No football this weekend?

For me, there was plenty of it, and it just happened to be combined with a couple of good hockey games.

Three Saskatchewan Roughriders and the Grey Cup trophy were at the Broncos vs. Kelowna game at the Credit Union iplex Friday night.

L-R: Nathan Hoffart, Marcus Crandell and Anton McKenzie.

The Grey Cup trophy.

The ceremonial face-off. Upon the players' arrival, there was a long, loud standing ovation by the close to 2500 fans. No one sat until the anthem was finished.

The players checking out one of the new luxury suites at the iplex.

On a slightly related note, the NHL All-Star Game was earlier tonight. Team East beat Team West 8-7. Kathleen Edwards, a native of Ottawa, Ontario, sung the Canadian National Anthem while wearing a Riders 2007 Grey Cup Champions t-shirt. Figure I might add that.

How awesome is this?

Freaking awesome.



pollstar.com and the Leader-Post say Rush may be coming to the Brandt Centre in Regina on May 25.

So Long, Kent.

Thanks for everything.

UPDATED: Looks like we changed more than just the guy in charge

Saskatchewan's secondary welcome sign featuring the (soon to be old) provincial logo (photo source)

Not even a few weeks since taking over, the new government is making a few changes. They're changing the 30-year old Wheat Sheaf logo (pictured above) to one they're going to think of in the new year. The logo is being phased out of the Government's website, road signs, and government buildings.

Also, I got a fax at work with a list of the new names of the government ministries and the ministers responsible, and a word to not refer to them as departments. The Department of Agriculture and Agri-Food is now the Ministry of Agriculture. The Department of Highways and Transportation is now the Ministry of Highways and Infrastructure.

Ministry of Darkness?

Back to the logo, I wonder what it's going to be. The western red lily? A gopher? A road construction sign? The Riders logo?

UPDATE on Monday, Dec 17: I guess they aren't changing it after all

It might have already started, like, a month ago...

But the Christmas season is officially underway in Swift Current.

Downtown Christmas Tree (yeah, that's right) on the corner of Central Ave. N and Chaplin Street

I was out serving hot chocolate for everybody that showed up, in -20 degree weather (-30 with the windchill). Hey, it could be minus five billion and people would still show up.

How about we not wait so long for the next one?

November 27, 1989 editions of the Regina LeaderPost, and Saskatoon Star-Phoenix

The November 26, 2007 edition of the 'Riderville' Leader-Post

I still can't believe the Riders won the Grey Cup last night. It is the first title win since 1989, eighteen years ago today, and third championship total in the 97 years the club's been around.

On a news standpoint, I think there was more coverage of this game than the other ones I have seen (89 and 1997). That's what happens when even an appearance in the game is rare. I read the 1989 editions of the two local papers before the game yesterday, and I was taken back to a time when 2 Litres of Pepsi sold for $1.89 at Bi-Rite Drugs, there was no such thing as the GST (it was in the planning stages then), and the Grey Cup telecast on CFN featured the introduction to Canada of a super-slo-motion camera, similar to the one used by abc NFL broadcasts. Keep in mind, this is long before cable-cams and high definition television.

Over lunch, I went up to 7-Eleven and got Grey Cup editions of the National Post, Globe and Mail, Calgary Herald, Calgary Sun, and Medicine Hat News. The only papers I was disappointed not to find were the Winnipeg Free Press and Winnipeg Sun (that store only carries the weekend issues), not sure how they're taking it over there.

It is a high that will last until the next football season, and hopefully we can have it more often than every couple of decades.

Stand up and cheer, Rider Nation...

...THE CUP'S COMING HOME!!!

If Football Doesn't Work Out...

...why not push Ford cars?

Today's Leader-Post.

All about Nate Davis

The picture says it all...

100-block of Central Ave. North just after 11:00pm last night

It's still around this morning, too.

