ROBSERVATIONS: A night like no other at Mosaic Stadium … here’s to The Anvil, The Receptionist and a wedding reception
as the Saskatchewan Roughriders take on the Calgary Stampeders in CFL action in Regina, SK, July 11, 2025. Photo Electric Umbrella/Liam Richards
At a Saskatchewan Roughriders home game, the wind can gust so ferociously that ill-fitting toupees are liable to be launched from the stands and land somewhere near Sintaluta.
Consider the irony, then, of what transpired on Friday night at Mosaic Stadium.
“Who would have thought in 100 years that a Roughriders game would be affected because there isn’t any wind?” one observer wryly commented a few minutes before a CFL game against the Calgary Stampeders was officially postponed until Saturday afternoon due to air-quality issues.
For a while, a Friday kickoff looked promising.
Smoke emanating from the northern wildfires had cleared over Moose Jaw and meteorologists anticipated a similar scenario unfolding in Regina, conveniently in time for the Roughriders and Stampeders to square off shortly after 7 p.m.
Then the wind, customarily a factor at football games of all tiers in this part of the world, became a rumour.
Everyone was hoping, hoping, hoping the air quality would descend into acceptable territory, to the extent that the drop-dead time for warmups to begin was extended until 10:45 p.m.
Had the players emerged from the tunnels at that point, the words of Ka’Deem Carey would have been prophetic.
Asked earlier this week about the Roughriders’ plans to wear their Obsidian alternate uniforms on Friday, the ever-quotable running back responded: “All of us are going out there with that midnight green.”
They would have played far beyond midnight, if only …
A sneak preview of Friday night took place on May 30, when the Roughriders played host to the Winnipeg Blue Bombers.
The pre-season game, which was to begin at 7 p.m., got underway an hour later.
Such is the reality with the wildfires worsening.
In 2023, remember, there were fans in the stands at Saskatoon Minor Football Field when the Roughriders staged what turned out to be an abbreviated Green and White game.
As far as an outright postponement, there are now four instances that pertain to the Roughriders, but only one that involved a same-day decision.
Saskatchewan was to have played at McMahon Stadium in Calgary on Sept. 14, 2001. Due to 9/11, the game was pushed back three days.
The next two reschedulings took place in 2022.
A May 23 pre-season game against Winnipeg was moved to May 31 after collective bargaining negotiations between the league and the CFL Players’ Association did not conclude in time for the teams to adequately prepare.
On July 24 of that year, the Roughriders and Toronto Argonauts were to have met at Mosaic Stadium. However, a COVID-19 outbreak affecting several Roughriders players led to the game being moved back one day.
In two cases, a Roughriders regular-season game has started on time but ended prematurely due to weather.
An Oct. 25, 1954 game against the B.C. Lions was terminated with 6:13 remaining in the fourth quarter because thick fog had enveloped Empire Stadium in Vancouver. The Roughriders won, 17-7.
That game became topical nearly 65 years later when the Roughriders opposed the Alouettes in Montreal.
With Saskatchewan leading 17-10 at 12:19 of the third quarter, an Aug. 9, 2019 game was suspended due to an unrelenting lightning storm.
The teams waited a full hour before the CFL’s weather protocol went into effect. The Roughriders were declared the winner.
Earlier in 2019, a Roughriders pre-season game in Calgary had been delayed 30 minutes due to smoke produced by wildfires.
Over time, most of the weather-related delays have resulted from thunder and lightning.
Consider what was instantly labelled as a classic game between the Roughriders and Edmonton.
On Aug. 18, 2007, a thunderstorm and power outage led to a 59-minute pause in the proceedings at historic Mosaic Stadium.
The game, which had begun at 8 p.m., was paused at 10:34 and did not conclude until five minutes past midnight, when Saskatchewan was credited with a 39-32 come-from-behind victory. It was a memorable occasion in an unforgettable championship season.
There was talk of postponement on June 25, 2005, when the Roughriders faced Winnipeg in a season-opening showdown at Taylor Field.
An electrical storm delayed the opening kickoff by a half-hour — a minor consideration when you consider how dire it looked at one point.
When the sky brightened, so did the spirits of Rider Nation.
Corey Holmes returned the opening kickoff 81 yards for a touchdown and set the tone as Saskatchewan won, 42-15.
The home side also prevailed on Aug. 15, 1982, when a power failure led to a 76-minute intermission at Taylor Field.
The weather was just fine, thank you, but electrical issues prevented the national anthem from being played and the scoreboard — such as it was at the time — from working.
Late in the second quarter, everything went haywire and the stadium was left in darkness.
The problem arose, according to the Regina Leader-Post, because lightning had struck a transformer two weeks earlier. A replacement had been ordered, but had not yet arrived in Regina, when the Tiger-Cats and Roughriders collided.
The backup transformers were not up to the challenge on game night. Neither, it seemed, were the Roughriders.
They eked out a rouge over the opening 30 minutes. After an extended intermission, play resumed with Hamilton leading 9-1.
It was 15-7, Hamilton, in the fourth quarter before Joe (747) Adams hit Joey Walters for a 37-yard touchdown pass and ran for a two-point convert to create a 15-15 tie at 5:19.
Dave Ridgway settled matters on the final play, kicking a 42-yard field goal to give Saskatchewan an 18-15 victory on Poster Night.
“They should have handed out flashlights, not flash cards,” Leader-Post legend Bob Hughes wrote.
A dusty file folder is overflowing with tales of games that have been delayed, interrupted or adversely affected in some fashion by factors beyond either team’s control.
