from 1978 to 1982.

To me, the Eskimos of that era should be viewed as one of the most if not the most iconical squads in the CFL and one of the most iconical teams in all of Canadian sports. That dynasty was highlighted by the play of two legendary quarterbacks with Tom Wilkinson giving way to Warren Moon.

Those that saw Moon play can still see him throwing the most picturesque passes to his trio of 1,000- yard receivers in 1981 in Brian Kelly, Tom Scott and Waddell Smith.

Edmonton’s coaching staff of that era was made up of head coach Hugh Campbell with Murphy, Don Matthews and “Papa” Joe Faragalli working as assistant coaches. Faragalli did move on to become the Roughriders head coach in 1981. With Campbell, Murphy, Matthews and Faragelli working the sidelines, one had to wonder how the Eskimos ever lost a game.

(*Side note – “Papa” Joe was the innovator pretty much for all the passing sets you see in the CFL in the current day*).

Still, you don’t see sports documentaries made about the Eskimos teams from 1978 to 1982 like you do of the NFL’s Green Bay Packers of the 1960s, the Pittsburgh Steelers of the 1970s, the San Francisco 49ERS of the 1980s, the Dallas Cowboys of the 1990s or the Tom Brady and Bill Belichick era New England Patriots of the 2000s and 2010s.

Outside of old fuddy-duddies like me, the Eskimos teams from 1978 to 1982 aren’t remembered the way they should be if they are remembered at all. That goes for so many different eras of history of the CFL and no one is forking out the money to ensure those tales are remembered.

If you can’t get your past properly respected in the public eye, how do you venture into the future as an elite sports league?

Having that narrative of then, now, forever and together helps build the community of everyone being part of something.

Darian Durant (#4) throw a pass for the Roughriders in 2016.

The NFL had that question answered with the creation of NFL Films way back in the 1960s, and that has contributed to the creation of iconic teams and iconic stories.

As for the CFL, those in the ownership and board of governor positions have decided the product on the field is the problem, and that is where change needs to be made.

I wonder if “Uncle” Wally Buono is “all in” with the rule changes, or is he just an old fuddy-duddy that doesn’t matter anymore. I would be really comfortable with having him as the head of a competition committee or a rules committee for the CFL at age 75, if that would be something he would ever consider doing.

I do understand the reasons the CFL presented in their rule changes.

With that said, I didn’t know offence was a critical problem, kicking too many field goals was a critical problem, the time clock was a critical problem, the uprights on the goal-line created a critical visibility problem and field dimensions were a critical problem in the Canadian game. In the two CFL games I’ve attended this season, I believe the product on the field is as good as it has ever been, but also none of today’s current teams would beat the Eskimos from 1978 to 1982.

I personally don’t think the rule changes will result in more offence. I am willing to see how they look in action.

I know the league’s economic struggles, and I think the circuit’s leaders believe that alignment with the NFL and the American game is the only path forward to grow the game, because the NFL is so huge. Amateur football and high school football in the Toronto area and in Vancouver is already played with four down rules from the United States, which means about 18-million of Canada’s population of 40-millon are more in tune with the American game in just those two areas.

From that perspective, I think CFL leadership see harmonizing with the NFL as the only way forward, and they are comfortable with losing the old ardent CFL supporters. Like in politics, the large population centres in Canada dictates what the rest of the country does.

With that said, the CFL did start to rebound in the late 1990s and early 2000s the circuit made a rebound focusing on the “Canadian” aspect of the game. I think that is an important lesson to learn.

Still, I think the essence of the CFL game will still hold up after the rule changes. However, I can’t see the rule changes being the vehicle that motivates people to buy more tickets and watch more games. If the marketing and storytelling isn’t there, the changes are doomed to fail.

Gainer the Gopher meets the fans in 2019.

Until I get convinced otherwise by actions, I think football in the CFL and Canada has been accelerated to being converted to the style of game that is played in the United States. Something that is “Radically Canadian” is about to be truly lost.

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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Bombers’ Grey Cup win is a welcomed development

Videos of the Bombers’ Grey Cup wins in 1988 and 1990.

    The Winnipeg Blue Bombers actually won the Grey Cup?

    While never can be a long time, a Bombers Grey Cup win just seemed like something that would never happen again. You almost thought the NHL’s Winnipeg Jets had better odds of winning the Stanley Cup in a 31 team league that the Bombers would have in a nine team league.

