ROBSERVATIONS: Remembering Lorne Shmyr (1942-2024) … first take on Jake … and the weekly shout-outs
Lorne Shmyr was a fixture in Mosaic Stadium’s announcer’s booth for a quarter-century, without uttering as much as a syllable for public consumption.
But there is so much to be said about this wonderful gentleman, who was 82 when he passed away peacefully on Dec. 29 at his home in Regina.
From 1997 to 2022, Shmyr was the spotter — an aide to the public-address announcer — at Saskatchewan Roughriders home games.
“I thought the world of Lorne and considered him a great friend during the entire time we worked together for the Riders and in the years that followed,” says Evan Bray, who was the P.A. announcer from 1997 to 2010.
“He was a big presence in the football world both at the high school and professional level and will be missed.”
Shmyr’s first year of full-time spotting at CFL games coincided with Bray’s debut behind the press-box mic. He was succeeded in 2011 by the current stadium voice, Darryl Brace.
“Lorne showed kindness and encouragement when I first started with the Riders,” Brace says.
“He had been spotting for Evan for the previous 13 seasons, so breaking in a new guy must have taken a tremendous amount of patience. It took us a couple of years, but we finally got into a pretty good rhythm of calling a game.
“He would start each game by throwing down two cough drops in front of me, just before the anthem — always Ricola Original Natural Herb.
“We watched every Rider home game together for 12 seasons. There were countless memorable moments in those years — all the Labour Classics, the 2013 Western Semi-Final, the last game at old Mosaic and the first game at new Mosaic.”
Shmyr had been a spotter at Regina Rams junior football games for five years before adding the Roughriders to his list of affiliations. He later returned to spotting junior football games while assisting the PFC’s Regina Thunder.
“I fell into it by doing high school football when I had my teaching job,” Shmyr explained during a 2009 interview for Inside Green, a Riders-themed Regina Leader-Post advertising feature.
“I started doing that with CKCK Radio back in 1974, with Ron Barnet and John Badham.”
Shmyr, who received an education degree from the University of Saskatchewan in 1966, was a high school teacher in Regina for 30 years. Outside the classroom, he coached football and basketball at Thom Collegiate and Balfour Collegiate.
His immersion in games people play didn’t stop there.
“Lorne passed along his love for sports to his children and grandchildren,” reads a portion of his obituary. “You could catch him at various sports fields, gymnasiums or hockey rinks watching them play. He always had some helpful advice to offer after the games.”
During Roughriders games, Shmyr was noted for accuracy and anticipation.
“Watching him work all those seasons, two things about Lorne stood out for me,” says MaxTron assistant director Doug Russell, who used to work in the announcer’s booth as the video board script writer/show caller.
“First, how did he manage to spot player numbers without ever using binoculars? He’s 20 years older than me and his visual acuity put the rest of us to shame. I’m looking at camera monitors to confirm player numbers and here’s Lorne correctly identifying them across the length of the field, bare-eyed.
“The second thing was Lorne’s ability to call out the next play. He consistently would say, in a matter-of-fact tone, that the offence, for either team, was going to run a specific play. Then, five seconds later, the ball would be snapped and it would be the exact kind of play Lorne had just predicted.
“His football knowledge never failed to impress me.”
Those sentiments are widely shared.
“Watching him in action was really quite special,” marvels Bill Wright, who was associated with Shmyr as the lead of the MaxTron and game-day crew.
“He actually started each play by watching the entire formation, looking at numbers. He saw who the running back was, where the receivers lined up, who went in motion, whether the play was from the shotgun, et cetera.
“He was simultaneously doing the same thing on the defensive side. Was it a standard 4-3 set? Zone or man-to-man coverage? Was it looking like a blitz?
“That way, as soon as the play began he already knew which numbers — which players — were most likely to be involved, on offence and defence.
“He was able to follow the numbers, not the players — and he did it all in the blink of an eye.”
An eye for preparation was crucial to the process.
“True to how organized he was, every game he developed his own printed sheets of players, numbers, positions, and he would always come with a few facts that I could use as filler if I needed them,” Bray says.
“We had lots of fun in the booth in between plays and especially before and after games. However, during the game Lorne was all business.
“Lorne and I would meet on field prior to the game and that would many times result in conversations with the coaches — especially his good friend, Alex Smith.
“Lorne coached football for years at Thom Collegiate and as a result had a real keen interest in plays, strategy and formations of the game.
“The commentary that I heard from Lorne quietly in the public-address booth was like getting an education on football analysis during every game.”