"...and now for something completely different"

Look at the new guy! - Photo from the Leader-Post

Brad Wall and the Saskatchewan Party won yesterday's provincial election, ending 16 years of New Democrat rule by Roy Romanow and Lorne Calvert


Final Results (numbers from Global Regina/the Leader-Post)

58 Seats in Legislature, 30 Seats needed for Majority Government
All Polls Counted
Saskatchewan Party (Brad Wall - Swift Current) ---- 37
New Democrats (Lorne Calvert - Saskatoon Riversdale) ---- 21
Liberals (David Karwacki - Saskatoon Meewasin) ---- Zero
All other parties ---- Zero

The quote I used for the headline is from Premier-Elect Wall's victory speech, and you can see it, and Lorne Calvert's concession speech, here (you need Real Player, though), or here through CTV Broadband

The Sign is Nigh

Not even 24 hours into the provincial election campaign, I see the first of many of these this afternoon.


Corner of Central Ave. N and Dufferin Street in Swift Current.

Please note, I am not displaying or implying any political affiliation, or using this to advertise any particular party. I am just pointing out that I saw a campaign sign today, and for some reason I find that fascinating.

Another name change to get used to.

The major ice rink in Swift Current, the city-operated Centennial Civic Centre, is currently on the home stretch of major renovations. Everything's changing with it. More seating, new luxury boxes, even a new name.

Innovation Credit Union just bought the naming rights to the arena for $600,000 over ten years. Therefore, the Centennial Civic Centre will henceforth be known as...

Picture from scbroncos.com

The Credit Union iplex.

Don't ask me what I think of the name, because in the end I have nothing against it. It is an odd name, but if you had $600,000 that went entirely and directly to capital improvements to the rink, you can call it whatever you wish.

Plus, the name couldn't be Innovation Place or Credit Union Centre, and I seriously can't think of a better name. I bet you can't either.

The Plan, make four road games

Screenshot from Google Earth. Click to enlarge

This WHL Hockey Season, I am going to make an effort to attend more Broncos road games. The four cities within a day's drive of me are Moose Jaw (the Warriors), Regina (the Pats), Saskatoon (the Blades) and Medicine Hat (the Tigers), and I plan to attend at least one game in each city this season.

I got things rolling by going to Moose Jaw last Friday night, to take in the season opener.

Final: Broncos 3-Warriors 2 after overtime

I feel left out

Yesterday morning, one of the biggest power outages in 20 years hit southern Saskatchewan, including the cities of Regina, Moose Jaw and Swift Current.

Yet, my apartment in Swift Current didn't lose power at all.

I guess that makes up for the 18-hour outage back in the summer, doesn't it. My place really cannot lose power again after that.

Mr. Hollywood's Cable Box

Sorry I haven't updated this weekend, I was pretty much glued to my chair watching television.

Last Thursday, I got the SaskTel Max DTVR and a new box, a $10.00/month rental, and I must say it is paying for itself so far. The recording functionality is working great, I already have my favourite shows queued up on it, but I still have to get used to the fact I can pause and rewind actual television.

One of my favourite features so far is the replay button, where you can skip back 10 seconds on a live or recorded program. I was watching the Sunday Night Football game (Patriots and Chargers), and early in the fourth quarter, the Chargers made a touchdown pass, even though the receiver (Antonio Gates) went out of bounds before the line. I hit replay, and found that the ball crossed the line when Gates reached forward with his hand just as he was going down. The Chargers still lost 38-14.

Another good feature is the picture-in-guide. Before, when I hit the guide button, the sound and picture shut off as the guide took up the full screen. Now, when I call up the guide, the current channel shows in a window on the top right corner of the screen, thus ensuring you don't miss anything, and you can still rewind the show when you go back, as long as you don't change the channel.

But, it has it's bad spots too. Not too often, the recordings start a few minutes late, or not at all. You have a choice of giving extra time to the recording, but it's in 15-minute intervals, and I would prefer it to be one minute at a time, and if I had HD (the box takes HD as long as you have it, by the way), I can't tune to another channel if I am recording something in High Definition, as there is only room for one HD stream into the home.

