Plaza of Honour induction cements Hughes as ’Riders great

Neal Hughes is pictured with a couple of young fans in 2011.

    Neal Hughes received a big stamp of approval as one of the Saskatchewan Roughriders all-time greats for representing the team with class on and off the field for 11 seasons.

    On Thursday, Hughes was inducted into the Saskatchewan Roughriders Plaza of Honour along with former teammate Kerry Joseph at a dinner and reception on Thursday at Mosaic Stadium in Regina.

    Hughes was a fullback and ace special teams player for the Roughriders playing in 140 regular season games from 2004 to 2014. He played in the Roughriders Grey Cup victories in 2007 and 2013 and Grey Cup setbacks in 2009 and 2010.

    Back when the now 39-year-old suited up with the Roughriders, he was the perfect person you wanted representing the team in community.

    Growing up in Regina, Hughes dreamed of playing for the Roughriders.

    His favourite players were Tim McCray, Tom Burgess, Willis Jacox, Orville Lee, Jeff Fairholm, Don Narcisse, Eddie Lowe and Bobby Jurasin. Hughes often wore Jurasin’s trademark bandana.

    At age seven, Hughes joined a minor football team in Regina called the Razorbacks. From that start, his amateur career as a star running back took off.

    Hughes moved on to play in the Regina high school with the Thom Collegiate Trojans. He joined the Regina Rams in 1998 and helped them close out their history in the Canadian Junior Football League by winning a 15^th and final CJFL title.
    Hughes moved with the Rams to the U Sports ranks as the University of Regina Rams playing five seasons from 1999 to 2003. He helped the Rams advance to the 2000 Vanier Cup falling 42-39 in that season’s U Sports title game to the University of Ottawa Gee Gees.

A Roughriders’ promo picture of Neal Hughes.

    While he accomplished a lot with the Rams, there were no guarantees that Hughes would have a career at the CFL. When Hughes finished his time with the Rams, it wasn’t a common practise for CFL teams to take a chance on Canadian born running backs. A lot of times, those running backs were converted to be fullbacks, but it was custom for those careers to run three or four years.

    Hughes was invited to Roughriders training in 1999 under junior territorial rules due to the fact the Rams hadn’t played their first university level game. Even that invite didn’t guarantee a possible future playing in the CFL.

    After no one selected him in the 2004 CFL Draft, Hughes signed as a free agent with the Roughriders. He ended up playing in 14 regular season games and both of the Roughriders playoff contests in that rookie campaign.

    During training camp, Hughes proved he was versatile showing that he could run the ball, be a receiver, return kicks and cover well on special teams. In Week 10 of the 2004 campaign, Hughes replaced an injured Paul McCallum as the team’s punter and averaged 35.0 yards on two kicks.

    Through his CFL career, Hughes mainly focused on blocking duties as a fullback or from a tight end position and covered kicks on special teams.

    The home-grown product did get a handful of chances to produce yards as a rusher or receiver. Hughes, who stood 5-foot-10 and weighed 210 pounds, ran the ball 70 times for 277 yards and scored eight touchdowns in regular season play.

    He hauled in 46 passes for 505 yards and scored six majors, while returning 18 kickoffs for 246 yards and one punt for 21 yards in regular season action.

    It seems fitting Hughes entered the Plaza of Honour along with Joseph, who was the Roughriders star quarterback that won CFL Most Outstanding Player honours during the team’s 2007 Grey Cup winning campaign.

    The two combined for a big moment in the 2007 West Final against the British Columbia Lions in Vancouver, B.C. Near the midway point of the third quarter, Hughes hauled in a two-yard scoring reception on a play action pass play from Joseph to put the Roughriders up 20-10.

    That would be the only major score Hughes would account for in post-season play, but it proved to be the winning points in a 26-17 victory to send the Roughriders to the Grey Cup.

Neal Hughes (#32) signs a young fan’s jersey in 2010.

    Looking back, that score proved to be a major get over the hump moment as the Roughriders had fallen in the West Final in 2003, 2004 and 2006.
    In the 2007 Grey Cup in Toronto, Ont., the Roughriders downed the Winnipeg Blue Bombers 23-19.

    Hughes was a part of the fairy tale night for Rider Nation in the 101^st Grey Cup on November 24, 2013. Playing in front of a sellout crowd of 44,710 spectators at Taylor Field, the Roughrider blasted the Hamilton Tiger-Cats 45-23.

    Hughes carried the ball three times for 32 yards in front of his hometown crowd.

