CFL Advent Calendar

Fridays around here are either for football or flashbacks and sometimes it's both!  I've had a flood of ideas recently and I was thinking about a post I wrote called CFL Subscription Club on ABC Football.  The entire blog is talking about how you can subscribe to all kinds of services to bring you monthly boxes of anything from food to underwear and my argument was why doesn't one exist for the CFL?  Well, since it's Christmas, this got me thinking, (by the time you read this I'll already be into my advent calendars) why doesn't a football, a CFL in particular, advent calendar exist?

Well, likely because no one in marketing has thought of it.

* crickets * - CFL marketing department probably.

Imagine, as Grey Cup hysteria winds down, that you could purchase a CFL advent calendar.  24 days of CFL football items behind little doors of some kind of football themed box.  Hey, I can't have allll the ideas now, can I?  I'm not talking about big ticket items, but I know for a fact that the Roughrider Store has pins, stickers, tattoos, earrings, keychains, Christmas ornaments and likely other small items which would tuck very nicely into a decorative box.  December 1st you scramble over to your CFL advent, peel back the door and reveal...

With my luck it would be a Blue Bomber pin.

Every person who purchased an advent calendar would end up with a nice collection of memorabilia from all 9 CFL teams.  The items could be traded on social media and Facebook groups.  Fans could wear their items to events for the upcoming season. 

"Hey, where did you get that cool Gainer pin?" 

"Oh, it was in my CFL advent calendar!"  

The entire Christmas Countdown calendar would culminate in day 24 where there could be a coupon to be redeemed in team stores!  Then every fan could flock to their local team CFL store on Boxing Day to purchase an item of their wildest dreams.

* sigh *

My little green Roughrider heart swells with the thought of it.  Let's face it, there hasn't been much for us Rider fans to be excited about this last year.  It's too late for this year of course with Christmas already a couple weeks away, but hey, CFL get with it - get with the times.

Something like this could be marketed for the countdown to the 2023 CFL season and debuted during training camp and then the 24th door of the calendar would coincide with the home opening weekends...

...but I'm just the ideas person.  Just a fan.  Just a girl writing little ol blogs - wishing there was something football related to go with her tea and jam Advent Calendars.

Any Way The Wind Blows

There hasn't been much going on in the CFL lately.  Pieces of news have been few and far between.  They've resorted to articles about players pets and who can be named best dressed CFLer.

Meanwhile...

* crickets *

...a dog barks in the distance...

🎵 a birdie chirps...

With this lull in activity every off season I find that my own rabid fan status wains and I wonder over to other activities and my influences change.  Some people turn to other sports - Saskatoon Rush, Nascar and hockey of course. Many of you haven't known me a long time but March seems to be a time for when I explore.  There was the Dean Martin infatuation of 20-something.  We won't discuss the whole vampire thing. Last year I researched my family tree and actually found a cousin living in Montreal who I didn't know existed. This off season was going along like normal and then in February I watched (finally) Bohemian Rhapsody and it seemed like everything changed for me.

I've made no secret that while I write this blog and am administrator for ABC Rider Fans, that in "real life" I am a piano teacher.  While I've always maintained that music is what I do - it's not my life...it's an illusion because it really does consume my life.   Where I am able to strike a balance is that I only teach after school hours so while you are likely gearing up to go home after your work day, I am gearing up to start teaching.  'Tis the life of a musician I suppose.  What these hours allow me to do is follow football during those off times except when I need to do research or find music or actually come up with a plan or strategy for my lessons, which by the way is unpaid time but I'm dedicated and I do it happily.

So there I was coasting through CFL off season and coping with some other health things that always seem to crop up at this time of year but you know everyone has "stuff" to deal with.  One of my students...my best student if I'm honest (and fav but don't tell the others!), is playing Bohemian Rhapsody for the SAM music festival in May which runs close if not at the same time as Roughrider training camp.  We had decided on this selection before Christmas so it had nothing to do with my off season doldrums but everything to do with the reason one quiet Saturday night I decided I should watch the movie.  I called it Professional Development. I actually streamed A Star is Born the same night but for whatever reason (I'm heartless?) it had zero effect on me, yet the story of Freddie Mercury made me feel a whole myriad of things that I can't even begin to sort out or explain in any form.

