Robservations: Around and a bout with Craig Reynolds … more under-rated Roughriders … a coffee-break mistake … and the weekly shout-outs
The recent announcement of a July 4, 2024 home game against the Toronto Argonauts had a familiar ring to Craig Reynolds.
Now the Saskatchewan Roughriders’ President-CEO, he was still in elementary school when he attended the first July 4 regular-season game in Club history.
Toronto was the visiting team, as it will be next summer. As a bonus, the stars of the World Wrestling Federation (now World Wrestling Entertainment) appeared at Taylor Field as part of a pre-game promotion on July 4, 1987.
Reynolds and his family travelled to Regina from Foam Lake to attend the grappling/gridiron doubleheader.
“I’m sure I begged my parents to take me and, thankfully, they agreed to do it for some whiny 11-year-old who wanted to come to Regina to see wrestling and see the Riders,” he reflects.
“I remember vibrating with excitement on the way here. It was a blast. I remember the ring at centre field and being excited for it.”
The wrestlers’ appearance was part of an extravaganza that was dubbed Ridermania.
The program consisted of a six-bout wrestling card (beginning at 1 p.m.), a pre-game pep rally (3 p.m.) and the Roughriders versus Argonauts (6 p.m.).
A total of 23,927 fans turned out to watch, for starters, luminaries such as Bret (The Hitman) Hart, Davey Boy Smith, the Dynamite Kid, Greg (The Hammer) Valentine, Brutus (The Barber) Beefcake and Jim (The Anvil) Neidhart.
Neidhart, incidentally, had tried out for the Roughriders seven years earlier. His 14-day trial began on July 11, 1980 and ended, abruptly, three days later.
His next visit to Taylor Field was more successful. The Anvil teamed up with the legendary Hitman to help the Hart Foundation defeat the Killer Bees (Jumpin’ Jim Brunzell and B. Brian Blair) in the July 4, 1987 main event.
In the preceding match, Beefcake (not his real name) had downed Valentine and then, to the delight of the crowd, strutted over his fallen foe.
My dear friend Brutus — I had the pleasure of interviewing him after the match — was hoping to use his clippers to give Valentine a haircut. Alas, the vanquished villain sprinted to the dressing room before he could be relieved of his blonde locks.
So much for the mane event.
“I just like the feeeeeeel of those clippers,” said Beefcake, as expertly quoted on the pages of the best-selling, July 6, 1987 edition of the Regina Leader-Post.
All of that was a prelude to the headline matchup — Roughriders versus Argonauts.
The teams played to a 33-33 overtime draw, back in the days when the extra session consisted of two five-minute periods.
Saskatchewan trailed 25-9 in the fourth quarter before Tom Burgess, in relief of starting signal-caller Jeff Bentrim, sparked a rally.
He threw a 63-yard pass to Todd Brown for the Roughriders’ first major of the day.
(Burgess to Brown … our own Killer Bees!)
Saskatchewan reached the end zone again when Glen Suitor intercepted a John Congemi pass and motored 56 yards to paydirt.
With two seconds left in the fourth frame, Dave Ridgway kicked a 32-yard field goal to force overtime.
Toronto led 33-26 after the first OT period on the strength of a four-yard TD run by Tony Johns.
The Roughriders answered with a 12-yard scoring strike from Burgess to Tron Armstrong. Ridgway’s convert, with 2:11 left in the second period, concluded the scoring.
Saskatchewan next played on July 4 precisely a decade later, when Edmonton won 24-18 at Taylor Field.
The Roughriders’ only other July 4 CFL home game was in 2003, when the Montreal Alouettes won a 32-31 thriller.
In terms of Roughriders history, the most impactful July 4 game was played on the road.
Early in the 2008 season, the Green and White visited the B.C. Lions. Marcus Crandell started at quarterback, only to suffer a hamstring injury. He was replaced by Steven Jyles, who was ineffective.
To begin the third quarter, first-year Head Coach Ken Miller handed the quarterbacking reins to a third-stringer by the name of Darian Durant.
The Roughriders won, 26-16, thereby ringing in the Durant era in triumphant fashion.
THE GREAT UNDER-RATED DEBATE
The other day in this cherished space, I highlighted the 10 most under-rated players in Roughriders history.
That was one scribbler’s opinion, anyway.
Readers have weighed in with their own nominations. For example …
Danny Banda: A Roughrider from 1958 to 1962, Banda bravely settled under kicks at a time when blocking was forbidden on punt returns. He also contributed as a defensive back and linebacker. At 5-foot-9 and 155 pounds, he is debatably the smallest linebacker in CFL history. Jeff Treftlin, a 5-foot-8, 170-pounder who played linebacker as an in-game injury replacement against the visiting Calgary Stampeders on July 12, 1989, is also in the conversation. (Banda was nominated by an avid reader, Dale Richter.)
Stevie Baggs: In his one full season as a Roughrider, he registered 11 sacks and was named a 2009 West Division All-Star.
Brandon Bridge: A rare Canadian-born quarterback, Bridge formed an effective combo with Kevin Glenn in 2017. Glenn, while accepting roughly three-quarters of the snaps, threw for 4,038 yards and 25 touchdowns. Bridge added 1,236 yards and 10 aerial majors. Both of them sported quarterback-efficiency ratings exceeding 100 (Bridge 107.0; Glenn 100.0).
