DISCLOSURE: I was suspended at work on Sunday.
It was not a disciplinary matter, I hasten to emphasize, nor was there a referral to HR — although, come to think of it, that acronym is applicable to the inaugural Rider Rally.
It was a home run (HR!) for the Roughriders’ Event Co-ordinator, Eva Fletcher, and everyone else who organized and executed a family-friendly, football-focused fun-fest that was held on and around the Mosaic Stadium turf.
Leading up to the festivities, Eva had told me about the station at which people could don a Velcro suit, take a running leap at a rather adhesive wall, and spend a few blissful seconds defying the laws of gravity.
Once Sunday arrived, then, there was the irresistible temptation to wander over to the northeast corner of the expansive playing surface and check out the Velcro Wall.
Nick Zieger — a volunteer with the Rider Squad, which typically assists ticket-buyers in sundry ways at the stadium on game days — soon approached me while carrying a bulky Velcro suit that was only slightly more flexible than my tendons.
Smoothly, I inserted my right leg into the right arm hole. It’s a skill.
Eventually, with Nick’s assistance, I was outfitted and ready to literally hit the wall.
Just one problem: It never occurred to me to tilt back my head as I landed with both webbed feet on a bubble that was designed to provide additional elevation.
So I led with my nose, which was indented for a few seconds until an immaculately timed sneeze restored my accustomed appearance and, of course, the trademark radiance.
While shedding the suit, I asked Nick for a review of my lumbering leap.
“Well,” he said with a laugh, “a flip would have been better.”
In the larger context, though, nothing could have been better than spending a splendid Sunday at the stadium — interacting with the world’s greatest fans and colleagues.
Without further preamble, it is my great pleasure to introduce you to …
DEVOTED DAVE
What is it like to run into a non-padded wall? Ask any ball-carrier who was flattened by legendary Roughriders defensive lineman Ed McQuarters.
Dave Ehman’s passion for the Green and White was fuelled in the 1960s, when his favourite players were two future Canadian Football Hall of Fame inductees — McQuarters and guard/kicker Jack Abendschan.
So there was Dave on Sunday, proudly wearing a green jersey that included McQuarters’ surname and number (61).
Growing up in Vibank, Dave customarily attended Roughriders games with his dad (Dickie) and grandfather (Ralph). They sat in Section 25, Row 11, at dear old Taylor Field.
“Right on the 50-yard line,” Dave, now 63, declared before fondly recalling his proximity to the gentleman in whose memory Regina’s Kaplan Field softball diamond is named.
“We sat right behind Kappy Kaplan. He would be wearing his favourite ball cap and smoking an El Producto cigar.”
The Roughriders were close, but no cigar, on Nov. 22, 1970 — when the Calgary Stampeders won a 15-14 nailbiter in the third and deciding game of the Western Conference final.
Taylor Field was so icy that the coaches should have instructed their players to forecheck.
“I was 10 years old,” Dave recalled. “The field was completely white.
“But once the game begins, the weather becomes secondary. You don’t even pay attention to it. Football is all that matters when you’re at the stadium.”
On the highway, though, the Ehmans navigated a post-game blizzard while heading back to Vibank.
All these years later, Dave remains an ardent Roughriders fan. His email address includes the number 61, another testament to McQuarters.
“My email address,” added Dave’s wife, Cheryl, “is the cats.”
One must type in “Tabby” (who is 18) and “Mango” (a spry 16) in order to reach Cheryl via electronic message.
What else happened around the time that Mango was born? Oh yeah … the Roughriders won a Grey Cup — their third of four championships — 16 years ago.
The next year, in 2008, a diminutive receiver named Weston Dressler joined the Roughriders. He became such a sensation, so quickly, that No. 7 jerseys were hot sellers.
A “DRESSLER” name plate was proudly displayed by one attendee at the Rider Rally. However, the back of Cheryl’s jersey — purchased during the Dressler years — simply showcases a 7, sans the surname.
Conveniently enough, the Roughriders’ new franchise quarterback — Trevor Harris — wears No. 7.
Better yet, Harris and some of his teammates were part of a season-ticket-holders-only autograph session during the Rider Rally.
Cheryl emerged with a smile and a signature.
Throughout the season, her Dressler/Harris jersey will be on display in Section 112, Row 27.
El Producto cigars, by the way, have long been forbidden at local sporting events.
Dave and Cheryl Ehman
AFFABLE ANTHONY
One of the first people with whom I chatted on Sunday was the Roughriders’ new offensive line coach, Anthony Vitale.
During our introductory conversation, I discovered that Anthony — who grew up in southern California — was in the crowd at the Staples Center on Jan. 22, 2006 when the Los Angeles Lakers’ Kobe Bryant poured in 81 points against the Toronto Raptors.
I happened to be on vacation in nearby Santa Monica at the time and … (sniffle) … (grrr) … DIDN’T GO TO THE GAME!!!!
It haunts me still.
An-n-n-n-n-nyway, I quickly discovered on Sunday that Anthony is one of the nicest, funniest people on the planet.
Early in his tenure with the Roughriders, he is already all-in.
Consider Anthony’s priceless reaction when the Roughriders’ mascot strolled by.