I was 18 when Mercury died from Aids in 1991 and when I think back to "me" back then I often refer to myself as a stupid teenager.  Maybe I was just oblivious? I remember the news but life went on.  I didn't realize until now how excruciating that event actually was.  Is it possible to mourn someone nearly 30 years later?  Well just like I seem to be stuck in this musical cycle, many football fans are stuck as well.  Bring back Dressler is one of the newest cries.  When will Rider fans move on?  Are we still in 2009 mourning too?  The Roughriders need to continue to move on to the future instead of looking back.  Unlike, Queen's front man, most football players are replaceable even if we've loved their character and personality.  To everything there is a season.  The show must go on.

With most things in my life even when I don't think music plays a roll it's there in the background noise.  If you're still with me here and wondering what any of this has to do with the football blog you've grown used to reading well it made me realize how much I've grown in all ways and continue to evolve and how fortunate...blessed really, I am to have a slightly successful page which is somewhat accepted by a mostly male dominated sort of hobby and industry.  No one ever told me I couldn't and I always knew I could do things, mostly artistic types of things with extreme ease.  I can do anything! I've often said. So while Roughrider football is an obsession in my life, music is a thread weaving itself deeply through it.  A team wins a championship - We Are The Champions.  A Calgary Stampeders game comes to an end - Sweet Caroline.  The Saskatchewan Roughriders score a touchdown - Green is the Colour.

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When the city of Regina hosted the 2013 Grey Cup they knocked the halftime show out of the park by having flying snowmobiles and a rocking Hedley (at the time) group.  Randy Ambrosie said that the Riders pitch was so good they could have landed the Olympics so naturally that makes me question what kind of half time show was pitched.  Does the halftime show need to be Canadian or should they reach farther into the stars to bring the most epic halftime ever?  Can both be done?  What's your opinion on this and who would you like to see as the 2020 halftime show? 

This time of year - March, the cold snap finally comes to an end and we are looking for signs of life.  While it'll be a while until we see daffodils here in Saskatchewan, birds are returning and the snow is sinking as the sun grows higher and higher in the sky.  Our beloved CFL teams will be re-awakening after all the moves in free agency.  The CFLPA negotiations will get settled.  Soon it'll be draft day. Some people are already looking forward and talking about training camp in Saskatoon.  Our passion is renewed.  The season is renewed.  We feel anew.

I'm ready for the next chapter.

Go Riders.

10 Thought Tuesday ~ Lions & Lambs ~

Wow! It's been a long time hasn't it?  What can I say...life happened.

1.  What is the deal with shoes and clothes and good retail staff who not only know what they're talking about but are actually helpful? When I was a retail slave there was coaching and protocol on everything you do for a customer from the moment they walk into your store.  Now you are lucky to get a hello and incredibly fortunate to actually find someone willing to help you.  Womens fashion is hard enough to navigate in the best of times and then we have to deal with this nonsense.  This is why my two favorite stores have been and still are Reitman's and Penningtons.  They are the most consistent.

2.  I've lost 41.8 pounds since August.  When I tell people they ask what I'm doing.  The sincere answer is...I am eating food.  Shocking I know.  What I am doing is eating approximately 5 times a day...3 meals with 2 snacks and I am choosing more fruit and veggies.  I am also using portion control.  The biggest eye opener that I can expain is this...I can eat 2.5 Halo tangerines (at 44 calories each) or ONE chocolate cookie.  And we all know I wouldn't just eat one cookie.  But who eats nearly 3 oranges in a sitting?  No one.  So I discovered I get more bang for the buck so to speak with the fruit and veg...meaning I can actually eat more!  *kaboom*  And that's what I've been doing.

3.  In 1 month I will be headed back to the Big Apple.  This trip we are staying near Times Square and hope to be able to do more evening type things.  The only issue seems to be that the hotel may or may not have free wifi so the possibility of staying in touch while away is up in the air.  I have a new suitcase and new walking shoes and can't wait to try either one out.  Cannoli and pizza here I come!

4.  I have recently watched the entire Sex and the City series.  I had watched the first 3 seasons a year ago and lost the interest but a few weeks I picked it up again.  I have to say the final season was possibly the best one.  It had so many important storylines.  I also noticed that even though it was filmed late 90's to early 2000's much of the subject matter is still relevent.  So now that it's over I've moved on to finishing the Friends series.

5.  Chocolate covered raisins.  I am obsessed with chocolate covered raisins.  I need an intervention.

6.  My parents gave us a "breakfast station" for Christmas.  It's a waffle iron on one side and in the other you can make pancakes or omelettes.  I've used it every single day.  I use the pancake side to make eggs or grilled cheese sandwiches!  On Sunday mornings it has become our ritual to have waffles.  The ritual originated from it being "game day" and having Roughrider pancakes.  I have to admit...waffles are better.  They are pancakes with abs.

