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Saskatchewan Roughriders
	Saskatchewan Roughriders
Founded	1910
Based in	Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada
Home field	Mosaic Stadium at Taylor Field
League	Canadian Football League
Division	West Division
Colours	green, white, black, and silver;
Nickname(s)	Riders, Roughies, the Green and White
Head coach	Ken Miller
General manager	Eric Tillman
Owner(s)	Community owned
Grey Cup wins	1966, 1989, 2007
Mascot(s)	Gainer the Gopher
Website	www.riderville.com
Uniform

"Roughriders" redirects here. For other uses, see Roughriders (disambiguation).

The Saskatchewan Roughriders are a Canadian Football League team based in Regina, Saskatchewan, founded in 1910. They play their home games at Mosaic Stadium at Taylor Field. The team draws fans from across Saskatchewan and Canada who are affectionately known as the "Rider Nation". The fans are known for their loyalty and "Rider Pride", and it is not odd to find a group of Rider fans following the team on their road games across the country. The Roughriders play in the CFL's West Division.

[edit] Team facts

Formerly known as: Regina Rugby Club 1910 to 1923, Regina Roughriders 1924 to 1947

Helmet design: Green helmet with a black and white "S" and stalks of wheat on each side with a black background.

Retro helmet design: Green helmet with logo of a green wreath surrounding a green S on a white background

Uniform colours: Green and white, with black and silver accents

Nickname: Riders

Western regular season championships: 7—1951, 1966, 1968, 1969, 1970, 1976, 2009

Grey Cup final appearances: 16;—1923 (lost), 1928 (lost), 1929 (lost), 1930 (lost), 1931 (lost), 1932 (lost), 1934 (lost), 1951 (lost), 1966 (won), 1967 (lost), 1969 (lost), 1972 (lost), 1976 (lost), 1989 (won), 1997 (lost), 2007 (won)

Grey Cup wins: 3—1966, 1989, 2007

Hosted the Grey Cup two times: 1995 (83rd Grey Cup), 2003 (91st Grey Cup)

Main rivals: Winnipeg Blue Bombers (see Labour Day Classic and Banjo Bowl), Calgary Stampeders, BC Lions.

2008 regular season record: 12 wins, 6 losses, 0 ties. 24 points

Mosaic Stadium at Taylor Field prior to a CFL match

Roughriders helmet

Gainer the Gopher

[edit] Franchise history

The team was founded as the Regina Rugby Club in 1910. They changed their name to the Regina Roughriders in 1924 and officially to the Saskatchewan Roughriders in 1948, the same year the team changed their team colours from red and black to green and white. The formation of what became the CFL brought them into the same league as the similarly named, but differently spelled, Ottawa Rough Riders. The Ottawa team was named for the log rollers of the region's rivers. The presence of two teams whose names were pronounced the same in one league came about only when two leagues merged, and the teams were reluctant to change (and allowed to keep) their established nicknames.

[edit] Tragedy

The Roughriders' darkest day came on December 9, 1956 when four members of the team were killed in a plane crash while returning from the CFL All-Star game in Vancouver. Gordon Sturtridge, Mel Beckett, Ray Syrnyk, and Mario DeMarco were killed when Flight 810 crashed into Slesse Mountain near Chilliwack, British Columbia. The team retired the numbers of the four players shortly after the tragedy. [1]

[edit] Grey Cup championships

The franchise has won three Grey Cup championships; a 29–14 victory over the now-defunct Ottawa Rough Riders in 1966, a 43–40 victory over the Hamilton Tiger-Cats in 1989 and also a 23–19 victory over the Winnipeg Blue Bombers in 2007. Four times, the Roughriders and (Ottawa) Rough Riders met in Grey Cup finals, prompting joking predictions from sportswriters that 'the Riders' would win it all. Led by Hall of Fame quarterback Ron Lancaster, a string of 11 straight appearances in the Western finals 1966–76 remains a CFL record. The Roughriders also posted the best regular season record in all of pro football over that time period.^[1]

[edit] 2007 season

The Roughriders celebrate their 2007 Grey Cup victory

In the 2007 season, the Riders jumped out to a 7–2 start, their best since 1976. Notable was a last-minute victory over the Winnipeg Blue Bombers in the annual Labour Day Classic. The Riders wore retro uniforms for the first time and helmets hearkening back to their glory days.

The 2007 season brought along with it the Roughriders' first home playoff game since 1988, which was played at Mosaic Stadium on November 11 against the Calgary Stampeders. The Riders once again wore their retro uniforms and took a close victory 26–24. This was also their first home playoff win since 1976.

The team followed up on November 18 with a 26–17 win at BC Place over the BC Lions in the West Division final to give the Roughriders a berth in their first Grey Cup final since 1997.