    Away from the field, Hughes did pretty much every community appearance the Roughriders requested of him on behalf of the team.

    Now, his names will be listed for all-time along with most of his childhood heroes on the Plaza of Honour. It will forever be the type of thanks that goes beyond what could be dreamed of.

Confirmed – “Sarge” on the verge of 200 wins with Hilltops

Hilltops head coach Tom Sargeant is closing in on 200 career wins.

    If anyone needed any further confirmation, Saskatoon Hilltops head coach Tom Sargeant is indeed on the verge of recording his 200^th career win.

    On Wednesday, veteran Saskatoon StarPhoenix sports staffer Kevin Mitchell typed a story that said Sargeant has 199 career wins including play in the regular season and post-season in the Canadian Junior Football League.

    I actually went through and double checked the numbers on Thursday, and Mitchell does have everything bang on. He listed the year-by-year regular season and post-season records the Hilltops had with Sargeant as head coach, and all of those were bang on.

    That included catching facts that the Hilltops had a bye in the Prairie Football Conference final after a first place regular season finish in 1999 due to the fact there were four teams in the PFC that season.

    Including action in the regular season and playoffs, Sargeant indeed has a 199-30-2 record as the Hilltops head coach. The 54-year-old’s record in the regular season is 148-21-2 and is 51-9 in the post-season.

    The Hilltops have won 12 CJFL titles with Sargeant guiding the team as head coach. Saskatoon has won the last five straight CJFL titles and has an active league record 16-game winning streak going in the post-season.

Brian Towriss tops the U Sports list of head coaching wins at 196.

    The Hilltops will try to help Sargeant collect his 200^th win on Sunday, when they travel to Regina to take on the Thunder at 3 p.m. at Mosaic Stadium in a battle of 1-0 teams.

    Saskatoon has won its last 20 straight overall games in a row and last 24 straight in a row on the road include three victories in the CJFL title game - The Canadian Bowl.

    While the Hilltops have turned over a number of players in their starting lineup, you can bet their players will be motivated to get that milestone win for their head coach.

    Sargeant is by far the all-time leader in CJFL victories be it regular season, post-season or both.

    His win total has surpassed the total put up legendary former University of Saskatchewan Huskies head coach in Canadian Football Hall of Fame member Brian Towriss at the U Sports level.

    Towriss in the all-time leader in U Sports coaching victories posting 196 wins between the regular season and post-season. Coaching the Huskies from 1984 to 2016, Towriss posted a 167-96-1 regular season record and a 29-22 post-season record for a 196-118-1 combined slate.

    Under his guidance, the Huskies won the Vanier Cup as U Sports national champions on three occasions in 1990, 1996 and 1998.

Rams’ McCrystal the wins king at 208

Frank McCrystal, seen here in 2000, has 208 wins as Rams head coach.

    When it comes to Canadian amateur football in the post-secondary ranks, the 199 career wins in both the regular season and playoffs by Saskatoon Hilltops head coach Tom Sargeant are surpassed by only one man.

    Frank McCrystal piled up 208 career wins as head coach of the Regina Rams in the regular season and playoffs from 1984 to 2014. McCrystal piled up his win total during the Rams final 15 seasons in the Canadian Junior Football League from 1984 to 1998 and the Rams first 16 seasons in the U Sports ranks as the University of Regina Rams from 1999 to 2014.

    In the CJFL, McCrystal posted a 104-17-1 record in the regular season and a 37-8 record in the post-season as the Rams head coach. The Rams won seven CJFL titles under McCrystal’s guidance in 1986, 1987, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1997 and 1998.

    In U Sports, McCrystal posted a 60-67-1 record in the regular season and a 7-12 record in the post-season as the Rams head coach. The Rams made the U Sports title game – the Vanier Cup – once under McCrystal’s watch falling 42-39 in the 2000 Vanier Cup to the U of Ottawa Gee Gees.

    Combining his records from the CJFL and U Sports, McCrystal posted a 208-104-2 mark as the Rams head coach. That record does not include the Rams 22-17 victory over the U of Alberta Golden Bears at Taylor Field on Sept. 7, 1985 in an exhibition tilt, when the Regina side was still in the CJFL.

    Sargeant is the all-time wins leader in the history of the CJFL posting a 199-30-2 mark in both the regular season and playoffs.

    Former U of Saskatchewan Huskies football team head coach Brian Towriss in the all-time leader in U Sports head coaching victories posting a 196-118-1 record combined in the regular season and post-season.

A picture of Gord Currie from his celebration of life.