    That was exactly what happened on Sunday at McMahon Stadium in Calgary, Alta. Playing before 35,439 spectators, the Bombers hammered the Hamilton Tiger-Cats 33-12 to become CFL champions for the first time in 29 years.

    In the win, a proud graduate of Winnipeg’s Oak Park High School Raiders football team in running back Andrew Harris picked up most outstanding player and most outstanding Canadian honours helping his hometown Bombers win the title.

    Harris ran the ball 18 times for 134 yards and one touchdown, and he caught five passes for 35 yards and one touchdown.

Andrew Harris (#33) became a Grey Cup hero for the Bombers.

    Online, emotion was pouring out from Bombers fans who couldn’t contain their joy as they were brought to tears they were so happy.
    It was weird to think that actually happened.

    Once upon a time, that wasn’t the case.

    Way back in 1990, the Bombers were guided by the tandem in general manager “Kindly” Cal Murphy and head coach “Smiling” Mike Riley. Both are still revered figures to this day in the Manitoba capital.

    Under their guidance, the Bomber topped the CFL standings that year with a 12-6 record and hammered the Edmonton Eskimos 50-11 to capture the Grey Cup at B.C. Place in Vancouver, B.C.

    It was joked the Grey Cup game that year was like a Super Bowl, as the NFL title games around that era were usually blowouts. The Bombers win in the 1990 Grey Cup goes down as one of greatest blowouts in the history of the CFL title game.

    The defense containing the likes of Greg Battle, Tyrone Jones, James West, Rod Hill and Less Browne hammered the Eskimos into submission.

A Tom Burgess player card.

    Bombers quarter back Tom Burgess, who was acquired in a trade with the Saskatchewan Roughriders before the 1990 campaign began, had an up and down season. Against the Eskimos in the 1990 Grey Cup, Burgess had one of his finest days in the league as he guided the Bombers offence like he was NFL legend Joe Montana, or Bombers icon Ken Ploen.
    The 1990 win marked the third time the Bombers won the Grey Cup over a second year period and was the 10^th CFL championship victory for the Winnipeg franchise.

    At that time, no one knew it would take 29 years for the Bombers to win their 11^th Grey Cup.

Between the 1990 and Sunday’s Grey Cup wins, the Bombers advanced to the Grey Cup game five times and came up empty handed in each of those tries.

    Their most hard luck setback arguably came in 2007, when they fell 23-19 to the Saskatchewan Roughriders at the Rogers Centre in Toronto, Ont.

    Winnipeg went into that contest without star quarterback Kevin Glenn, who broke his arm in the team’s victory one week earlier in the East final.

    Over that span of time, the Bombers had sensational years like their 14-4 campaign in 2001. They had campaigns where they were dreadful going a combined 7-29 in the 1997 and 1998 seasons and 3-15 in the 2013 campaign.

A Less Browne player card.

    Winnipeg fans stayed loyal to their club, but it seemed like a Grey Cup win would be something that just wouldn’t happen. It seemed like fate was against the Bombers, when it came to winning another CFL crown.

    Bombers fans that remembered the Grey Cup wins in 1984, 1988 and 1990 were aging and did their best to pass down stories from those glory days.

    A much smaller amount of Bombers fans remember a previous run of glory years under legendary head coach Bud Grant that saw the Bombers win Grey Cup titles in 1958, 1959, 1961 and 1962.
    Before Sunday’s Grey Cup win, the Bombers had a whole generation of fans that had never seen their team win a CFL title.

    Murphy became a Bombers icon serving as the team’s head coach and general manager during his time with the club from 1983 to 1996. Still, he had a bitter departure from the team following the 1996 campaign.

    Some said for a handful of years after his departure the Bombers were haunted by the “Curse of Cal.”

    I was fortunate enough to become friends with Murphy, after he started residing in Regina, Sask.

    I remember a visit around 2009 where he said he didn’t like that “curse” notion. He had a fond spot in his heart for Winnipeg, and he liked getting back there to do good things in that centre.

A Bombers Grey Cup shirt from 1990.

    Murphy told me any ill feelings were buried in the past long ago, and he wanted to see the Bombers win the Grey Cup again. The Bombers have been handing out the “Cal Murphy Heart of a Legend Award” since 2002.

    While scouting for the NFL’s Indianapolis Colts, Murphy always took time to visit with the Bombers fans at the Labour Day Classic games between the Bombers and Roughriders in Regina.

