Ain't Been Nuthin' Like This - Column by Bob Hughes

I was there on that chilly night in 1963 when Ron Lancaster guided the Saskatchewan Roughriders to an amazing playoff comeback victory over the Calgary Stampeders in the Western Football Conference semi-final, overcoming a more than three-touchdown deficit to win the total-points series by a single point. They dubbed it The Little Miracle of Taylor Field. The town and the province went crazy.

I was there at the last regular season game in Calgary in 1976 when Lancaster again led the Riders on an electrifying second-half comeback that had its Cinderella ending penned when Lancaster threw a last-minute pass to wide receiver Rhett Dawson in the dark of McMahon Stadium to seal a win that gave the Riders first place in the Western Conference. It was the first time in four tries that the Riders managed to beat the Edmonton Eskimos for first place. Home field was enough to give Saskatchewan the edge in the Western final over the hated Eskimos and send them to the Grey Cup. That Western final, played out on a field barren of grass, a game that featured dust flying from the cleats of those running the ball, bore a sad, tormented significance to it. It was the last time the Saskatchewan Roughriders would finish first in the Western Conference until . . .

Well, perhaps, until now. They beat Calgary in the last game of the season in Taylor Field, it’s theirs.

The Roughriders have endured much and enjoyed much since that 1976 first-place finish. They went through fitful years when the product on the field and diminishing attendance in games at the Old Grey Lady on 10th Avenue threatened their very existence. Their hope was renewed when they won the Grey Cup in 1989, in a game many felt was the most exciting Grey Cup ever played, the 43-40 win over Hamilton. The icing came when Saskatchewan boys Roger Aldag and Bob Poley brought the Grey Cup into Taylor Field and hoisted it to the heavens on a cold November night, 24 hours after the game. They enjoyed moments when they found a way to the Grey Cup in 1997, where they lost to Doug Flutie and the Toronto Argonauts. They revelled in sheer joy when they won a Grey Cup in 2007, only the third in their history.

All those moments, and more, have galvanized the Rider fans, the Loyal Disorder of Rider Priders as I have called them on occasion.

But never, not ever, in all the years, make that decades, that I have followed this team have I ever seen anything like this season. In so many ways, this season has been a capsule of all the seasons that have gone before in the 100-year history of the Roughriders. It’s been The Good, The Bad and, Hey, They Can Finish First!

There have been the moments this year when the team seemed a wretched bunch, rudderless because they surely needed a quarterback capable of taking them to the Promised Land that is first place and the Grey Cup. Darian Durant, many sniffed, was not the answer. He was beginning to remind the Loyal Disorder more of Joe (747) Adams than he was of Ron Lancaster. And even coach Ken Miller seemed to feed that by yanking Durant from games and replacing him with whoever was standing next to him on the sideline. The fans turned snarly, but continued to pour themselves into Taylor Field.

The season turned when Miller quickly back-tracked on a quote that indicated he would pull Durant from any game that he wasn’t performing in. It was as if Miller decided that if the Riders were going to go anywhere, then they would have to hitch their wagon to Darian Durant. And, you know what? He answered the call. He has developed to the point where he is now seriously being considered as a strong choice to be named the Canadian Football League’s most outstanding player.

And, like Lancaster was his whole career, he has become a master of the improbable comeback. Nowhere has this been more evident than in the 44-44 overtime tie in Calgary and the 33-30 overtime win against B.C. in Regina. He was, to put it simply, simply amazing. In the Calgary game, with the teams heading into a boiling overtime session, Durant was seen sitting on the bench smiling and totally enjoying himself. He seemed drinking up the pressure as if it was a fine wine.

“That’s a great thing, when you see that,” Al Ford would tell me. Ford is the only Roughrider to win a Grey Cup ring in Saskatchewan as a player (1966) and general manager (1989). “He was having fun, loving it, and obviously couldn’t wait to get back on the field, no matter what was going on. That’s great, and everbody feeds off of it.”

The Roughriders are now one win away from clinching first place. A lot of it is because of Darian Durant and his evolution to a bonafide starter. A lot of it is because of the talent general manager Eric Tillman and scout Joe Womack have brought in. A lot of it is how Ken Miller has moulded the team and got the players to play for him.

But, most of it is because of the job team president and CEO Jim Hopson has done. When Hopson, a former Rider who played in the 1976 Grey Cup game, was named to head up the organization, there was a lot of head-wagging. He had been an educator for all of his working life. What could he possibly know about running a football team? Lots, apparently. After all, I’ve mentioned, he is a north-ender.

Under Hopson’s stewardship, the Riders have become the most successful franchise in the CFL, something they never achieved before. Under Jim, they just succeed. They make the playoffs. They’ve won a Grey Cup. They sell more merchandise than any team in the league. They sell out virtually every home game. They have become Canada’s Team in virtually every way possible. They are so successful, it is astounding. A few weeks ago, they opened a merchandise store in Saskatoon. People were lined up to get into the place.

And, they are getting back to the “old ways” of Riderville, when many of the players stayed here the year round, got jobs, became part of the community. Why, one of them is offensive lineman Marc Parenteau, who works at Exit Realty Fusion in Regina as a realtor.

The Riders of 2009 were never out of hunt in the early moments of the season. But, they never really seemed capable of leading the pack. And the finger of blame kept pointing at Durant. Once he took charge, once the coach gave him his head, the rest, as they say, is history.

There are only three more steps to be taken, albeit giant steps. The first will be the final game of the schedule against Calgary. Then, comes the Western final. And, finally, the Grey Cup game. And can there be a better place for the Grey Cup to be played in 2009 than in Calgary. Why, it will seem like a home game for Canada’s Team. And those who work at Exit Realty Fusion can hardly wait until the day Marc Parenteau comes through the front door waving the Grey Cup. Odds are, it’s going to happen sooner than later.