Riders And Bombers Make Trade

The Saskatchewan Roughriders  announced the acquisition of non-import receiver Jade Etienne in exchange for the rights of import quarterback Drew Willy.

 

Etienne (6’3 – 188) will be entering his fourth CFL season after originally being selected in the first round (4^th overall) by Winnipeg in the 2011 Canadian Draft.  Last season the Regina native totaled 19 receptions for 265 yards and two touchdowns in 14 regular season games.

 

The 24-year-old played for the University of Saskatchewan before entering the CFL. He was named a 2010 CIS All-Canadian after recording 721 yards on 28 receptions in just seven games.

CBS Gets Thursday Night NFL Package

The National Football League will team with long-time broadcast partner CBS to produce and televise Thursday Night Football for the 2014 season, it was announced today by NFL Commissioner ROGER GOODELL and LESLIE MOONVES, president and CEO of CBS Corp., and SEAN McMANUS, Chairman, CBS Sports.

CBS will air eight early season games that also will be simulcast on NFL Network. NFL Network will also televise eight late-season games in the run-up to the playoffs. The mix of games will include 14 on Thursday nights and two late-season games on Saturday.

The full slate of 16 regular-season games will be produced by CBS with its lead broadcasters and production team, including JIM NANTZ and PHIL SIMMS, on all Thursday night games. In a new twist, NFL Network hosts and analysts will be featured in the pregame, halftime and postgame shows along with CBS Sports announcers.

The agreement is for the 2014 season with an additional year at the NFL’s option.

“NFL Network built Thursday into a night for NFL fans,” said Commissioner Goodell. “Our goal is to bring these games to more fans on broadcast television with unprecedented promotion and visibility for Thursday Night Football on CBS.”

"We are very pleased to build on our outstanding partnership with the NFL by expanding our coverage to Thursday nights," said Moonves. "CBS is a premium content company and the NFL represents the best premium content there is. I look forward to all this new deal will do for us not only on Thursday nights, but across our entire schedule."

“The NFL is the most powerful programming in television,” said McManus. “To add a primetime NFL package to our successful Sunday AFC package further strengthens our position in the sports marketplace.  We look forward to having Jim and Phil and our top production team showcased in prime time on Thursday nights.”

U of R Weekend Sked

Home EventsWomen’s Basketball – vs. Calgary, Friday (6:15 p.m.) at CKHS
Men’s Hockey – vs. Alberta, Friday (7:00 p.m.) at The Co-operators Centre
Men’s Basketball – vs. Calgary, Friday (8:15 p.m.) at CKHS
Track & Field – at SGI Canada Indoor Games, Friday/Saturday at Regina Fieldhouse
Women’s Basketball – vs. Calgary, Saturday (5:00 p.m.) at CKHS
Men’s Basketball – vs. Calgary, Saturday (7:00 p.m.) at CKHS
Men’s Hockey – vs. Alberta, Saturday (7:00 p.m.) at The Co-operators Centre

 

Away EventsWomen’s Volleyball – at UBC Okanagan, Friday (6:00 p.m. PST) in Kelowna, B.C.
Women’s Hockey – at Alberta, Friday (7:00 p.m. MST) in Edmonton, Alta.
Men’s Volleyball – at UBC Okanagan, Friday (8:00 p.m. PST) in Kelowna, B.C.
Women’s Volleyball – at UBC Okanagan, Saturday (5:00 p.m. PST) in Kelowna, B.C.
Women’s Hockey – at Alberta, Saturday (6:00 p.m. MST) in Edmonton, Alta.
Men’s Volleyball – at UBC Okanagan, Saturday (7:00 p.m. PST) in Kelowna, B.C.
Track & Field – at Windsor Team Challenge, Sunday in Windsor, Ont.

 

Men’s Hockey – The Cougars (11-11-2) had a huge road sweep over Manitoba last weekend to move past the Bisons for fourth place in the Canada West standings. The U of R won 3-1 on Friday night, then got goals from three different defencemen – including John Sonntag’s winner in double overtime – in a 3-2 victory on Saturday afternoon. Now two points up on Manitoba and Mount Royal, the Cougars host No. 1-ranked Alberta this weekend at The Co-operators Centre. Game time is set for 7:00 on both Friday night and Saturday night.