From a personal perspective, I did not know him well. When our paths did cross — usually in the press box — he was always quick with a smile and a hello.
He was in typically good spirits on Dec. 27, only two days before his passing, while celebrating his 82nd birthday.
Shmyr is affectionately remembered by three daughters (Laurie, Deanne and Stacy), six grandchildren (Hunter, Reid, Kennedy, Abigail, Emerson and Noah), his brother (Gerry), several nieces and nephews, and a legion of friends and colleagues.
“The last game we did together was the 2022 Grey Cup,” Brace says. “He knew that it was his last game, but didn’t tell me. Lorne didn’t want any extra attention.
“If he would have told me it was his final game, I would have savoured the moment more than I did — maybe by taking a couple of extra pictures or by saving a cough drop for a memento.
“Watching every Rider moment together over 12 seasons created a special bond between the two of us. And I miss him.”
DATING MYSELF
During a Zoom interview with Jake Maier on Friday, I impulsively, impertinently informed the newly acquired Roughriders quarterback that my first date with my out-of-my-league wife took place one day before he was born.
So, yeah, I feel old.
But let’s approach this with a glass-half-full mindset. Perhaps this is a reflection of Maier’s youth.
(Yeah … works much better.)
Because Maier has started 45 CFL games — the first of which took place when he was 24 — it seems like the 2025 version is much older.
Nope.
Maier (b. April 9, 1997) is three months shy of 28.
He therefore provides an intriguing balance of youth and experience.
“If I were to explain my career so far to people, I would say that I’m still a few years away from 30, obviously,” Maier said. “I feel like I’ve seen and experienced so much in such a short time frame.
“I’ve kind of beaten the typical CFL lifespan in terms of the progression of how most careers go for quarterbacks in our league, because I was put in situations at such a young age and eventually elevated into that franchise role.
“Now I’m able to really start that process all over in a totally different situation. I’m super grateful for that. There were times when maybe you didn’t have that same perspective because you’re like, ‘Man, I feel like I’m just getting started at this,’ and there are some times that maybe aren’t going your way.
“But when I look back now, it’s like, ‘I’ve seen when things are going really well, I’ve seen when things are just going OK, and I’ve seen when things aren’t going well at all.’
“I’ve experienced everything in a very, very short time frame, which is now going to create the next chapter of my career here. It’s going to provide me with a lot more answers than questions at this point, which is going to be really, really fun to experience.”
Maier, who had been eligible to test free agency in February, was acquired from the Calgary Stampeders on Dec. 23 for a low-round draft choice. His signing was announced on Thursday.
He will begin Coors Light Training Camp in May, at age 28, with career passing totals of 1,022 completions, 1,497 attempts, 11,685 yards and 60 touchdowns.
Trevor Harris, who is No. 1 on the Roughriders’ quarterbacking depth chart, took a different path toward becoming a CFL starter.
Over his first three seasons of three-down football, he dressed for every game as a member of the Toronto Argonauts while serving almost exclusively as an understudy.
When Harris turned 29, during his fourth CFL training camp, his career totals were 59 completions, 95 attempts, 705 yards and three TDs.
Harris made the most of his first true opportunity, which arrived in 2015, and is poised to mark a full decade as a top-tier CFL quarterback.
At 38, he was a divisional All-CFL selection in 2024 after throwing for 3,264 yards and 20 TDs in 11 starts.
By employing Harris and Maier, the Roughriders boast two of the four quarterbacks who threw 20-plus TD passes last season — and two of the top six passing-yardage producers.
“I would have to think that the Riders, right now, have the best one-two, starter-backup combo in the league,” Arash Madani said on Thursday during one of his regular appearances on CKRM’s SportsCage. “Hot take.
“Five and a half months from now, that can change, but you have two guys who’ve started. You have two guys who are vets. You have two guys who understand the league and the dynamic of all of it.
“Onwards …”
ROLL CREDITS …
• Nice people who deserve a plug: Laurie Baker, Deanne Arnold, Stacy Hollinger, Gerry Shmyr, Dr. Tom Robinson, Darrell Hogg, Darryl Brace, Bill Wright, Doug Russell, Evan Bray, Ralph Galloway, Dave Pettigrew, Matthew Gourlie, Jake Maier, Lorne Harasen, Velma Harasen, Benoit Marion, Josh Donnelly, Trevor Reid, the people of southern California, and everyone who has been of assistance to those affected by the wildfires.