Sure, I've been talking about SaskTel a lot lately. I am not being paid by them, nor am I an employee of them. I am just a common customer in good standing, but I seriously recommend this to anyone who is able to get it.

Now another topic. I think in football, the ball and the man must cross the line together to count a touchdown. Discuss.

Republished/Updated: It was so good, they're doing it again

The SaskTel Max homepage with some good news

Originally published August 24, 2007:
You remember earlier when I said I didn't watch last Saturday's unforgettable Rider game because I went to bed early? Well, I think I'm gonna make up for that now

Until 11:59pm ST Sunday night, SaskTel Max will replay CBC's broadcast of last Saturday's memorable game between the Riders and the Eskimos, in its entirety (keep in mind, we saw the whole thing live on CBC Regina), on Max Local on Demand channel 48 (of course, SaskTel is a huge sponsor of the Riders, they have the naming rights of the Million-dollar MaxTron video board). If you don't know about it, it's like a community cable channel, but it also has DVD/VCR playback capabilities. You can pause, rewind and replay the show as many times as you want, and you're not bound by schedules. (SaskTel has a lot of this kind of programming, but I'll talk about it sometime later)

I also checked in at work this morning and a couple of Shaw subscribers said the game is also being shown on their community channel. I can't tell you what times or whether or not they're doing it again. I don't know about Access if you live in Regina though, keep watching Cable 7.

Either way, I will watch it, and also tape it for posteriety. It'll be something to keep for the grankids (if VCRs survive for that long)

Updated September 12: I gave SaskTel some kind words shortly after seeing the game, and I bet some other people did the same. I just got a news release at work reading SaskTel made a deal with TSN to make every Riders regular season game from now until the end of the season available on Max Local on Demand. The Labour Day Classic, and the Banjo Bowl are there now.

Me Fail English? That's Unpossible

Some Test the Nation paraphernalia. Get your own here

Hot off the heels of Test the Nation: IQ last March, CBC just ran Test the Nation: Watch Your Language earlier tonight, an interactive play-at-home quiz that tests language and speech. I did surprisingly well, actually, I got a 78%, which I think is a bit higher than my English marks from school.

Yeah, you laugh. How did you do?

One thing I noticed through the two-hour broadcast, an English teacher from Swift Current Comprehensive High School was playing the game in the studio with other English teachers, taking on the likes of advertising copywriters, comedians, word gamers, romance fiction novelists, and fraternities/sororities. Last March in the IQ test, Mayor Sandy Larson was on the show.

I must disclose, however, I used the spell check before publishing. I did just score a 78%, you know.

Brad Wall slings back, however not with mud.

Brad Wall, leader of the Provincial Opposition, has just launched his party's response to the NDPs "Wolf in Sheep's Clothing" ads.



I must say, I'm impressed. A mature, dignified response to the NDPs attack ads. It's too early to tell if it will be successful, but good on them for trying.

Viterra? Meh.

The Pool inland terminal in Swift Current, which will be re-branded today

40 years from now, I'll probably have a chat with my grankids and say, "when I was your age, gas was less than 50 cents per litre, we only had three channels on television, and Viterra was called the Pool."

Today, the new ag company formed by the merger of Saskatchewan Wheat Pool and Agricore United will rebrand itself, according to Canada's Intellectual Property Website, to "Viterra". The name, however in my opinion, seems to distance itself from the great history these two companies once had.

There goes nearly a century of agricultural tradition and history down into the boots of the very elevators of which this company operates.

What's worse, that name's not on Kevin Hursh's list (scroll down to the bottom of the page). If you ask me, I'd take Hold the Mayo or Cement Schmidt House over Viterra anyday.

small dead animals was the first to let us all know

The Sask Party stands for what?

CTV News made me aware of this.

Take the Provincial NDPs new "Wolf in Sheep's Clothing" attack ad...



Now pause the video with 17 seconds remaining.

I don't know about you, Brad, but I think dem's fightin' woids.