    Murphy passed away in February of 2012 at age 79, but you can bet somewhere out there he was happy giving off his trademark cackle laugh to go along with his huge grin after the Bombers finally won it all again.

    Even this season, it appeared the Bombers jinx when it came to winning the Grey Cup would continue. They entered the campaign as favourites to make and win the Grey Cup, but you were waiting for things to unravel.
    During a 32-16 home win over the B.C. Lions, Bombers star quarterback Matt Nichols was lost for the season due to a shoulder injury, and it seemed like Winnipeg’s title hopes would go down with him.

    Before the CFL’s trade deadline on Oct. 9, the Bombers acquired veteran quarterback Zach Collaros in a trade with the Toronto Argonauts.

Late Bomber GM and HC Cal Murphy.

    Collaros actually began the campaign as the Roughriders starting quarterback. On the Roughriders fourth play of their regular season opener, he suffered a concussion injury on a cheap hit by Tiger-Cats linebacker Simoni Lawrence.

    The Roughriders fell in that June 13 encounter 23-17.

    With Collaros down, Cody Fajardo had a meteoric rise to the pedestal of Roughriders star starting quarterback. Deemed expendable, Collaros was traded to the Argonauts in late July.

    He never took a single snap in Toronto. It seemed like his football days might be over, because he had a history of concussion injuries.

    Unexpectedly, Collaros became the savour of the Bombers season. He was inserted as the starting quarterback in their final regular season game, when they slipped past the Calgary Stampeders 29-28 at I.G. Field in Winnipeg on Oct. 25.

    That allowed the Bombers to finish the regular season with an 11-7 record. Collaros played well in all three of the Bombers post-season victories, which included downing the Roughriders 20-13 in the West final in Regina on Nov. 17.

    Inconceivably, he became a Grey Cup champion with the Bombers completing 17-of-23 passes for 170 yards in Sunday’s CFL championship game. In the process, Collaros prevented the Tiger-Cats, who topped the CFL regular season standings with a 15-3 mark, from winning their first Grey Cup since 1999.

Bombers fans like “The Golden Boy” can soak in their Grey Cup win.

    Overall, the 29 year drought between Grey Cup titles for Bombers fans just wasn’t fair for the support they have shown their club.

    The Bombers and their supporters very much deserved this long awaited Grey Cup title win.

    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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The great Canadian football weather dilemma

Slight cold keeps fans away in droves

The Eskimos and Roughriders play a bad weather game Nov. 4, 2017.

    When it gets cold, they won’t go.

    If you’re a football team at any level in Canada, you fear cold weather of any type, because it keeps the fans away. If fans don’t come to games, they don’t spend money on concessions, merchandise or donate to scholarship programs in the case of university and junior teams.

    There was a time cold and snow didn’t keep fans away in Canada. During the past two seasons, it is apparent the social media age has played a part in changing this dynamic.

    People would prefer to sit in the comforts of home and see a quick hit of a football highlight on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter or Snapchat versus watching a game live for three hours in the cold. If you add in you pay anywhere from $15 to $27 to see a post-secondary game and $100 for a prime seat at a CFL game, you ask yourself why would you pay that type of money to go sit in the cold and snow for three hours and be uncomfortable.

Fans enjoy the CFL West final in 2013 in Calgary.

    These days, cold weather doesn’t have to be that cold. It seems like ticket buyers in Canada for outdoor sports are looking for the weather to be 20 C with sun and no wind. You are basically looking to be seen in nice weather at a sporting event, and you have prime conditions to use your mobile phone.
    If the weather is around even 10 C and still sunny, but you can feel the cold, ticket buyers in Canada won’t go to a football game. The efficiency of the mobile phone is hampered the colder it gets too.

    Unfortunately, that is the reality football teams in Canada are dealing with these days. Judging by crowds on televised NFL and National Collegiate Athletic Association football contests, the football culture in the United States isn’t deterred by bad weather games.

    For some early season football games in the United States, weather can go too far the other way where it is 40 C and sunny and spectators have to worry about health problems related to the heat.

The Roughriders Cheer Team is ready for the cold in 2017.

    With all that said, football teams Canada, where the citizens seem really addicted to social media, face a current country trend that any type of cold keeps people away.

    The Saskatchewan Roughriders, who are the CFL’s most popular team, even feel the effects of colder temperatures hurting attendance. Their last sellout at Mosaic Stadium of 33,350 spectators came on Sept. 15, when they fell 30-25 to the Ottawa Redbacks. The daytime temperature in Regina was 19 C.
    Saskatchewan’s last two regular season home games were played in October and they hosted a CFL West Division semifinal game in November.

