Mini-columns: Riders, REAL, CFL QBs, Vladdy’s team

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A four-pack of mini-columns:

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ONE: Right away the texts and DMs started rolling in, wondering if Saskatchewan Roughriders kicker Brett Lauther was going to get the “manure treatment” after missing four of seven field goals in a 27-24 loss Friday to the Montreal Alouettes.

Hasn’t the CFL team’s fanbase grown past that? It’s embarrassing that Saskatchewan and its football fans are remembered for something so stupid.

It’s been 20 years since kicker Paul McCallum missed an 18-yard field goal against the B.C. Lions that could have given Saskatchewan a berth in the 2004 Grey Cup game. While the defeated team was flying home, McCallum’s house was egged, someone yelled insults at his wife and manure was dumped on his driveway. The culprits also missed, mistakenly dumping it on a neighbour’s driveway.

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Lauther has been a clutch kicker, whose determination to play professionally is an amazing story. Like McCallum, Lauther apologized publicly to fans and teammates following his outing.

McCallum ultimately left Saskatchewan, won two Grey Cups with B.C. and earned induction into the Canadian Football Hall of Fame. Lauther may face challengers for his job, but that should be the extent of it.

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TWO: Almost every Regina media outlet has tried contacting REAL with questions about the Young Guns Hockey Academy getting unprecedented access to the Brandt Centre,

As of Monday morning, REAL hadn’t responded.

Regina Exhibition Association Limited is publicly funded. It oversees everything on the exhibition grounds, from Mosaic Stadium to convention facilities to the six-rink Co-Operators Centre to indoor soccer’s AffinityPlex to the 6,000-seat Brandt Centre.

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Hiding has already gotten REAL into serious trouble, with the ill-conceived “Experience Regina” promotion that led to the ousting of CEO Tim Reid, the City of Regina assuming $9 million of the organization’s debts and the replacement of the old board.

It’s unfathomable to see REAL still operating without proper supervision.

REAL can certainly set up a business arrangement with Young Guns, part of the privately-owned Super Hockey League, and let parents decide if they want to pay thousands to enrol their fledgling Connor McDavids in the program.

But who made the decision to let Young Guns take over booking policies at the arena? REAL’s new board evidently wasn’t told about the agreement, which angered the senior hockey players who have been booking the Brandt Centre’s off-prime hours for decades.

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Mayor Sandra Masters told reporters she intended to meet with REAL representatives on Monday. Maybe she can find out what’s happening behind REAL’s closed doors.

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THREE: It’s great to have a talented, humble and appreciative quarterback back in the CFL. That’s not Chad Kelly, who has rejoined the Toronto Argonauts after a nine-game suspension for harassing a female coach.

We’re talking about Nathan Rourke, the Canadian quarterback who spent two years unsuccessfully trying to join several NFL teams.

Rourke rejoined B.C. last week and, with Vernon Adams Jr. injured, started Sunday’s game against the Winnipeg Blue Bombers. After only three practices he wasn’t sharp, completing eight of 25 passes for 126 yards with two interceptions in a 20-11 loss to Winnipeg.

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Rourke apologized for his showing and vowed to get better. That’s believable. It’s worth noting that Rourke criticized the CFL for its handling of the Kelly incident.

Upon his reinstatement, Kelly also vowed to get better and admitted he accepted a “last-chance” clause as part of the arrangement.

“Kelly was required to attend psychological assessments and mandatory counselling sessions,” according to a release distributed by the CFL on Sunday. Although his social media commentaries had been vengeful during his suspension, Kelly released his own statement, leading with an apology to “many people” before saying, “I am committed to doing what is needed to be a better teammate, colleague and person.”

Kelly is expected to start Thursday against the visiting Roughriders. It’s perplexing why nobody from Argonauts management was disciplined, even though they ignored the coach’s complaints.

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FOUR: Only the Toronto Blue Jays wouldn’t start a player hitting over .500, so infielder Will Wagner was on the bench for most of Sunday’s 1-0 win over the Chicago Cubs. Rookie Joey Loperfido homered for the Jays, who improved to 58-66 in a horrific season that began with huge expectations.

The rebuild has begun around Vladimir Guerrero Jr., whose second-half rebound has proven he’s worthy of being the franchise’s centrepiece. Will they rebuild the lineup more efficiently than the Rogers Centre, where the first-year renovations had to be re-done?

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