Rod Pedersen
CFL.ca
As usual, there’s never a dull moment in Riderville. Here’s a recap of what’s gone in the past few days:
SZARKA’S CAMPAIGN
Chris Szarka’s initial foray into politics was a successful one.
The 13 year veteran fullback was elected to Regina City Council in Wednesday’s civic election. Szarka handily defeated incumbent councilman Jerry Flegel in Ward 10, which is the city’s northwest region.
The Vancouver product has twice been voted the Roughriders’ Most Popular Player during his Rider career and his election victory is proof positive that Rider Pride is an unstoppable force these days. His campaign team spent the past few months knocking on doors and delivering pamphlets throughout the neighbourhood and his hard work paid off.
Szarka says managing growth will be council’s top challenge.
“Careful planning of infrastructure is a huge part of where the city’s going right now and we need to take the time to plan those things out properly,” Szarka said.
The cynics say Szarka was only elected on the basis of his status with the football club. However over his time in Regina, Szarka has been actively involved in community initiatives and has always lent his time to local projects.
FLU PRECAUTIONS
The hysteria over the H1N1 virus spilled over to the Roughriders. A flu bug has ravaged the locker room over the past few weeks and it’s kept long-snapper Jocelyn Frenette and Lance Frazier out of games and claimed linebackers Jerrell Freeman and Mike McCullough and kicker Luca Congi this week.
Rider head coach Ken Miller was peppered with questions about the bug after Wednesday’s indoor workout at Evraz Place. Here’s the transcript of his media scrum:
REPORTER: You’ve had players missing from practice this week with the flu, now most notably Luca Congi?
MILLER: It’s the illness that’s going around. He came in not feeling well so we sent him home.
REPORTER: Are you keeping him quarantined so to speak, to separate him from the team?
MILLER: It’s been going around. It’s been going around for some time. When we have someone who’s not feeling up to par, we do our best to send them home.
REPORTER: Any fears of H1N1?
MILLER: We know that it’s around. We know that it’s in the province. We know there are possibilities for that. Right now we’re pretty sure we don’t have it.
REPORTER: What precautions are you taking to prevent the spread of the flu bug?
MILLER: What we do is what, I think and hope, most people do in the regular workplace. Just encourage people to be really good with their hygiene, wash their hands with soap and water, cough into your sleeve, and do things that you normally do to avoid getting a cold or flu.
REPORTER: Have you had discussions with the team about avoiding H1N1?
MILLER: Absolutely. As late as yesterday, I talked to them about it. I talked about hydration because when you get the flu, or just this time of year in general, none of us are inclined to take in as many fluids as we need. If we don’t take in fluids, we set ourselves up for more serious illness but also muscle pulls and cramps. Anyway, I talked with them about proper hygiene yesterday after doing it a couple of weeks ago. It’s been a constant reminder.
REPORTER: Do you worry about it all with a sports team, particularly with the young hockey player dying from it on Monday?
MILLER: Certainly that is an unfortunate situation. I guess we’re all at risk, whether it’s you or me. We all have risk. Maybe me less than others but we all have concerns for that.
Although four NHL players have been diagnosed with the H1N1 virus, or swine flu, over the past week, there have been no cases diagnosed within the CFL.
PLAYOFFS GUARANTEED
All of the Rider Nation is in a tizzy over the team’s current playoff push and the spectacular finish to their past two games (a 44-44 overtime tie in Calgary and a 33-30 overtime win over B.C.).
“Right now we’re guaranteed to be in the playoffs but we’re not guaranteed a home playoff game,” Rider President Jim Hopson said this week. “Win in Hamilton Saturday and we cement home field in the West Semifinal and then a win at home over Calgary in the final game gives us the big apple — the whole thing — first place for the first time since 1976 and home field in the West Final.”
The prospect of hosting the West Final for the first time in 33 years has fans bursting with optimism but Hopson cautioned not to get ahead of ourselves.
“There’s still a lot of work to be done,” Hopson warned. “We want to be in the playoffs but we really want to secure first place for our fans, and the revenue opportunities. Our season ticket holders have had the opportunity to secure their tickets and most have done that. We had a campaign running there for awhile. We’re now in the second leg of that where shareholders and flexpack owners have until October 31 to secure their playoff tickets.”
“On November 4, all remaining tickets go on sale to the public. We’ve sold just over 20,000 tickets to date so there’s been a real good up-take. But there’s some room there so there will be some tickets available come November 4.”
WJHC GOES GREEN
Saskatchewan will play host to the 2010 World Junior Hockey Championships in both Saskatoon and Regina over the Christmas holidays. On Saturday, the host committee unveiled green jerseys Team Canada will wear for two games during the tournament. The sweater features a Rider logo on one shoulder, and the committee says the idea behind it is to pay homage to Canada’s Team, and also the province of Saskatchewan whose symbolic colour is green.
“I think it’s tremendous and it does speak about our team and our fans,” Hopson continued. “I don’t think this has happened anywhere else. For Team Canada to come in here and do a Rider jersey, and then to wear it twice, is great. I got goose bumps seeing it the other night and I can’t wait to see the team out there playing in them.”
STRONG UNDER CENTRE
The Riders could be looking at a similar quarterback logjam to the one they faced earlier on this decade. Seven years ago then-Rider GM Roy Shivers horded an impressive stable of quarterbacks which included starter Nealon Greene and back-ups Henry Burris and Kevin Glenn. The team wound up losing the back-ups via free agency (Burris) and trade (Glenn), and in 2009 they’ve got another group of strong signal-callers.
The Rider roster boasts five QBs who all feel they can play: Darian Durant, Steven Jyles, Dalton Bell, Graham Harrell and Cole Bergquist.
Harrell is likely the best-known of the bunch down south, after leading the Texas Tech Red Raiders to a Cotton Bowl appearance last season, and setting an NCAA touchdown record.
Right now he’s biding his time on the practice roster, but for how long?
“That’s a great question and I don’t know if it’s one I can answer,” Harrell said Monday on CKRM’s Sportsline. “Darian’s playing great obviously and has been all year. There’s not going to be a change or anything like that. Like Johnny (Quinn) said earlier, everybody on the team has confidence in him.”
“Like I said it’s been a great year to learn. It’s been an opportunity to see the Canadian game, see how a successful offence works and I’ve learned from it. Whenever I get my shot I hope I make the most of it. I don’t know when that will be. Hopefully it’s sooner than later for me.”
“Right now we’re on a roll and we need to keep doing that. Hopefully I get my chance sooner than later but right now it’s a lea
rning experience.”
However getting playing time for all quarterbacks is not the team’s focus right now. Durant is on a roll and has earned the trust and respect of his teammates. All eyes are on the prize right now, the 2009 Grey Cup in Calgary November 29.
“Darian’s growing as a quarterback and a leader,” offered Coach Miller. “It doesn’t matter what side of the ball it is, this whole team has tremendous confidence in him. You can tell as he plays, that he sees the defense better. He sees the second, third and sometimes the fourth read and is making plays.”