Alan Ford: “He did everything for the Club but, playing with Ron Lancaster, George Reed, Hugh Campell, etc., it was probably impossible for him to get the recognition he earned and deserved,” Canadian Football Hall of Famer Tom Shepherd writes.
Corey Holmes: Although Holmes was named the CFL’s top special teams player in 2002 and 2005, one reader nonetheless attached the “under-rated” label.
Tristan Jackson: An excellent choice — someone who was very close to making my top 10. In addition to being a reliable defensive back, T-Jack was an explosive returner. He scored on missed field goal returns of 129 yards (July 14, 2012 versus B.C.) and 111 yards (Aug. 2, 2014 at Ottawa REDBLACKS).
Eddie Lowe: Another excellent choice! Lowe was a top-flight linebacker from 1983 to 1991, but was named an All-Star only once (in 1989).
Mike McCullough: Renowned as a special teams stalwart, McCullough also contributed as a linebacker when called upon. In his final CFL season, at age 33, he filled a major void at middle linebacker after Rey Williams suffered what turned out to be a career-ending knee injury in early September of 2013.
Mitch Picton: “If I were to pick a receiver to make a last-second touchdown catch, I’d take Picton,” avid reader Rod Fink says. “He’s a smart player with great hands. He runs great routes and gets open. If he started all 18 games, he’d be looking at a 1,000-yard season.”
John Terry: Without much (any?) fanfare, he was named a West All-Star offensive tackle in 1997, 1998 and 1999.
TROUBLE BREWING
Relievedly, my coffee catastrophe was not deemed to be grounds for dismissal.
But it was a mess.
There was hardly a hint of disaster on the morning of Dec. 8, when everything unfolded without complications at Mosaic Stadium.
I covered a media conference at which Marc Mueller was formally introduced as the Roughriders’ Offensive Co-ordinator.
In typically self-deprecating fashion, Marc noted that in his first year (2014) as a Stampeders assistant coach he was “in charge of game breakdowns and making coffee.”
Not long after Marc met the media, I clumsily combined his two 2014 responsibilities and took charge of coffee breakdowns.
On the afternoon of Dec. 8, I started to pour myself a cup of coffee in the lunchroom of the Roughriders’ business office and … nothing.
Not a drop.
Instead of offloading an empty coffee dispenser on a colleague, I courteously began to make a fresh pot.
Not long after the coffee started brewing, I became distracted by other responsibilities. When I again turned my attention to the coffee-making process, I was mortified to discover that the spout and the opening on the top of the dispenser were not lined up.
Not even close.
As a result, coffee had spilled all over the counter and on to the floor.
In a valiant attempt to stop the flood, I moved the pot into the correct spot and, in the process, managed to drench my right hand with piping-hot coffee.
“OWWWWW!”
While in severe pain, I was also bothered by my complete inability to decide how to address the mess.
With smoke emanating from my right wrist, I waddled toward the nearby Piffles Taylor Boardroom and interrupted a conversation between Shiane de Jong (Administrative Assistant) and Ally Chmielnicki (Business Intelligence Specialist).
“Shiannnnnnne,” I warbled. “Ummmm … help?”
Shiane, bless her heart, helped me address the situation (OK, handled most of the crisis management) and thereby averted The Great Mosaic Stadium Flood of 2023.
Problem solved … sort of.
“I hope management does not find out about this,” I thought, before self-reporting the matter to the President-CEO via the wonder that is inter-office messaging.
“It’s nice to see you helping around the office,” Craig responded. “I guess you were inspired by Marc Mueller’s story about making coffee as a defensive assistant with Calgary.
“I’m sure Marc was actually able to make the coffee with the coffee actually going into cups versus ending up on the floor.
“Shiane will ‘coach’ you on how you make coffee using modern technology like a ‘coffee machine’ that you may not be familiar with as the Rider historian.
“Appreciate the effort, though!”
ROLL CREDITS …
- Nice people who deserve a plug: Margie Lynch, Colleen Lynch, Marc Mueller, Lana Mueller, Larry Mueller, Bob Lancaster, Bev Lancaster, Sharron Esch, Brittany Boczulak, Jonathan Halvorson, Brett Lauther, Karina Peterson, Marnie Forsberg, Kaleb Blundell, Karlie McGeough, Shiane de Jong, Ally Chmielnicki, Kyle Kowalchuk, Jacob Armstrong, Laverne Yorpi, Jordan Daniels, Jolon Lafond, Bill Forrest, Barb McCoy, Mary Brick, Dave Brick, Anne Fuzesy, Tom Fuzesy, Doug Russell, Jenn Senger, Ken MacDonald, Kelly Yahnke, Vicki Hall, Dwayne Wright, Gracie Baynton, Allan Brezinski, Fred Schrader, Gord Archibald, Abram Choate, Rhett Dawson, Red Dawson, Kent Maugeri, Cathy Maugeri, Blaine Maugeri, Kylie Maugeri, Kaden Maugeri, Mary-Lou Gibson, Gord Gibson, Randie Gibson, Ron Basky, Greg Basky, Leslie Horton, Jacob Carr, Zane Rowan, Pat Johnston, Tim O’Donovan, Bill O’Donovan and Edward Harrison Leslie (a.k.a. Brutus Beefcake).