    Legendary Regina Rams head coach in the late Gord Currie would be the fourth member on the Mount Rushmore of amateur football coaches in Saskatchewan along with McCrystal, Sargeant and Towriss.

    Currie, who is a member of the Canadian Football Hall of Fame, guided the Rams as head coach from 1965 to 1976 in the CJFL posting a 76-20-1 record in the regular season and a 35-9 record in the post-season for a combined slate of 111-29-1.

    Under his guidance, the Rams won six CJFL titles coming in 1966, 1970, 1971, 1973, 1975 and 1976.

    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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Late Regina Rams head coach cared about the person first

Gordon Gray Currie 1923-2017

A picture of Gord Currie from his celebration of life.

    REGINA - “You win by not looking at the scoreboard at the end of the field but the scoreboard in your heart.

    “When you walk off the field, that is great when you look at the scoreboard in your heart. You walk away with something with substance, and it adds to the rest of your life to what you are.

    “It goes far beyond moving a football up and down the field. It is difficult to measure this type of growth. It is an amazing thing to witness in life.”

    Gordon Gray Currie spoke those words to me back in November of 2000, when I was putting together a history feature on the Regina Rams for the official website for university sports in Canada called at the time CIAU.ca. The piece ran days before the Rams, who were in their second season as a university team, appeared in that year’s Vanier Cup championship game. They ultimately fell 42-39 to the University of Ottawa Gee-Gees in that contest.

    Currie, who was the Rams head coach in their Canadian Junior Football League days from 1965 to 1976, was describing the intangibles as to why the Rams won. He followed these words during his whole coaching career, which included guiding teams in football, baseball and hockey.

    Currie passed away at age 93 on Feb. 22, 2017. He was in remarkably good health and active in his late 80s and his 90s. It was only in recent years he battled with medical issues.

    A massive group of family and friends gathered at the Conexus Arts Centre on Wednesday in Regina to pay tribute the legendary coach, who is best remember for guiding the Rams to six CJFL championships, at a celebration of his life.

    Currie was also an educator, school principle and a member of the legislative assembly in Saskatchewan for one term. He was named to the Saskatchewan Sports Hall of Fame (1978), a member of the Order of Canada (1979) and to the Canadian Football Hall of Fame as a builder (2005).

A memorial set up at Gord Currie’s celebration of life.

    On the little known fact side, the sport Currie pursued and played at a high level was hockey, which was the first sport he coached.

    Everyone remembered that his greatest gift was his ability to make people feel important and special. The star running back for the Rams played that much better because of Currie’s influence. That Grade 12 student from Campbell Collegiate that was just scraping by and looking to drop out stayed in school and graduated at Currie’s request.

    People “upped their game” due to Currie no matter what walk of life they were in.

    What was more amazing was the fact Currie coached and taught at a time through the 1940s, 50s, 60s, 70s and 80s when it was unheard of to inspire people by treating them with respect. He inspired people to be better persons at a time when most coaches motivated through intimidation and fear. Currie never dipped into the intimidation and fear tactics that were prominent in his time.

    As a result of Currie’s approach, the results did look after themselves, as his coaching career resulted in numerous championships. One of those championships included his last game as Rams head coach in 1976, when he guided them to a CJFL title with 45-23 victory over the Hamilton Hurricanes before over 10,000 spectators at Taylor Field.

An old Leader-Post page paying tribute to Gord Currie.

    Everyone that came to his celebration of life had some memory of meeting Currie and feeling better about themselves. Even if you only dealt with him two or three times in your life, Currie still remembered you, and you came away feeling better about yourself.

    If you wanted to write a tribute about all the great things Currie did in his life, you could spend an endless amount of time doing that.

    Those that knew Currie would know the best tribute you could give to the late coach is just working to be the best person you can be every day and do your best to make a positive impact on your community and in life.

    That is also a great lesson everyone can follow and an enduring one coming from arguably the most legendary amateur coach in Saskatchewan.

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

Rams fall short of final Mosaic miracle

Rams QB Noah Picton sets up in the pocket.

    REGINA - For a moment, you thought the Regina Rams would pull off one final miracle at Taylor Field/Mosaic Stadium.

    During their history as members of first the Canadian Junior Football League and then U Sports representing the University of Regina, the Rams in their glory days pulled out games that seemed lost guided by legendary head coaches Gord Currie and Frank McCrystal. Playing a Canada West semifinal game at their storied home park on Saturday against the University of British Columbia Thunderbirds, it appeared the Rams first place season was going to die on a whimper.