7.  It's March 3rd and it's been snowing.  They say March comes in like a lion or goes out like a lamb.  I am thinking this is true.  The long term forecast has great temperatures from here on in.  I'm thinking I might be able to disregard the winter jacket (which is now too big) and wear the black spring jacket (which is also roomy).  It is still very much boot weather and it seems won't be flip flop weather for some time.

8.  Informal pole:  When someone says "Canada's Team" ( and for argument sake "America's Team" ) what team do you think of?

9.  Every time music exams come around I say I am never going to register as many studnets as I did last year because it is amazingly nerve wrecking and stressful.  I keep doing it.  Gah!  I only had 3 for February and they did great because I make sure my students do well but there is always that small bit of doubt that they won't do well.  For June, I will have at least 4.  The exams will fall right around the same time as music festival does.  So it appears I have done it again.  *facepalm*

10.  My new favorite tuesday thing is a CBC show called Schitts Creek.  It stars Eugene Levy and the mom from Home Alone.  It's about an uber rich family who lose it all except the deed to this town Schitts Creek.  So they are forced to move there and try to have a life.  It's great.  It's tongue in cheek and fresh.  If you can, check it out because we all deserve a chuckle.

Sand Bucket Update 1

Football CHECK!

5.  Football!  OMG FOOTBALL!  Even before the football season starts.....there will be training camp and if you've followed the news or not....Roughrider training camp is taking place in my very own city.  I hope to be able to attend at least once.  That starts June 2nd.  At the end of that week they hold their annual Green & White Day which I've attended for many years now.  Check out Riderville North for what I might be up to!

If you are interested in reading about my experience at Training Camp click the following link for my Football blog:  What I Learned At Training Camp

To keep tabs on my bucket list, check it out here:  10 Thought Tuesday ~ Sand Bucket List ~

Jumping on the Tailgate

**This is the story of how I became a rabid Roughrider football fan written Aug 25/2007**

I am not much of a sports fan. I don't particularly enjoy watching sports and I cannot play sports to save my life. I am married to one of the biggest sports fans around. Hubby will get up at 6am to watch Formula 1 races. Hubby will describe his best day as a day filled with NASCAR. Hubby loves football. He dreams about it. Hubby bleeds green. The only professional sports team in Saskatchewan is the Roughriders who play on Taylor Field at Mosaic Stadium in Regina.


It's been tough being a fan of the Roughriders. They always start the season strong and fans get all hopeful only to get their feelings crushed when the losing streak begins. But this year is different. This year Saskatchewan wants the Grey Cup. This year the Roughriders want the Grey Cup too. This year the Roughriders are 1^st in the west division.


Last Saturday night we watched the Roughriders play the Edmonton Eskimo's in what is now an infamous game. The blackout was lifted and it was broadcast on the CBC. When it began Hubby was in his arm chair wearing his "real fans wear green" shirt and I sat on the couch calmly Knifty Knitting away sporting my green polo. By the 2^nd half Hubby was pacing and I had chewed off a finger nail. They battled back and forth and the score kept switching to and fro. Hubby was actually delighted to answer my questions. How much is a touchdown again? Now what do they have to do to get points? Ya, I know, I'm such a girl.


At the end of the 3^rd quarter the score was at 32-27 for Edmonton. It was nerve wracking. Then the unthinkable happened. A crack of thunder. A flash of lightening. Followed by pouring rain. Then players were leaving the field and fans were scrambling for cover. The announcers on TV didn't know what was happening and the next thing you know the power and lights were out at Mosaic Stadium and the TV feed was lost. CBC switched to their feature Saturday night movie starring Nick Nolte. Huh?


So we turned on the radio, to 600 CJWW where the announcer was using his cell phone to relay what was happening. There were reports of an ambulance, but they didn't know what that was about. Some fans were leaving Mosaic Stadium and others were toughing it out, the teams had retreated to their dressing rooms and they speculated about whether the game would go on. When would they play the remaining 13 minutes? The next day? That seemed crazy. Hubby and I were in disbelief.


An hour, yup..... I said an hour later, midnight really, the teams returned to the field to play out the game. Now you know, I really wouldn't be blogging about this had we lost the game. So you have to know that the game ended with a score of 39-32 in favour of Saskatchewan. We jumped for joy. I've never watched a game like this ever in my life. The Roughriders not only won that game but they scored a touchdown in my heart and converted me into a fan. Now I bleed green too.

If this blog interested you, please feel free to check out my Football blog:  Football ~ This Woman's Perspective ~