With George Reed’s accustomed perch illuminated in green, the Saskatchewan Roughriders will soon celebrate a legendary team.
The 2013 Roughriders — Grey Cup champions — will be honoured at halftime of Saturday’s CFL game against the Hamilton Tiger-Cats (5 p.m., Mosaic Stadium).
But the day of retrospection will actually begin at 4:50 p.m., when a pre-game tribute to Reed will commence. The iconic Roughriders fullback passed away on Sunday, one day before his 84th birthday.
“It’s a big weekend for Riderville, for sure,” Roughriders quarterback Jake Dolegala said. “Having those guys back from ’13 is going to be cool. It’s going to be great to meet some of them and pick their brain, hopefully, and just learn. It’s going to mean a lot.
“You want to play for them. They built the foundation here, so we want to put on a good show for them, that’s for sure, and honour George Reed, too.”
Reed was seated atop the north-side stands, in a specially reserved area known as Section 34, when the Roughriders last played at Mosaic Stadium — on Sept. 15 against the Edmonton Elks.
As always, he was shown on the MaxTron, to the delight of several thousand fans who responded once more with a warm ovation. Nobody could have suspected at the time that it would be his final public appearance.
Members of Reed’s family will be present for Saturday’s tribute and football game.
The halftime ceremonies, which will include the induction of the 2013 Roughriders into the SaskTel Plaza of Honour, will feature legendary quarterback Darian Durant and several dozen of his teammates from 10 years ago.
“I think having the guys around who were on that ’13 team will be helpful, because they’ll get a chance to see them and visit with them a little bit,” Roughriders Head Coach Craig Dickenson said. “Hopefully some of that good mojo that they had in ’13 rubs off on those guys.”
The good mojo should create positive energy, in which Dickenson believes can be a factor.
“But I’m more of a believer in hard work, determination and toughness,” he emphasized. “Those are what usually wins games.
“I think good energy is awesome, and it’s certainly better than bad energy. You can have all the good energy in the world, but if you’re not playing hard and you’re not being tough and you’re not being physical out there, you’re going to find a way to get beat at the end.
“Good energy, yes, but we’ve got to roll up our sleeves and just get to work. That’s the key.”
Especially as the Roughriders (6-9) strive to arrest a losing streak that has reached four games.
Despite the cold snap, Saskatchewan is comfortably situated at third in the West Division standings and therefore controls its playoff destiny with three regular-season games remaining.
“We want to play our best football, regardless of where we finish in the standings,” Dickenson said.
“Certainly, you’ve got to get into the tournament. That’s the goal. Our job is to get into the playoffs, but we also want to get in playing well.
“We certainly want to go 1-and-0 this week, but the main thing is we’ve got to play better football so that when we get into the playoffs — because we think we will — we’re playing good football and we have a chance to beat B.C. or Winnipeg and we’ve got a chance to advance.”
The B.C. Lions and Winnipeg Blue Bombers, both 11-4, are tied for first in the West heading into their Friday night showdown in Vancouver.
After Saturday’s game, the Roughriders will visit the Calgary Stampeders on Oct. 13 before playing host to the Toronto Argonauts eight days later.
Calgary (4-11) is on a bye week and will therefore be idle until a key matchup with Saskatchewan. A victory over Hamilton would move the Roughriders one step closer to securing a playoff berth and thereby eliminating the Stampeders.
“With three games left, we’re going to try to win out, obviously, but you’ve got to at least get a couple,” Dolegala said. “Each one really matters from here on out.”