 

Women’s Basketball (CIS Ranking: No. 4) – The three-way tie atop the Prairie Division remains intact after the Cougars’ road wins over Fraser Valley and Trinity Western on Friday and Saturday and two-win weekends by both Alberta and Saskatchewan as well. The Cougars pulled out a 64-62 victory over the No. 7-ranked Cascades before trouncing Trinity Western by a 97-57 margin to improve to 16-2 on the season and run their Canada West winning streak to 12 games. Nicole Clarke scored 19 points in the team’s win over Fraser Valley and added 16 on Saturday to earn Canada West Second Star of the Week honours for the Cougars, who host Calgary (11-7) this Friday and Saturday at the Centre for Kinesiology, Health & Sport.

 

Men’s Basketball – The Cougars (3-15) led in the second half of both games last weekend, but ultimately lost 84-71 to Fraser Valley on Friday and 67-59 to Trinity Western on Saturday. Brendan Hebert had nine assists over the two games to give him 345 for his career, and the fourth-year guard now needs just three more to pass Zach Michell as the school’s all-time assist leader. He’ll almost certainly do that this weekend at home as the Cougars have Calgary (5-13) in town at the CKHS.

 

Track & Field (Men’s CIS Ranking: No. 8 / Women’s CIS Ranking: No. 10) – The men’s and women’s track teams combined for two CIS standards and two new school records over the weekend at the Bison Classic in Winnipeg. Joy Becker’s jump of 5.97 metres in the long jump hit the CIS standard and also broke Janine Polischuk’s school record set back in 2008, while Adrea Propp’s time of 1:34.05 in the 600-metre run broke her own U of R mark set two weekends previous. On the men’s side, Jeremy Eckert hit the CIS standard in the high jump after clearing the bar at 2.10 metres. The Cougars will compete at the SGI Canada Indoor Games at the Regina Fieldhouse on Friday and Saturday and a select group will also travel east for the Windsor Team Challenge on Sunday.

 

Women’s Volleyball – The Cougars (10-10) have now won seven of their past eight matches after a pair of convincing three-set home wins over Thompson Rivers which saw Desiree Ates break the school’s record for most kills in a season. The two victories clinched a Canada West postseason spot for the U of R, which will finish the conference schedule this Friday and Saturday at UBC Okanagan (12-8) before beginning the playoffs against one of Brandon, Manitoba, or Trinity Western the following weekend.

Men’s Volleyball – The Cougars (2-18) split for the second consecutive weekend, defeating No. 5-ranked Thompson Rivers in four sets on Friday before losing a five-set match to the WolfPack on Saturday. Caleb Eschbach had 96 assists and 22 digs in the two matches, while Andrew Nelson put down 36 kills and hit .253 for the weekend. The Cougars close out the 2013-14 season this Friday and Saturday with two matches against UBC Okanagan (4-16) in Kelowna, B.C.

 

Women’s Hockey – The Cougars (11-11-4) dropped a pair of 3-2 decisions to Manitoba over the weekend, losing in overtime on Friday night and in regulation on Saturday afternoon. The U of R will finish in fifth place in the Canada West standings regardless of the outcome of the Cougars’ final two conference games at Alberta this weekend, then they’ll prepare for a best-of-three conference quarterfinal series against either Manitoba or Saskatchewan.

 

A Chat With A Super Bowl Champ

What a day in Seattle!! The sky was clear and blue and around 800-thousand people showed up to celebrate Sunday's Super Bowl win with the Seahawks in a ceremony that ended at CenturyLink field. On Tuesday, I spoke with Regina born Seahawks punter Jon Ryan on the Sportscage. If you missed it......

Coach C Is CFL COY

The Saskatchewan Roughriders are pleased to announce Corey Chamblin has been named 2013 Canadian Football League Coach of the Year. Chamblin was awarded the Annis Stukus Trophy at the annual Coach of the Year Luncheon held this year at the Delta Hotel in Ottawa, Ontario.

 

Chamblin led the Roughriders to an 11-7 record during the regular season, establishing a franchise best 8-1 record to start the year. The Green and White went on to capture their fourth Grey Cup championship, winning 45-23 at Regina's Mosaic Stadium.

