Celebrating our namesakes: Roughriders … RoughRiders … Rough Riders … Riders!

12/10/2024 05:11 PM

Rider Pride extends far and wide.

In fact, that has long been the case — even when you exclude the Saskatchewan Roughriders and Ottawa Rough Riders from the equation.

Consider the case of Bernie Bucholtz, who made the rare — and, as far as we can determine, unprecedented — transition from the Roughriders (Northern Ontario Rugby Football Union) to Roughriders (Western Interprovincial Football Union, a precursor to the CFL's West Division).

Bucholtz excelled at halfback with the Ontario-based North Bay Roughriders before journeying to Saskatchewan and suiting up for two games with the Green and White in 1955. He also attended training camp in 1956.

His many athletic achievements have been honoured by induction into the North Bay Sports Hall of Fame.

There is an assortment of other examples relating to the Roughriders, RoughRiders, Rough Riders, Riders and … um, have we missed anyone?

• Red River High School, located in Grand Forks, N.D., has assigned the Roughriders nickname to all its athletic teams. Which brings us to … foreshadowing! On Sept. 5, 2003, Bismarck High's Weston Dressler ran for two touchdowns, scored another TD on a reception, completed a 33-yard pass on a halfback option, and blocked a punt for good measure. He helped Bismarck defeat Grand Forks Red River 42-13 in a game that, as a gift to this researcher, was documented by the Grand Forks Herald. Dressler was reintroduced to the Roughriders when, in 2008, he began an eight-season stay in Saskatchewan and his route to the Canadian Football Hall of Fame.

• The Frisco RoughRiders (Frisco, Texas) are a Class AA minor-league baseball team. Their parent club, the Texas Rangers, selected future Roughriders quarterback Shea Patterson in the 39th round of the 2018 Major League Baseball draft. The Frisco ball club plays its Texas League home games at 10,216-seat Riders Field.

• Hudson Bay Composite High School has embraced the Riders nickname for decades. SaskTel Plaza of Honour inductee Bob Poley, for example, is a proud alumnus of the Hudson Bay Riders. They play at Rider Field.

• Regina Minor Football's pee wee Riders boasted a 7-1 record this past season.

• Quandary: Do the Prince Albert River Riders, of Saskatoon Minor Football fame, meet the criteria? Discuss …

• Theodore Roosevelt High School is the home of the Rough Riders in Chicago, Honolulu and the city of Kent, Ohio.

• Youngker High School (Buckeye, Ariz.) also cheers on its Roughriders.

• The Cedar Rapids RoughRiders, an Iowa-based United States Hockey League team, returns to action on Saturday against the host Chicago Steel.

• The Glendale RoughRiders' power soccer program is based in Glendale, Calif. (Power soccer, for the uninitiated, is a four-on-four version of the sport. It is played on a regulation-sized basketball court.)

• The Long Island Rough Riders soccer team plays in USL League 2. Home matches are played on the campus of Hofstra University in Huntington, N.Y. Roughriders alumni from Hofstra: Rocky Butler (quarterback, 2002-06), Renauld Williams (linebacker, 2007-09, 2013), Christian Camera (offensive lineman, training camp 1993) and Kahmal Roy (receiver, training camp 2003).

• The Yavapai College Roughriders (Prescott, Ariz.) take part in soccer, volleyball, basketball, baseball and softball.

• Also from Prescott: The Tri-City Roughriders' youth basketball team.

• The Rough Riders are a member of the Northern Illinois Men's Baseball League.

• The Roughriders proudly represent the Dickinson Baseball Club Inc., from North Dakota.

• Here's a shout-out to the Roughriders lacrosse program, from Howard County, Md.

• The Rough Rider Track Club is based in Johnstown, Colo.

• Also from that great state: Colorado RoughRiders Basketball and the Colorado RoughRiders Volleyball Club (Superior, Colo.).

To all of the above, and anyone else who shares our good name, we say: "On Roughriders!"