    On Oct. 8, the Roughriders downed the Edmonton Eskimos 19-12 and 31,335 was the announced attendance at Mosaic Stadium, and the daytime temperature in Regina was 9 C. On Oct. 27, the Roughriders beat the British Columbia Lions 35-16 with an announced attendance at Mosaic Stadium was 30,091, and the daytime temperature was 13 C in Regina.

    On Nov. 11, the Roughriders fell 23-18 in the West Division Semifinal to the Winnipeg Blue Bombers with an announced attendance of 30,609 spectators and the daytime temperature is Regina was 4 C.

    In the week leading up to each of those games, I was looking to possibly impulse purchase a ticket, if my busy schedule lightened up to allow for a drive from Saskatoon to Regina for one of those contests. My schedule didn’t lighten up, so I didn’t go.

Christion Jones heads upfield for the Roughriders on Nov. 4, 2017.

    When I was looking for tickets, I couldn’t believe how easy it would have been to purchase a good seat even on the day before the game, if I was able to go.

    This was for a Roughriders team that went 12-6 during the regular season. In the past when the Roughriders had that strong of a regular season record, it was almost impossible to get tickets to games.

    On a side note, the Grey Cup in Edmonton, Alta., held last Sunday that saw the Calgary Stampeders down the Redblacks 27-16 was deemed a sellout at 55,819 spectators in cold conditions at Commonwealth Stadium.
    At the university level in the U Sports ranks, the University of Saskatchewan Huskies football team, who have had average attendances around 6,000 in some recent seasons, saw their crowds at Griffiths Stadium shrink, when it got cold.

    The Huskies best attendance of 5,114 came when they fell 37-28 to the U of Calgary Dinos on Sept. 14. Weather at game time in Saskatoon was reported at 7 C and cloudy, but attendance was boosted by the fact Huskies honoured legendary retired head coach Brian Towriss before the contest.

Huskies DE Riley Pickett ready for a cold game on Sept. 21.

    When the archrival U of Regina Rams paid a visit on Sept. 21, it was a different story. The Huskies won 33-20, but the game drew 2,715 spectators in conditions that were -1 C and lightly snowing at game time. It snowed for maybe a quarter of that contest.

    For the Huskies final home game Oct. 20, they downed the visiting U of Manitoba Bisons 27-4 and drew 2,440 spectators to Griffiths Stadium. Temperature at kickoff was 3 C and sunny.

    On the Canadian Junior Football League front, the Saskatoon Hilltops hosted the league championship game – the Canadian Bowl – and elected to keep tickets prices the same as their regular playoff games at $20 per adult for the Nov. 17 league title contest.
    In the Canadian Bowl, the venerable Hilltops, who relish playing in cold weather games, drew their biggest crowd of the season of 1,465 spectators to Saskatoon Minor Football Field as they claimed a fifth straight CJFL title thumping the Langley Rams 58-21. The temperature in Saskatoon that day was -7 C and sunny. They likely would have drawn a lot more fans had it been warmer.

    There are no easy fixes when it comes to drawing fans in adverse weather to football games in Canada. By nature, football is an outdoor game made to be played in the elements, which adds to the challenge of the sport.

Fans at Griffiths Stadium are bundled up for a cold clash on Sept. 21.

    In Canada, cold weather and even snow can strike in summer months. You could move up the schedule, but that might not be practical in some leagues, and you will still get bad weather.

    You could give discounted ticket prices for games that will be played in months when the weather is cold. The Roughriders tried that out with walk up tickets in 2017 for games played in October and November.

    You could spend hundreds of millions of dollars collected from taxpayers to build domed football stadiums for everyone. That wouldn’t go over well with a sizable portion of the public, especially when you see the ongoing talks in Calgary about getting a new NHL rink and CFL stadium.

    Unfortunately in Canada, there aren’t that many good-hearted deep pocketed good Samaritans out there willing to build multiple domed football facilities.
    It has to become cool again in Canada to head out to bad weather football games. During the 1980s and early 1990s, the Winnipeg Blue Bombers teams led by iconic head coach and general manager Cal Murphy were seen as “bad ass,” because they played in the snow and cold in the same gear they used in summer.

The family of Hilltops LB Bobby Ehman enjoys a cold Canadian Bowl win.