    With 12:31 to play in the fourth quarter, Thunderbirds quarterback Michael O’Connor hit receiver David Mann with an 11-yard touchdown toss to put the visitors up 39-13. The hosts trailed because they hadn’t played well. The Thunderbirds, to their credit, played good, but they weren’t great or spectacular.

    Despite the fact a crowd of 4,500 has been pretty raucous, the Rams appeared to be down and out.

    While there wasn’t much time remaining on the clock, the Rams roared back scoring three touchdowns, while the Thunderbirds replied with a rouge punt single from Greg Hutchins.

William McGee's punt is blocked by A.J. Blackwell (#35).

    The last U of R major came when star quarterback Noah Picton hit receiver Ryan Schienbein with an 11-yard scoring strike with nine seconds to play cutting the UBC lead to 40-34. Those that followed the Rams history know they once pulled out a 35-31 regular season victory at home in 2000 against the University of Alberta Golden Bears by scoring the winning points on an onside kick.

    That day, future CFL star Jason Clermont batted a ball out of the air into the arms of teammate Chris Warnecke, who ran the rest of the way for the deciding score. You wondered if something crazy like that would happen again to push the Rams into the Canada West championship game.

    However, Thunderbirds receiver Trey Kellogg hauled in the onside kick to ensure no miracle would happen on this day. The Thunderbirds held on for the 40-34 victory. They will travel to Calgary this coming Saturday to face the University of Calgary Dinos for the Canada West championship trophy – the Hardy Cup.

    With that loss, one of the great single season turnaround stories in recent U Sports history came to an end. After going 0-8 in 2015, the Rams topped the Canada West standings in 2016 with a six-win improvement going 6-2.

Atlee Simon darts through a hole to score a TD for the Rams.

    They were rated fourth in the U Sports top 10 rankings going into their clash with the Thunderbirds. It was an unthinkable development for anyone outside of the team.

    Under the one-year watch of former head coach Mike Gibson in 2015, the Rams fell into disarray. After the winless campaign in 2015, Gibson left the club for the CFL’s Edmonton Eskimos to become their offensive line coach and run game coordinator.

    From there, Steve Bryce entered the picture as the Rams new head coach. He played on their offensive line from 1987 to 1991 in the team’s CJFL days and was part of a national championship winner in his rookie season. Under Bryce, the Rams started to play up to their past image from their glory days.

    Picton completed 224-of-323 passes for 3,186 yards, 25 touchdown passes and nine interceptions in the regular season. He set a new U Sports record for passing yards in a season completing an impressive 69.3 per cent of his throws. The Rams were always known as a pass-happy team, but they took that characteristic to a new exciting level this season.

The Rams defence stops Thunderbirds RB Ben Cummings.

    Against UBC, the Rams ran into one of U Sports best ever head coaches in Blake Nill, and his staff developed a game plan to neutralize their high-powered foes. The best way to keep Picton from hurting you was to make him stay on the Rams sidelines.

    Through a combination of running and a series of short passes, the Thunderbirds, who were 3-5 in the regular season, held the ball for 35 minutes and 21 seconds, which limited the Rams to 24 minutes and 39 seconds of possession time.

    The Thunderbirds also ran 22 more plays than their foes did and piled up an unheard of 42 first downs on 179 yards rushing and 397 yards passing. O’Connor accounted for all of UBC’s yards through the air connecting on 29-of-40 passes, two touchdown strikes and one interception.

Michael O'Connor piled up 397 yards passing for UBC.

    The Rams defence couldn’t get the stops their side needed.

    Adding to the frustrations for the home side, Thunderbirds defensive back A.J. Blackwell blocked a punt in the second quarter that was returned 27 yards by teammate Colton Zayshley for a major score. That play increased a 6-3 Thunderbirds edge to 13-3.

    With their limited time with the ball, the Rams still piled up solid offensive numbers. Picton completed 25-of-35 passes for 364 yards, one touchdown and zero interceptions. U of R also put up 106 yards rushing. Most of those yards came from running back Atlee Simon, who ran the ball 16 times for 78 yards and scored three touchdowns.

    Fifth-year Rams slotback Riley Wilson, who was playing his final university game, caught nine passes for 184 yards in a spectacular final bow.

    Still, the Rams had to ponder what might have been.

    With that in mind, the Rams will return the core of their team next season. They only loose Wilson and seven other players to graduation.

The Rams exit the Taylor Field/Mosaic Stadium tunnel for the last time.