On November 25, 2007, the Riders played the Winnipeg Blue Bombers in the 95th Grey Cup. This marked the first time that two Labour Day Classic opponents played each other in a Grey Cup game. Saskatchewan won 23–19 in a game where James Johnson recorded three interceptions, a Grey Cup record. He was named MVP of the 2007 Grey Cup, with Roughrider Andy Fantuz being named the Canadian MVP in the game. He had 70 yards receiving and the game-winning touchdown.

[edit] 2008 season

A month and a half after capturing the 2007 Grey Cup, Kent Austin stepped down as head coach to become the offensive co-ordinator at Ole Miss. In accepting this position in the NCAA, Austin turned down a very lucrative contract that the Riders had offered. On February 6, 2008, Roughriders GM Eric Tillman announced that the new head coach would be Ken Miller. Miller was formerly an offensive coordinator under Austin.

On April 5, 2008, a report was released saying that the Roughriders set a new record for earnings in a single season. In 2007 the Roughriders generated $22,950,489 in revenue, with a profit of $1,737,377. These earnings were due in part to the championship season the Roughriders sported, which included 8 home game sellouts and their first home playoff game in 19 years.

The 2008 season began with a 6–0 record with wins shared between three quarterbacks. This is the team's best record since 1934 when they were still known as the Regina Roughriders. This was despite suffering 6 broken legs and a total of 18 injuries.

On August 24, 2008, the team's General Manager, Eric Tillman, announced the acquisition of Quarterback Michael Bishop; the Toronto Argonauts backup quarterback at the time of the trade, he went 11–1 as a starter for the Argonauts in 2007. As predicted, this was the end of Marcus Crandell's run with the Roughriders, who released him four days later.

After the 6-0 start, the Riders would go on to finish the 2008 CFL Regular season with the same record they finished with in 2007, at 12-6. The Roughriders finished in second place in the CFL West Division and earned the right to host the CFL West Division Semi-Final for the second consecutive year.

A devastating 33–12 loss to the BC Lions in the western semi-final game on November 8, 2008, caused the Roughriders to announce that Michael Bishop had played his last game with the green and white.

[edit] Mascots

The current official Rider mascot is Gainer the Gopher, who made his first appearance in 1976. "Gainer" is an anagram of Regina and the gopher, or more properly, Richardson's Ground Squirrel (not a Gopher) is a common animal on the Canadian Prairies.

[edit] Public company

The Roughriders are one of only a few publicly owned professional sports companies in North America, complete with a board of directors (although other teams are directly owned by publicly traded companies, such as the Toronto Blue Jays (Rogers Communications), New York Rangers and New York Knicks (Cablevision), and the Seattle Mariners (Nintendo of America)). The Roughriders' public ownership model is similar to the Green Bay Packers where a limited number of shares have been sold to the public. The most recent public offering of Rider Shares — Series 1 commenced in 2004 at an offering price of $250 per share, which added 6,000 new shareholders before the offering closed.^[2]^[3]

[edit] Players of note

[edit] Current roster

Saskatchewan Roughriders roster

Quarterbacks

Running Backs

20 Wes Cates
38 Hugh Charles
22 Stu Foord FB
32 Neal Hughes FB
33 Chris Szarka FB

Wide Receivers

Slotbacks

Offensive Linemen

Defensive Linemen

51 Marcus Adams DT
90 Stevie Baggs DL
97 John Chick DE
95 Luc Mullinder DE
74 Keith Shologan DT
92 Mike Stadnyk DE
98 Trumaine Sykes DE

Linebackers

50 Jerrell Freeman OLB
26 Kitwana Jones LB
31 Sean Lucas OLB
45 Mike McCullough ILB
48 Renauld Williams ILB

Defensive Backs

5 Donovan Alexander DB
29 Eddie Davis HB
35 Daniel Francis DB
15 Lance Frazier HB
37 Tamon George DB
24 Tad Kornegay DB
39 Chris McKenzie DB
1 Omarr Morgan CB
14 James Patrick S

Special Teams

Inactive Lists

27 Carlos Armour LB (9 Game)
30 Jamie Boreham K/P (9 Game)
7 Weston Dressler WR (9 Game)
16 Graham Harrell QB (9 Game)
63 Bobby Harris OL (9 Game)
21 Denatay Heard CB (9 Game)
58 Belton Johnson OT (9 Game)
85 David McKoy WR (9 Game)
25 Leron Mitchell CB (1 Game)
8 Eric Morris WR (9 Game)
64 Jordan Rempel OL (9 Game)
52 Wayne Smith OT (9 Game)
46 Kye Stewart OLB (9 Game)
61 Jonathan St. Pierre OL (9 Game)
11 Aaron Wagner LB/FB (9 Game)
80 Gerran Walker WR (1 Game)
68 Cliff Washburn OL (1 Game)