    The Ron Lancaster, George Reed and Ron Atchison era of the Saskatchewan Roughriders in the 1960s excelled in bad weather games and were deemed cool.

    When you went out to see cold weather games to see those teams play, you viewed yourself as being as tough as the players you watched.

    Unless heading out to cold weather football games becomes cool again, a large number of fans will remain plugged into their mobile phones and stay at home when conditions become slightly adverse.

    Unfortunately, there is no answer for how to bring back the feeling that it is cool to go to bad weather football games.

Four named all-Canadians for Huskies

Huskies OG Mattland Riley (#55) was a second team all-Canadian all-star.

    The University of Saskatchewan Huskies football team received some final nods for a fantastic year with four players being named U Sports all-Canadians all-stars.

    Last Thursday at an awards gala in Quebec City, Que., Huskies fifth-year running back Tyler Chow was a first team all-Canadian on offence and fourth-year defensive lineman Evan Machibroda was a first team all-Canadian on defence.

    Third-year offensive guard Mattland Riley was a second team all-Canadian on offence and fifth-year defensive end Tristian Koronkiewicz was a second team all-Canadian on defence.

    During the Huskies eight regular season games, Chow carried the ball 100 times for 640 yards and scored two touchdowns. During his regular season career with the Huskies, Chow carried the ball 385 times for 2,372 yards and scored 13 touchdowns to finish as the third all-time leading rusher in the program’s history.

    Machibroda had 14 total tackles, three sacks, forced one fumble and recovered one fumble for the Huskies in regular season action.

    Riley helped power a strong offensive line that allowed the Huskies to top the Canada West Conference with 1,376 yards rushing and place third with 2,565 yards passing as a team in the regular campaign.

Tristian Koronkiewicz (#90) was a first team all-Canadian all-star.

    Koronkiewicz topped Canada West with seven sacks to go along with 24 total tackles, two forced fumbles and two fumble recoveries for the Huskies in regular season play.

    The Huskies finished third in Canada West with a 5-3 regular season record. In a Canada West semifinal contest on Nov. 3 in Vancouver, B.C., the Huskies upset the host University of British Columbia Thunderbirds 31-28 in overtime. That win ended an eight-game post-season losing streak for the Huskies.

    On Nov. 10, the Huskies upset the U of Calgary Dinos 43-18 in the Canada West final in Calgary, Alta., to capture the Hardy Cup. That marked the first time the Huskies had won the Canada West title since 2006.

    The Huskies post-season game to an end in a U Sports semifinal contest on Nov. 17 in London, Ont., when they fell 47-24 to the U of Western Ontario Mustangs in the Mitchell Bowl.
    Last Saturday, the Mustangs fell in the Vanier Cup in Quebec City, Que., 34-20 to the host Universite Laval Rouge et Or.

    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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“No. 38 Special” - Reaves will always be at home in the ’Peg

A Willard Reaves football card from 1987.

    It has been 31 years since he stepped on the field for the Blue Bombers, but Willard Reaves still feels the love from the Winnipeg fans.

    Known as the “No. 38 Special,” Reaves spent only five seasons in a Bombers jersey from 1983 to 1987, but he became a CFL legend leading the league in rushing on three different occasions. During those five years, the product of Flagstaff, Arizona, was the top running back in Canada.

    His best season was his sophomore 1984 campaign, where he was voted the league’s most outstanding player rushing for 1,733 yards and scoring 14 touchdowns on 304 carries in a 16-game regular season. He also hauled in 40 passes for 407 yards and scored four majors.

    Guided by Canadian Football Hall of Fame head coach Cal Murphy, the Bombers posted an 11-4-1 record to finish second overall in the CFL and romped into the Grey Cup game in Edmonton and thumped the Hamilton Tiger-Cats 47-17. The win ended a 22-year Grey Cup drought for “the Blue and Gold” at that time.

    “Back in that time, I didn’t really grasp the big huge thing about the Grey Cup until months later,” said Reaves. “Those Bomber fans were absolutely nuts. 
    “We had lots of sellouts that year, especially 83 and 84.”

    In Winnipeg, Reaves is still a legend. He said he could have hit a unique milestone in his MVP season in 1984 and chuckles about how it was missed on one play.

Willard Reaves in the 2008 Bombers media guide.

    “As a matter of fact, I did say I was going to rush for 1,800 yards and whatever,” said Reaves. “I think it was a game against Ottawa. 
    “I burst up the middle there for like 69 or 70 yards or something like that. David Black was holding. It pretty much cost me the 1,800 yards, (but) 1,733 yards is not too bad I guess.”

