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Rider veteran QB proves Coyote wrong, leads Saskatchewan to Grey Cup victory

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Saskatchewan Roughriders knock off Montreal Alouettes, 25-17 There it was; the 112th Grey Cup Championship. This year, the game was held in Winnipeg’s Princess Auto Stadium, where Rider fans took over what is usually considered the Devil’s dustbin. As welcoming as Winnipeg was to the game, there was little doubt who Blue Bomber fans preferred; anything but Green. A few even cheered for Prime Minister Turtle when he managed to flick his Mr. Burns fingers for the coin toss. Morons. Me? I was in a buddies basement entertainment room scarfing dry ribs, pot stickers, pepper poppers, chips and pop as if I was about to fast until the next moon phase. The Coyote Queen was there, enthusiastically cheering on her Canadian Football League team. I sat in the corner being a smartass, testing some of the jokes below on my host. I included every one, whether he laughed our not. All in all, it was quite a game. There was ultimately some drama squashed by bad ball control and some questionable reffing....

The King of Games is coming; leathered, bejewelled and all musked up for victory

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He is not just a man – he is the standard by which men are measured A champion among legends. A victor beyond all winners. The kind of man who doesn’t break records — records crumble before him. He once played two-side solitaire against himself and both sides managed to win. And now, he’s coming. Ready. Willing. Able. Smelling faintly of cedar, leather, and untamed glory. He’s musked up and itching for battle — in any game, any time, anywhere. Cribbage ? He’ll count his fifteens before you’ve even cut the deck. Billiards ? He doesn’t chalk his cue; the cue asks to be chalked. Crokinole ? His flicks are smoother than a double rye on the rocks . Horseshoes ? He once landed a ringer while blindfolded, during a prairie windstorm. Darts . Cornhole. Cards. Golf. His game list is longer than a Saskatchewan winter — and twice as unforgiving. The man has never been defeated. Never. But that doesn’t mean he can’t be challenged. So the question becomes… will you be the first to take hi...

We almost broke a vase in ‘89. What’s a Rider win bring this year?

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SkyDome Stadium. Toronto, Ontario. 1989. Three seconds left on the clock. The best foot in the league — maybe in CFL history — takes those last steps toward greatness. You could hear the entire province of Saskatchewan holding its breath, even from 2,200 kilometers away. My friends and I huddled around a 30-inch color TV that weighed more than a calf in spring. We looked like a gaggle of grandmas clutching pearls in church after hearing a rock song during worship. Instead of hymnals, we had half-empty cans of Lucky Lager pilfered from Dad’s stash and a bag of Hawkins Cheezies . We were this close to witnessing something we’d never seen: the Saskatchewan Roughriders winning a Grey Cup in our lifetimes. We were 16 years old and Saskatchewan football had been a lesson in patience. The drought was so bad, someone wrote a rap song called “Eleven Years Is Enough.”  Taylor Field attendance was so sparse back then, you could show up in the second quarter without a ticket and c...

Walk

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  Autumn brings mixed emotions. The soothing heat of the summer is over and the Devil’s dusting is on the horizon. Sure, the temperatures are colder, but don’t be a pussy. Layer up. On the other hand, fall has a sweet scent to it; a comfortable essence that draws me outside. I love to walk in the autumn wind, present with the moment. One has to be aware of the “now” up here in Canada. If you’re not, hypothermia sets in within minutes. Fall is a sensual season of leaves skittering along curbs and sidewalks, the bass-line whistle of the wind swirling through bare tree branches. Others have already given up on the year. They begin their annual hibernation; an evening ritual that includes donning a housecoat at the back door after work, scarfing down a bowl of mac & cheese, then going numb in front of the television for a five hour shift. Repeat until the weekend when the five-hour shift becomes an 18 hour marathon of sports, reality TV and government endorsed programming. Not me. ...

112th Grey Cup Preview: Riders vs Alouettes

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Rider/Alouette matchup spurring “13th Man” PTSD flashbacks; Fans request “anxiety zones” in Princess Auto Stadium We’re all still a little hungover from the 2025 Canadian Football League divisional championship Saturday. Game 1 had the Montreal Alouettes punch their ticket to the Grey Cup in Winnipeg next weekend on a last-play field goal to defeat the Hamilton Tiger-Cats in a defensive battle. Cut to more than three hours later, when the Saskatchewan Roughriders punch in a three-yard rush for a touchdown and a last-minute three point victory for themselves. All of Saskatchewan heaved a sigh of relief. The offence looked sloppy versus the British Columbia Lions through the opening half. In true Rider fashion, the defence did what it could to keep them in the match and it worked. Now, the Roughriders and the Alouettes will clash in the ‘Peg more than a decade and a half after they last met for a Cup. Montreal has the nuts right now, carrying two victories in the championship final versu...

LIVE BLOG: CFL Western Div. Final: Sask. Roughriders vs BC Lions

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I know. I am not naive. If you say I am – again – I’m calling my septuagenarian mother. She’ll have words. I know this is not the way to get your content seen by eyeballs attached to human brains. I suspect this post will get less views than a picture of a caterpillar on a turd, but frankly, I don’t give a turd for that image. This is where I am. The  Canadian Football League -leading  Saskatchewan Roughriders  face the  British Columbia Lions  Nov. 8, 2025 at 5:30 p.m. local time. The Riders semi-strolled through this year’s regular season, collecting a 12-6 record. Two of those victories came against the Lions, with BC – which finished second at 11-7 – earning one of the three seasonal contests. The Lions won six of their last seven heading into the  Western Division semi-final  versus the  Calgary Stampeders . The game is expected to be a battle of a stiff, ball-chasing, sack-bagging  Rider defence  against a running game led by Lion ...

First skiff of snow means a bag change

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 It’s rainy this morning. The Weatherman says that rain is supposed to turn to snow through the afternoon.  Doesn’t matter. I’m ready. Earlier this week, I took the time to put together the bag of discs that I expect will carry me through the Winter of ‘25. Many discs match mold-to-mold with my summer set up. But there are a few exceptions. Personally, I have found that the extreme cold and snow-covered terrain lends to a mix of throwing results with even the most trustworthy of discs from your bag. I am not using any cold-temp-specific plastic, but in general, my collection sticks with base or softer forms. But let’s run through it on an individual basis. The Putters I’ve got three in the bag. One – the Berg K2 putt approach – is a replication from by summer collection. The others are the R-Pro Rhyno and the Thought Space Praxis. Both Berg and the Rhyno provide straight, reliable, stable flight patters that I hope to use off the tee. The variety of speeds (Berg 1; Rhyno 2; Pr...