MOOSE JAW — Here’s to Slider Pride!
There was a distinct Saskatchewan Roughriders flavour on Sunday at the world men’s curling championship in Moose Jaw.
The Harvard Media Rider Cheer Team performed between draws, as did the Rider Pep Band.
Gainer the Gopher — a mere 60 kilometres east of his hometown/holetown of Parkbeg — spent the afternoon draw mingling with fans and other members of the mascots’ fraternity at the Temple Gardens Centre.
Sunday evening’s list of luminaries included Roughriders players Mitch Picton and Charbel Dabire.
“This is my first time at a curling event,” Dabire said, breaking into a chuckle. “I’m a horrible Canadian.”
And a wonderful ambassador for the team — as he demonstrated while posing for photos, signing autographs and distributing miniature footballs.
“The kids love some swag, so they found us pretty quickly,” said Dabire, a Roughriders defensive tackle since 2019.
“I’m a fan right now. I’m new to curling, so I’m going to take a step back and be a spectator.”
That said, it was difficult for Dabire or Picton to take more than a few steps before being stopped by a Roughriders fan.
Unlike Dabire, Picton can attest to some experience in curling.
“One year at Frost Regina, they had a curling rink at the stadium,” the former University of Regina Rams receiver recalled. “I got a call from Gordie (Gilroy, Equipment Manager) and, before you know it, we had put a team together. There was Gordie, me, Logan Ferland and Dan Clark — and we went and won the thing under the lights at Mosaic Stadium.
“Between games, we went back into the equipment room and said, ‘Holy smokes! We won another one. We’ve got to keep playing.’ ”
Picton’s curling connection extends to a former Rams teammate, Catlin Schneider, who recently competed in his fifth Brier.
The Canadian men’s championship was won by Brad Jacobs’ team, which is representing Canada at the worlds. Team Jacobs includes Regina-born lead Ben Hebert — a Rider fan, naturally.
Fittingly, one of the green-clad attendees on Sunday was named Ryder.
Jason Ryder, a percussionist in the Pep Band, went out of his way to keep the beat during respites at the worlds.
The Saskatoon-based Ryder made it to Moose Jaw despite finishing work as a commissionaire on Sunday at (gulp) 5:30 a.m.
“I got home, slept for maybe an hour and a half, and then my friend drove us here,” he said. “I slept in the car for two hours — pretty much until Chamberlain.”
Despite being sleep-deprived, he didn’t voice the slightest reservation about experiencing a whirlwind Sunday.
“I love this,” Ryder said with a smile. “I’m a sports person.
“If my job could be as a sports writer, I would be in my glory.”2
