RIDERS NEWS - DECEMBER 9th

While on the two-week road trip with the Pats, I got a scoop that the Roughriders will be playing in a new domed stadium -- likely on the exhibition grounds -- within the next four years. I didn't pursue the rumour, but Rider team President Jim Hopson (pictured, courtesy leaderpost.com) dropped a bit of a bomb last night on CKRM's Sportsline program.

HOPSON: "We're hearing that more and more. I'm very encouraged because sometimes in this province we haven't always wanted to spend a lot of money on projects because we've got that hard-working, thrifty mentality. But I'm beginning to feel more and more that (a new stadium) is a very real opportunity.""The Mayor has been very clear that he believes a new domed stadium is the way to go and I know the (provincial) government's looking at it. All things seem possible now so it is a very real possibility. It won't just have an impact on the Riders, it'll have a huge impact on the city and sports and entertainment in general. I've got people actually calling me asking how a new stadium will affect their season tickets so people are talking about it."I've been told Mayor Fiacco and Premier Wall want this new facility to be the greatest entertainment complex in western Canada and it's all systems go.Grey Cup 2012 in the new stadium in Regina?Dare to dream..----

Rider GM Eric Tillman was on Sportsline last night as well, saying we shouldn't expect any announcements on player signings until the New Year..TILLMAN: "We've had substantial discussions with several players that are free agents and I think we've made a lot of progress. But under the CFL rules, if you sign a guy during the calendar year, it counts against the 2008 cap and given our injury situation from this past season, we're not in position to do that."Any news regarding the pursuit of free agent Canadian slotback Jason Clermont?TILLMAN: "I actually got a fax today from two nuns telling my why we need to sign Jason and how important it is. I mean, we have 900,000 assistant GM's in this province! And everyone of them loves this team. Hey, if the two sisters are listening tonight, we're going to do everything we can to get Jason signed. He's a good football player, a class act, and there are several compelling reasons why he'd like to play here and we'd like to have him just as much so we need to wade through the hard part which is the financial part of it and see if we can dance the dance."
at 12/09/2008 30 comments