Roughrider Memories

Third Down Gamble Podcast
"audio worth watching.."  

In North America, no other place personifies the term "Gridiron America" than a sparsely populated part of Canada on the edge of the former British Empire- Regina, Saskatchewan. Unlike Green Bay, Wisconsin, which also personifies the term "Gridiron America," in Regina, the Roughriders are in many ways the last of the old school small town professional teams, as they, from an economic point of view, are a working class team for an equally working class fan base. The Roughriders of Saskatchewan, like rival Winnipeg, and the NFL's Packers, are also one of the last of the community owned pro football teams, which makes their memories that much sweeter.

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Way back in 2014, Sports Illustrated (back when the magazine still mattered) did a whole series ofarticles called Welcome to Canada Week, in which Peter King, the MMQB crew and guest columnists spent a week during the early part of the CFL season and wrote about it in the SI way that explored what makes the Canadian Football League, its fans and the memories created so special. During the series, Peter King went to the Prairie Province and spent quality time discovering the magic and romance of small town professional football, among whose fans are long time co-host Don Charabin of the Third Down Gamble Podcast, and sports journalist, author and Roughrider historian, Rob Vanstone.

In 2021, Don and Rob joined us to reminisce about growing up in the prairie towns of the province of Saskatchewan where the 'Riders symbolize what makes the Canadian Football League so special. We recalled the heroes of the game whom they idolized in the 60s and 70s, and talked about the era when the wheat grew tall and the Chinook wind blew cold, in a community where only two TV channels were on the air, and as a young football fan you got your sports news and box scores from the newspaper. This episode is definitely audio worth watching!