They’re Saskatchewan, but at this time of year they’re Sasquatches.
They’re running around out there in -20 C weather, their hairy arms exposed to the elements in their elusive endeavours up here in the Pacific Northwest.
If you were scoring, and maybe I was the only person in the press box who was, there were seven men on offence, five on defence and three on special teams who were playing with bare arms in Sunday’s Western Final in McMahon Stadium, while most of the Calgary Stampeders were bundled up in -17 C temperatures.
Wednesday it was -20 C and the Saskatchewan Roughriders were on the field for two hours at the first practice of Grey Cup week while a crew shoveled snow from the stands.
There was a massive propane heater behind the bench but hardly ever did you see a Roughrider go over to benefit from a blast of hot air.
If there were any worries that the new state-of-the-art, as-good-as-there-is-anywhere-in-the-NFL-or-U.S.-college-football dressing room, a.k.a Edmonton Resort & Spa, would turn these Roughriders soft, it didn’t appear so on their first day of moving into the country club vacated by the Eskimos.
Only the dolts of the CFL, who consistently make such dumb decisions, would not allow photographers to go into the dressing room to shoot pictures of the Riders enjoying their new digs. They forced the players to do interviews immediately after practice in a tent-like structure outside.
Here they had all the media men assembled, with a chance to show a major-league setup to the nation and the football world, and they elect to illustrate they were bush league instead.
The team that moved in to the home of the franchise they’ve long referred to as the Evil Empire weren’t allowed to have fun with the media and tell stories about which player’s stall they had taken over.
Oh well. We had the Roughriders outside in -20 C weather for all that time and it turned out there was an angle there beyond the obvious, when the Montreal Alouettes decided to have a short walk through in the U of A Butterdome instead. The Als haven’t played a game outdoors since the second last game of the schedule.
As Rider practice ended, there was receiver Cary Koch, his mustache decorated with ice at the end of the session.
“I call it my ’stache-sicle,” he laughed.
“Hey, we’re used to this. This isn’t new to us. We’re used to the elements.
This is nothing. There’s no snow and no driving wind.
“What Montreal does is their decision. We’ll be out here making sure we’re 100% ready to play in this weather.”
Quarterback Darian Durant said this is week three in this weather and it was far worse last week in Regina.
“We’re used to the cold. Alberta is really no different than Saskatchewan. It’s just as cold. It’s really no big deal any more.”
Chris Szarka, who along with Gene Makowsky, played for Saskatchewan in the Party In Your Parka Grey Cup here in 1997 when the game-time temperature was -9 C (it’s supposed to be a balmy -3 C here by Sunday this year, with the deep freeze expected to end as the crowd arrives today), says it’s another day at the office.
“It’s a mentality. It’s the end of November. It’s going to be cold.”
Makowsky is in his 18th season and said this year in Regina prior to the West Final was the coldest practices of his career.
“Oh, you should have seen it. It was an absolute blizzard in Regina. It was snowing horizontal.”
Makowsky said he didn’t notice all the bare arms in Calgary at the start.
“It wasn’t until during the game that I noticed how many guys had made that decision. Jarrell Freeman had bare arms for warm-up.
“Some guys like me just like to dress the same whether it’s plus 30 or minus 30,” said the old war horse.
“It’s a mindset. It’s mind over matter. We’ve gone through way worse weather than this,” said Freeman.
He paused taking in the expression on the questioner’s face.
“We’re from Regina, man!”
Follow me on Twitter.com/sunterryjones
They’re running around out there in -20 C weather, their hairy arms exposed to the elements in their elusive endeavours up here in the Pacific Northwest.
If you were scoring, and maybe I was the only person in the press box who was, there were seven men on offence, five on defence and three on special teams who were playing with bare arms in Sunday’s Western Final in McMahon Stadium, while most of the Calgary Stampeders were bundled up in -17 C temperatures.
Wednesday it was -20 C and the Saskatchewan Roughriders were on the field for two hours at the first practice of Grey Cup week while a crew shoveled snow from the stands.
There was a massive propane heater behind the bench but hardly ever did you see a Roughrider go over to benefit from a blast of hot air.
If there were any worries that the new state-of-the-art, as-good-as-there-is-anywhere-in-the-NFL-or-U.S.-college-football dressing room, a.k.a Edmonton Resort & Spa, would turn these Roughriders soft, it didn’t appear so on their first day of moving into the country club vacated by the Eskimos.
Only the dolts of the CFL, who consistently make such dumb decisions, would not allow photographers to go into the dressing room to shoot pictures of the Riders enjoying their new digs. They forced the players to do interviews immediately after practice in a tent-like structure outside.
Here they had all the media men assembled, with a chance to show a major-league setup to the nation and the football world, and they elect to illustrate they were bush league instead.
The team that moved in to the home of the franchise they’ve long referred to as the Evil Empire weren’t allowed to have fun with the media and tell stories about which player’s stall they had taken over.
Oh well. We had the Roughriders outside in -20 C weather for all that time and it turned out there was an angle there beyond the obvious, when the Montreal Alouettes decided to have a short walk through in the U of A Butterdome instead. The Als haven’t played a game outdoors since the second last game of the schedule.
As Rider practice ended, there was receiver Cary Koch, his mustache decorated with ice at the end of the session.
“I call it my ’stache-sicle,” he laughed.
“Hey, we’re used to this. This isn’t new to us. We’re used to the elements.
This is nothing. There’s no snow and no driving wind.
“What Montreal does is their decision. We’ll be out here making sure we’re 100% ready to play in this weather.”
Quarterback Darian Durant said this is week three in this weather and it was far worse last week in Regina.
“We’re used to the cold. Alberta is really no different than Saskatchewan. It’s just as cold. It’s really no big deal any more.”
Chris Szarka, who along with Gene Makowsky, played for Saskatchewan in the Party In Your Parka Grey Cup here in 1997 when the game-time temperature was -9 C (it’s supposed to be a balmy -3 C here by Sunday this year, with the deep freeze expected to end as the crowd arrives today), says it’s another day at the office.
“It’s a mentality. It’s the end of November. It’s going to be cold.”
Makowsky is in his 18th season and said this year in Regina prior to the West Final was the coldest practices of his career.
“Oh, you should have seen it. It was an absolute blizzard in Regina. It was snowing horizontal.”
Makowsky said he didn’t notice all the bare arms in Calgary at the start.
“It wasn’t until during the game that I noticed how many guys had made that decision. Jarrell Freeman had bare arms for warm-up.
“Some guys like me just like to dress the same whether it’s plus 30 or minus 30,” said the old war horse.
“It’s a mindset. It’s mind over matter. We’ve gone through way worse weather than this,” said Freeman.
He paused taking in the expression on the questioner’s face.
“We’re from Regina, man!”
Follow me on Twitter.com/sunterryjones
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