Ready for the Rider Home Opener? I'm Not.

Are you ready for the Riders???

I gotta admit, I'm really stoked about the new season - a lot of so-called sports "experts" have written off the Riders this year with the same mantra - "they lost their head coach, the MOP QB, blah blah blah" - these are the same guys that wrote us off last year - "they have a rookie head coach and an unproven QB, blah blah blah".

I'm a Rider fan - I take a lot of ridicule from Mitchell Blair from our sister station NewsTalk 980 for the Rider flag on my truck and the fact that I'll wear my Rider jersey on game days ("You missed your flight with the rest of team to (road game city)" - too much of a fan, for him I guess.

That being said, I'm guilty of a major transgression.

I made plans during the months of June to November without checking the Rider schedule.

I know, I know - "what were you thinking?". You see, here at Jack, we're asked to go out and do public events like MC'ing a concert or making a personal appearance on behalf of the radio station. When I saw that Loverboy was playing Casino Regina on June 28th, I thought, "Cool! I like Loverboy and after I saw them tear it up in Vancouver about a year and a half ago, this will be an awesome show!" I quickly volunteered to MC the show and made plans to take in a great evening. Then it hit me.

"That's the night of the Rider Home Opener."

Oh my god.

Now what? I'm a man of my word - I said I'll MC the show and I will - and you know what? It's going to be a killer show and I'm still looking forward to it. I'll have to put my faith in my fellow Rider fans and hope they sell out the game and the blackout will be lifted and I can enjoy the game on my PVR when I get home from the Loverboy show.

If you're at the Casino Regina Saturday night after the Loverboy show and you see a big bald man walking quickly out the doors with his hands clapped over his ears saying "Lalalalalalalalala" to drown out any reference he might hear about the results of the game - that'll be me - on my way home to catch my beloved Riders on tape delay.

Have a great Canada Day Weekend!!