“I’m not leaving until I get a picture taken with Gainer,” he declared. “I’m not normally a star-struck guy at all, but …”
Gainer was nearby, so Anthony put his left arm around the 46-year-old gopher and posed for a picture.
The expert photographer: Offensive co-ordinator and quarterbacks coach Kelly Jeffrey.
Kelly, a class act in his own right, hopes for several more successful snaps once the season begins.
Roughriders offensive line coach Anthony Vitale.
RIDER RALLY ROOKIES
Sunday’s event included several new cheerleaders — youngsters who received expert instruction from, well, new cheerleaders.
Mercedes Prosofsky and Shaylah Davies are both first-year members of the 620 CKRM Rider Cheer Team.
As part of the Rider Rally, the cheerleaders taught youngsters how to dance to “The Last Saskatchewan Pirate,” which is typically played at Mosaic Stadium during the third-quarter stretch.
“This is our first performance of the year,” Davies said, “and we actually have a practice later on.
“It’s a busy day.”
Especially when you consider that Prosofsky and Davies reside in Saskatoon.
Whereas Prosofsky arrived in Regina on Friday, Davies began her journey down Highway 11 on Sunday at 7:30 a.m.
It is a path well-travelled, when you consider that Prosofsky, Davies and many of their cohorts on the Cheer Team are from out of town.
“We’re the Saskatchewan Roughriders and we represent the entire province,” Cheer Team head coach Courtney Odelein-Akakpo noted. “We’ve got city girls and country girls. They’re all really dedicated and they’re excited about being part of the team.”
That was evident from the moment that I started chatting with Mercedes.
“I love it so far,” she said. “It’s beautiful!
“I’ve always loved dancing. I grew up dancing with Shaylah and, when we heard about the Rider Cheer Team auditions, we had to do it.”
They soon became new additions.
Now, if only someone could add some hours to the day. Prosofsky and Davies didn’t expect to get back to Saskatoon until Sunday night at 10:30 — some 15 hours after Shaylah had embarked for the Queen City.
What compels someone to make such a commitment of time?
“The fans, the energy,” Davies said with a smile. “The Saskatchewan energy in general makes you want to get up and do this.”
Shaylah Davies, a first-year member of the cheer team, tries her hand at cornhole. Behind her is cheer-team colleague Mercedes Prosofsky.
WALLY’S WORLD
The concept of a basketball-court-sized video board — the MaxTron — was unimaginable when Wally Sadowsky was growing up on a farm near Maymont.
Back then, a screen of any dimension or sophistication was something to appreciate.
We take you back to Nov. 26, 1966, when McQuarters — then a first-year CFLer — helped the Roughriders capture the first championship in franchise history, a mere 56 years after the Regina Rugby Club’s inception.
“We drove to Maymont and watched the Grey Cup at the little general store, because it had the only colour TV in the district,” Sadowsky, who is now in his 70s, reflected on Sunday as images of the Rider Rally attendees were shown on the massive MaxTron.
On many a day, while Sadowsky’s father (Walter) was immersed in the fine art of farming, little Wally would fuel his football fandom on the family’s parcel of land.
“I would throw the football up in the air and run and catch it,” said Sadowsky, who would often mimic CFL games during those solo sessions.
“We would always play against Edmonton. Somehow, the Saskatchewan players were never caught from behind when I was being the Riders.
“When Edmonton had the ball, I’d always throw it just a little bit too far to reach. When the Riders were on offence, the passes would be right there and they could run like the wind.
“I’d pretend that I was Ron Lancaster, George Reed, Ed Buchanan and Hugh Campbell — and, when we needed an interception, Dale West.”
Wally relived those memories Sunday in the fine company of his wife, Nadine, and grandchildren — Joseph Reynolds, 11, and his nine-year-old sister, Dani Jean.
Joseph, in particular, took advantage of the face-painting option. He also threw around a green football, although I neglected to ask whether he was playing against Edmonton.
When a Roughriders game is real instead of imagined, Wally and Nadine sit in Section 138, Row 30, at Mosaic Stadium. Their family’s seats are numbered 16, 17, 18 and 19.
“The ‘18’ is for Jeff Fairholm,” Wally said, referencing a sensational Roughriders slotback, “and the ‘19’ is for Paul Henderson.”
When Henderson scored the Summit Series-winning goal for Canada against Russia on Sept. 28, 1972, Wally was still eight years away from moving to Regina and beginning a decade-long association with the Leader-Post as its Newspapers in Education co-ordinator.
“I moved to the city from northwest of Meadow Lake in 1980,” Wally said to this erstwhile L-P co-worker. “My first priority was to find a place to live in Regina. The second thing was to get season tickets for the Riders.”
So it came to be that he ended up in Section 25 — not far away from the aforementioned Dave Ehman — and in the 30th row.
“The same row that I’m in now,” Wally pointed out. “The seats were 21, 22, 23 and 24. I was so proud that I sat in 23 — for Ron Lancaster.”
The very same Ron Lancaster who, with the game on the line in the fourth quarter, engineered many a memorable Rider rally of his own.
Wally Sadowsky with his wife, Nadine, and grandchildren — Joseph Reynolds, 11, and Dani Jean Reynolds, 9.