    Besides remembering his football exploits, Bomber fans also remember the time Reaves saved a man from drowning at a pool in a Winnipeg hotel in 1985. After his football career was finished, he made his permanent home in the Manitoba capital.

    Reaves said he still encounters fans all over the place in Winnipeg seeking his autograph. He admits he is impressed he is still remembered.

    “It is such a great town,” said Reaves. “Even now (and) when you are playing of course, they are coming up to you and getting autographs. 
    “They just want to come and sit and talk to you and stuff like this. I have people coming left right and centre for autographs and this and that still even to this day. It is amazing that people still remember and stuff like this.
    “I am meeting their kids and their dogs.”

    When he played, Reaves said the passion Bomber fans had for their team compared to the passion that Saskatchewan Roughriders fans have for their club.

A Willard Reaves football card from 1985.

    The 1984 Grey Cup was a big deal for the Winnipeg faithful, because the Bombers were facing a Hamilton team that was quarterbacked by former Winnipeg star Dieter Brock. Brock was traded out of Winnipeg during a messy divorce late in the 1983 campaign for fellow pivot Tom Clements, who happened to become a hero in Winnipeg.

    Brock had expressed frustration about his life in Winnipeg, which didn’t sit well with the Bombers faithful. Bomber fans were wearing “Brock Busters” T-shirts during Grey Cup week in 1984. Reaves remembers the atmosphere created by the 60,081 spectators at Commonwealth Stadium being in a frenzy.

A Willard Reaves football card from 1983.

    “It was absolutely nuts,” said Reaves. “I didn’t see it, but I heard the train ride there was absolutely crazy.

    “People were rocking and partying all the way down from Winnipeg to Edmonton, and of course the “Brock Busters” and the stadium.”

    Reaves believes he had the personal success he did, because Winnipeg’s offence was well rounded at that time. He enjoyed watching the receiving corps that was nicknamed “The Untouchables” make plays catching passes from Clements.

    “It went both ways,” said Reaves. “We both complimented each other.

    “When they wanted to tee off and stop our running game, we just took to the air, and that was it. Of course, you have Joe Poplawski, Rick House, Jeff Boyd and James Murphy and stuff like that (as receivers), and then you have their backups.

    “We were quite good. I am thinking we were very good.”

    During his playing days in Winnipeg, Reaves gained a number of memories from the rivalry showdowns the Bombers had with the British Columbia Lions. 
    The most memorable clash between the two clubs for Reaves occurred in the 1984 West Final at B.C. Place in Vancouver, which the Bombers won convincingly 31-14. The two clubs split their two regular season meetings in 1984.

A Willard Reaves football card from 1984.

    “The (Grey Cup) game was fun, but the best game that we had was the week before, when we played the B.C. Lions,” said Reaves. “That we thought was our signature thing.

    “It was always B.C. and Winnipeg. We split on the regular season. We came out the Western Finals and went into B.C. Place and as noisy as it was and stuff like that we calmed it down real quick.

    “We just whooped the crap out of them.”

    In 1987, Reaves played his final season with the Bombers having another banner year leading the CFL with 1,471 yards rushing and scoring nine majors on the ground to be named an all-Canadian for a third time.
    After that campaign, he elected to try his luck in the NFL and spent time over the next two seasons with the Washington Redskins and the Miami Dolphins. He only appeared in three regular season games in 1989, while the Bombers would win Grey Cups in 1988 and 1990.

    As a 59-year-old looking back at that decision, Reaves had no regrets, because he also knew his career after football was looming.

    “Football wasn’t my first love,” said Reaves. “That is why it made it so easy to walk away from the game regardless of what happened elsewhere.

    “I knew that this was not going to last forever. I had to get into something else, and I did. I went and joined into the justice department.”

Willard Reaves, left, with son, Jordan.

    These days Reaves tries to watch his sons Ryan and Jordan venture through their respective professional sports careers. Ryan is a 31-year-old right-winger with the NHL’s Vegas Golden Knights, while Jordan is a 28-year-old defensive lineman and special teams ace with the Roughriders.

    With his old team experiencing a current league long 28-year Grey Cup drought, Reaves would love to see his Bombers reach the CFL’s pinnacle once again.

    “I’d like to see it happen,” said Reaves. “It would be good for the city of Winnipeg. 
    “It would be good to get back into the spirit of things.”

    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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    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.