The personal memory bank also contains recollections of a stormy night at old Yankee Stadium, where I sat for upwards of two hours as a storm slowly passed over The Bronx.
The operator of the video board must have replayed all 536 of Mickey Mantle’s home runs while we waited, waited, waited for the game to start.
At one point, I feared that the video archives would be drained to the extent that Snuffy Stirnweiss highlights would be played before the Yankees emerged from the dugout.
They did, at long last, and a game was played.
The home team won, too.
Here’s to a similarly satisfying ending on Saturday afternoon at Mosaic Stadium.
It is, like yesterday, game day!
MAT MATTER
The most recent This Day in Rider History segment on CKRM’s pre-game show focused on wrestling legend Jim (The Anvil) Neidhart, about whom I was asked by play-by-play announcer Dave Thomas.
The “Anvil” label was not yet applicable when Neidhart joined the Roughriders for a tryout on July 11, 1980 — 45 years ago on Friday.
Neidhart’s 14-day trial was terminated only three days after his first practice with the CFL team. His departure from Saskatchewan proved to be fortuitous, because the runway was cleared for a full-time grappling career.
Neidhart, who reached the peak of his fame as a member of the WWE’s Hart Foundation, tried out for three professional football teams before throwing all his hats into the ring.
He attended NFL training camps with the Dallas Cowboys (1978) and Oakland Raiders (1979) in advance of his journey to Saskatchewan.
Neidhart’s strength intrigued football scouts and coaches even though his experience in the sport was limited. He had collegiate ties to UCLA, Hawaii and Long Beach State, but principally as an elite shot-putter.
Even before signing with Saskatchewan, Neidhart was familiar with Canada due to an affiliation with legendary promoter Stu Hart and his Stampede Wrestling circuit. Neidhart trained in “The Dungeon” of Hart’s mansion in Calgary and proved to be natural.
Just 11 days after leaving Saskatchewan, Neidhart was an ally of Smith Hart (Stu’s son) in a tag-team match at Victoria Pavilion in Calgary.
Neidhart first wrestled at Regina’s Exhibition Auditorium on Aug. 5, 1980, not even a month after his tryout with the Green and White.
Very soon, Neidhart was a headliner in the ring. He opposed Duke Myers in a Texas Death Match during the main event of a Sept. 15, 1980 card in Regina.
Neidhart’s final documented match was on March 5, 2016 in Williamsport, Pa.
He was only 63 when he passed away on Aug. 13, 2018 in Wesley Chapel, Fla.
PETZKE AND GRETZKY
Neidhart was one of two players released by the Roughriders on July 14, 1980. The other: Dave Petzke.
I thought Petzke, which rhymes with Gretzky, would be a great one. And he most certainly was … with the Northern Illinois Huskies.
In 1978, Petzke led the NCAA in catches (91) and receiving yards (1,215). He caught 11 touchdown passes in 11 games.
Petzke signed with Saskatchewan on May 30, 1980. I remember attending training-camp workouts on the grounds of the University of Regina and watching Petzke make catch after catch, looking very much like Rhett Dawson.
In the pre-season, Petzke caught nine passes for a yardage total of 99 (see again: Gretzky, Wayne) in four games.
Petzke was released on July 5, 1980, only to rejoin the Roughriders six days later — on the very same day the signing of Neidhart was announced.
To this day, I wonder “what might have been?” while reminding myself of Petzke. His training-camp performances were so outstanding that, 45 years later, I can still see him making spectacular catches.
Petzke is still fondly and deservedly remembered at his alma mater. In 1987, he was enshrined in the Northern Illinois University Huskies’ sporting shrine.
His Hall of Fame bio references one of the great nicknames in football history: “The Receptionist.”
WEDDING RECEPTION
Congratulations to two ardent Roughriders fans — Brian Grover and Doreen Kosmachuk — who are poised to exchange wedding vows on the same day as a rescheduled home game.
“Of course,” Grover noted, “the justice of the peace will be mentioning our love for the Riders.”
The informal ceremony and celebration are to be held on Saturday night at the Grover-Kosmachuk residence in Regina.
“Although our theme is a Mexican fiesta, we will also have our Rider flags up,” Grover said, “and the Ottawa-Hamilton game will be on the outdoor TV.”
Now in the same household, Grover and Kosmachuk used be neighbours — at Mosaic Stadium.
Kosmachuk sat in Section 128 before she met her future husband, who was (and still is) in 129.
Now they sit together, in Row 12 of Section 129.
ROLL CREDITS …
• Nice people who deserve a plug: Daisy Rae Carson, Craig Reynolds, Carolyn Hamilton, Ian Hamilton, Patrick Davitt, Peter Dalla-Vicenza, Jocelyn Argue, James Parker, Ashley Prest, Doug Lunney, Wendy Medwid, Shannon Dand, Virginia Wilkinson, Lisa Wilson-Sturm, Doreen Wilson, Steve Meyer, Markus Schwabe, Barb Pacholik, Joani Botkin, Heather Russell, Doug Russell, Nick Russell, Sharon Russell, Dave White, James Shewaga, Matthew Exner, Chloe Exner, Colby Collins, Gracie Baynton, Nick Wiebe, Zack Fry, Marcus Sayles, Paul Ripplinger, Joe Couch, Jermarcus Hardrick, Antoine Brooks Jr., Eric Stachowicz, Shane Ray, Daniel Johnson, Garry McRadu, Wendy McRadu, Noah Zerr, Ka’Deem Carey, Noah Zerr, Dave Petzke, Dave Thomas, Dr. Jen Johnston and, with congratulations on their marriage, Brian Grover and Doreen Kosmachuk.