 

Chamblin becomes just the sixth head coach in Roughrider history to win the award and first since 2007. He joins Kent Austin (2007), John Gregory (1989), Joe Faragalli (1981), Eagle Keys (1968), and Steve Owen (1962).

Its Official

Here is the list of NFL transactions for February 4

The following are official NFL transactions for Tuesday, February 4. Transactions will be published each day after they are circulated to NFL clubs. This public version will include waiver requests, assignments via waivers, terminations, free agent signings, reserve list and practice squad additions and deletions, and trades. It will not include waiver claims, tryouts, suspensions, etc.

PERSONNEL NOTICE DATE: Tuesday, 2/4/2014
ACTIVE LIST ADDITIONS
FREE AGENT SIGNINGS
KANSAS CITY
Dressler, Weston	WR	North Dakota

Burris Goes To Ottawa

Henry Burris, the vaunted and wily veteran quarterback of 15 Canadian Football League seasons, is bringing his talents to the league’s newest team.
The 38-year-old native of Spiro, Oklahoma, has signed with the Ottawa REDBLACKS, becoming the fourth quarterback on the team’s pre-season depth chart, joining Kevin Glenn, Thomas DeMarco and Matt Faulkner.
As per team policy, details of the contract will not be disclosed.
Burris brings an impressive list of credentials to Ottawa-Gatineau:

• Ranks fourth in all-time CFL regular season passing yardage (51,529) behind Anthony Calvillo, Damon Allen and Danny McManus.
• Ranks fourth in all-time CFL regular-season touchdown passes (324) and needs nine to equal Ron Lancaster for third at 333, behind Calvillo (455) and Allen (394).
• Ranks fourth in all-time CFL completions with 3,672; behind Calvillo (5,892), Allen (5,158), Ricky Ray (3,780)
• Winner of two Grey Cups, both with the Calgary Stampeders in 1998 and 2008.
• Named MVP of the 2008 Grey Cup, a 22-14 victory for Calgary over Montreal in a game played at Olympic Stadium (328 passing yards and 79 rushing yards).
• Known for his scrambling abilities, Burris is 39th in all-time CFL regular-season rushing yardage (5,033), trailing Russ Jackson by a dozen yards. Among quarterbacks, only Damon Allen (11,920), Tracy Ham (8,043) Jackie Parker (5,210) and Jackson have more regular-season rushing yards, although Parker played both quarterback and running back.
• Only Burris and Allen have recorded over 50,000 passing yards and 5,000 rushing yards in CFL history.
• Won his 100th regular-season game as a CFL starting quarterback, a 37-7 win over Winnipeg on November 2, 2013.

“Henry’s credentials speak for themselves. His addition to our team’s depth chart is a major step for our team and our organization,” said REDBLACKS general manager Marcel Desjardins.  “Henry is a true professional both on and off the field and we all know that he will be ready to compete when our training camp begins this spring.”
Ottawa will be the fourth stop for Burris in his CFL career, after Calgary, Regina and Hamilton.
“I’m very excited to make Ottawa my next CFL home,” said Burris. “I’ve heard many great things about the new stadium and how people are getting excited about football coming back to Ottawa. I’m really looking forward to being part of that scene.”
Burris (6-1, 190 lbs.) entered the CFL in 1997 with Calgary before heading to Regina to join the Roughriders in 2000. He spent one season with the Roughriders before signing with the Green Bay Packers of the NFL.
He played one season with the Packers before joining the Chicago Bears in 2002, playing in six games and starting once.
In 2003, Burris began the season with Berlin Thunder of NFL Europe before returning to Canada and Regina where he spent the remainder of 2003 and 2004.
He rejoined the Stampeders in 2005 and played seven seasons in Calgary before being traded to the Hamilton Tiger-Cats prior to the 2012 season for Kevin Glenn, offensive lineman Mark Dewit and a conditional draft pick.
Burris had a standout season in 2012 in Hamilton, throwing 391 completions on 604 attempts for 5,367 yards and 43 touchdowns, all career highs. The completion, passing yards and touchdown totals became all-time Hamilton records. The passing yardage and touchdowns led the CFL.
Last year, he helped the Tiger-Cats to a Grey Cup appearance, once again leading the league in passing yardage (4,927) while throwing for 24 majors on 374 completions.
Burris played college football with the Temple Owls (1993-96), setting several school records during four collegiate seasons.