    U of R is miles ahead of last year.
    Under Bryce’s guidance, another golden age for Rams football might be around the corner.

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

McCrystal’s legacy extends beyond the field

Frank McCrystal circa 2003

            REGINA - It is almost hard to believe in just a few hours the University of Regina Rams will begin their final season with Frank McCrystal as head coach.

            During the team’s time in the Canadian Junior Football League and now the Canadian university ranks, McCrystal will have spent at the conclusion of the current campaign a total of 41 years with the program.

He spent five years with the team as a player, five years as an assistant coach and 31 years as head coach. The time as head coach includes 15 seasons in the CJFL and 16 seasons in the Canadian Interuniversity Sport ranks. The Rams began play at the university level in 1999.

            While change is inevitable in life, it felt like the 60-year-old McCrystal would be guiding the Rams forever. Before the start of season, the veteran bench boss announced the time was just right to move on and this would be his final season. Outside of a two-year hiatus, he has been with the Rams dating back to 1972.

            Whenever the Rams season wraps up, a lot of people will admit the post-secondary ranks of amateur football in Canada will have lost one its most colourful characters.

            Members of the media will undoubtedly miss his broadsides in press conferences. Who will ever forget McCrystal vowing to run for mayor of Saskatoon. The vow came after the Rams upset the Saskatoon Hilltops 46-27 in the 1997 Prairie Football Conference final at Gordie Howe Bowl in the Bridge City.

            My favourite broadside came on the field from the man who is also nicknamed “Slick.”

            During a practice in the 2000 CIS season, I ended up watching over a couple of children of the team’s directors, and we were throwing a football around. After I made one throw, all of a sudden I got leveled from the side.

            The next thing I heard was, “Sorry Stanks. I couldn’t help myself.”

            The tackler was indeed McCrystal, who for a moment had to show his Ray Lewis-like skills as a linebacker were in good form.

            I was alright, but he was pretty proud of the hit telling the trainers, “You better check on Stanks. I cranked him pretty good out there.”

            The fun stuff will always provide a laugh, but McCrystal’s biggest legacy will come away from the field, and not from the seven national titles he guided the Rams to in the junior ranks and the Vanier Cup appearance in 2000 in the CIS ranks.

            In my life, McCrystal was the first coach that I ever encountered that was a life coach. I remember the first time I walked into the teams old practice facility at Scotty Livingstone Field in 1997, and I had a feeling my life was going to change.

            My purpose that visit was actually do a story for the University of Regina’s student newspaper, the Carillon, about the possibility of the Rams joining the U of R. Even with that focus, the feeling that my life was going to change for the better was there, and it is one of those feelings that you do not get too often.

            I was so impressed with how honest McCrystal was and how comfortable he was in his own shoes. Shortly after that first visit, the life lessons came.

            The start came with goal setting, which the players do regularly for games. They weren’t limited to statistical, but most of the time focused on attitude like controlling your emotions. Sometimes, they were as simple but broad like making smart decisions.

            From there came lessons about how to properly carry yourself, which included small hits in manners like hold doors open for people or getting a good tie to go with that dress shirt you were wearing for a job interview. While these seem like something anyone could teach, few can make these lessons really stick, and McCrystal was one of those few.

            After writing that first story, I ended up covering the Rams for four seasons on various platforms, and I ended up carving out a bit of an extended role on the team mostly helping with game program content and media and communications items. The extended role eventually included running patterns as a receiver on the scout team in 2000 for a few weeks, when the injuries piled up at mid-season.

            During those years, I felt like I went through the biggest phase of personal growth I ever had in my life. They were also some of the best years of my life.

            That growth can be attributed to McCrystal, who has a gift to draw out the best in people. I know a lot of the former players with the Rams during my years at the U of R will agree with that.

            With that said, McCrystal succeeded in one of his big goals with the team in carrying on the traditions and legacy set by his former Rams head coach in Canadian Football Hall of Fame member Gord Currie, who might have been the best life coach that ever came out of Regina.

            As for the present, there is one more chapter to play out on the field. The Rams will open their 2014 regular season at home against the University of British Columbia Thunderbirds tonight at 7 p.m. at Mosaic Stadium.

            I will be there and that night will most likely be spent visiting with former players remembering the good old days.

We will all be pulling for the current Rams players to achieve the goals that they set for that game, because if they do that, the scoreboard will look after itself. All you have to do is look at the head coach to know where that belief came from.

If you have any feedback on this blog, feel free to email comments to stankssports@gmail.com.