Practice roster

17 Cole Bergquist QB
67 Dan Clark OL
18 Ryan Elaschuk P/K
91 Willie Evans DL
19 Jeremy Gilchrist WR
69 Nick Hutchins G
99 Vaalyn Jackson DT
3 Chris Jones WR
26 LaDarius Key DB
49 Joel Lipinski DB
35 Brandon Lynch LB
93 Josh Miller DL
41 Carlos Thomas DB
28 Marcus Thigpen RB

Italics indicate Import player
Roster updated 2009-10-27
Depth Chart • Transactions
46 Active, 17 Inactive, 15 PR

→ More rosters

[edit] Canadian Football Hall of Famers

[edit] Retired numbers

[edit] Recent regular season and playoff results

[edit] Season-by-season records

Main article: Saskatchewan Roughriders seasons

[edit] The 1990s

Legend:
F = For, A = Against

Season	Coach	Won	Lost	Points	F	A	Home	Away	Division	Standing	Playoff Results
1990	John Gregory	9	9	18	557	592	-	-	4–6	3rd	Lost West Semi-Final 43–27 to Edmonton
1991	Gregory/Matthews	6	12	12	606	710	-	-	3–7	4th	Missed Playoffs
1992	Don Matthews	9	9	18	505	545	-	-	6–4	3rd	Lost West Semi-Final 22–20 to Edmonton
1993	Don Matthews	11	7	22	511	495	-	-	5–5	3rd	Lost West Semi-Final 51–13 to Edmonton
1994	Matthews/Jauch	11	7	22	512	454	-	-	4–6	4th	Lost West Semi-Final 36–3 to Calgary
1995*	Ray Jauch	6	12	12	422	451	-	-	5–7	6th*	Missed Playoffs
1996	Jim Daley	5	13	10	360	498	-	-	3–7	4th	Missed Playoffs
1997	Jim Daley	8	10	16	413	479	-	-	5–5	3rd	Won West Semi-Final 33–30 over Calgary Won West Final 31–30 over Edmonton Lost Grey Cup 47–23 to Toronto
1998	Jim Daley	5	13	10	411	525	4–5	1–8	2–8	4th	Missed Playoffs
1999	Cal Murphy	3	15	6	370	592	3–6	0–9	1–9	4th	Missed Playoffs
Totals	-	73	107	146	4667	5341	-	-	-	-	-

* For the 1995 Season, all 8 Canadian teams were featured in the Northern Division.

[edit] The Danny Barrett era

Season	Won	Lost	Tied	Points*	F	A	Home	Away	Division	Standing	Playoff Results
2000	5	12	1	11	516	626	2–6–1	3–6	3–6–1	4th	Missed Playoffs
2001	6	12	0	12	308	416	2–7	4–5	3–7	4th	Missed Playoffs
2002	8	10	0	18*	435	393	7–2	1–8	4–6	4th	Crossover: Lost East Semi-Final 24–14 to Toronto
2003	11	7	0	22	535	430	7–2	4–5	7–3	3rd	Won West Semi-Final 37–21 over Winnipeg Lost West Final 30–23 to Edmonton
2004	9	9	0	18	476	444	6–3	3–6	4–6	3rd	Won West Semi-Final 14–6 over Edmonton Lost West Final 27–25 to B.C. in OT
2005	9	9	0	18	441	433	5–4	4–5	6–4	4th	Crossover: Lost East Semi-Final 30–14 to Montreal
2006	9	9	0	18	465	434	6–3	3–6	4–6	3rd	Won West Semi-Final 30–21 over Calgary Lost West Final 45–18 to B.C.
Totals	57	68	1	117*	3176	3176	35–27–1	22–41	31–38–1	-	-

* From 2000 to 2002, the CFL awarded a single point to teams losing in overtime. The Riders had two such losses during the 2002 season.

[edit] The Post-Barrett Era

Season	Coach	Won	Lost	Tied	Points	F	A	Home	Away	Division	Standing	Playoff Results
2007	Kent Austin	12	6	0	24	530	434	6–3	6–3	6–4	2nd	Won West Semi-Final 26–24 over Calgary Won West Final 26–17 over B.C. Won Grey Cup 23–19 over Winnipeg
2008	Ken Miller	12	6	0	24	500	471	7–2	5–4	5–5	2nd	Lost West Semi-Final 33–12 to B.C.
2009	Ken Miller	10	7	1	19	514	484	6-3	4-4-1	5-4-1	1st	-
Totals	-	33	20	1	69	1544	1389	18–8	15–11–1	15–13–1	--	--

[edit] See also

[edit] References

[edit] External links

[0] "www.riderfans.com/forum/showthread.php?t=58521". http://www.riderfans.com/forum/showthread.php?t=58521.

[1] "www.saskriders.com/shares/". http://www.saskriders.com/shares/.

[2] "www.leaderpost.com/Business/Role+Riders+board+changed/1127623/story.html". http://www.leaderpost.com/Business/Role+Riders+board+changed/1127623/story.html.

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