By Greg Nikkel
Centring on Rider fans helped turn the Saskatchewan Roughriders into one of the most successful sports franchises in Canada, said the former president and CEO of the Riders, Jim Hopson.
He was the guest speaker at the Weyburn Hospital Foundation’s fundraiser supper on July 12 at the Curling Rink, which capped the charity golf tournament held earlier that day at the Weyburn Golf Course, and raised close to $100,000.
The prime rib supper was catered by the Young Fellows Club, and the evening included a live and silent auction, with all proceeds going to the Hospital Foundation’s equipment fund for Weyburn’s new hospital.
There were 93 golfers at the tournament and 220 were in attendance for the supper at the Curling Rink. The live auction items totalled about $28,100, with Derrick Pouliot’s signed Penguins jersey going for the top price of $4,700. In addition, there were 30 items for the silent auction, raising a total of $3,825.
Hopson grew up in Regina “in the shadow of Taylor Field”, attending Thom Collegiate and playing football for the Regina Rams.
He went on to a career as a teacher, and was teaching in Ceylon in 1972 when he signed a contract to play for the Roughriders, getting a contract for $8,500 plus a signing bonus of $250.
“That was a lot of money in 1972. I made $5,500 teaching that year,” said Hopson, noting he and his wife travelled down to Plentywood, Mont., to celebrate, “which I’m sure many of you can relate to.”
Referring to his playing days and afterwards as the president of the Riders, Hopson said, “I’m proud to say that football changed my life.”
He added he was very impressed with the sports talent that has come out of Weyburn and area, with Rider player Brendan LaBatte as one example, not to mention Brett Jones, NHLer Derrick Pouliot and PGA golfer Graham DeLaet.
For himself, a major change came at training camp, and in one drill for offensive linemen, called the “Bull in the Ring”, he had to go up against “The Undertaker”, Bill Baker.
“He was bigger and stronger, but I had great balance and a low centre of gravity. I beat him, and the rest of the team was in shock,” said Hopson, noting they lined up to do the drill again, and Baker made sure he lined up against him again — and again, Hopson beat him in the drill.
“That kind of turned things around for me. All of a sudden, the team players and the coaches looked at me differently, and there was a grudging sort of respect,” he said, noting other players on the team who had an impact on him, including “The Little General”, quarterback Ron Lancaster and receiver George Reed.
He described how the 1976 season went, with the Riders finishing second in the two previous seasons and then losing out to Edmonton. For that season, they bore down to finish first so they could make it to the Grey Cup. This time they did, but lost the championship game — and this was Hopson’s last game as a player for the Riders.
Fast-forwarding to his years in charge of the Riders, Hopson said in 2005, “I had a dream come true. I grew up in the shadow of Taylor Field, I played for the Riders, and then got to go back as the president.”
When he came on board, “We had become much better under Roy Shivers and Danny Barrett, and we became competitive.”
Thus, later, Hopson said, “one of the toughest decisions I ever had to make was to fire Roy. He simply would not make a move on Danny, so I fired Roy and hired Eric Tillman.
The 2009 season was “probably my toughest year”, he said, for a variety of reasons, including Tillman being charged for sexual interference, and then losing the Grey Cup in the last play of the game due to an extra man on the field. Two seasons later, the challenges continued with the Riders posting their worst-ever win-loss record of 5-13.
After that, the team began to rebuild, and this process culminated in winning the Grey Cup on home turf.
“It was a great time for us, for the fans and the city and for the province,” he said.
“With the tough decisions I had to make, it’s the fans that kept me going,” said Hopson, noting that it was the strong devotion of lifelong fans who lived in Medicine Hat, Alta., who brought home to him the importance that fans have for the Saskatchewan Roughriders.
What impressed him was how strongly supportive of the Riders they were, cheering for the team through several years when they really weren’t very good.
“That really struck me. If these people cared that much, I’ve got to harness that, and it got into my thinking,” he said.
When asked by Rider staff what the heart of the club’s marketing should be, Hopson said, “I suggested we should make the fans the centre of who we are, the 13th man, and lo and behold, we really hit on something. This is what we are. We’re Saskatchewan, we’re tough and we will overcome.”
In the years since, he said, the Riders went from earning a few hundred thousand dollars from merchandise to making millions, which made the Riders the third-highest grossing professional sports team for merchandise after the Toronto Maple Leafs and Montreal Canadiens.
Speaking of the new coach and general manager, Chris Jones and the new season, starting with two losses, Hopson said, “We’ve hit a bump in the road, but we have a confident young man. I’m very encouraged. I see a very good coaching staff. I think Chris is a coach you’d love to play for. He’s a gambler, and I think the team will respond to him.”
“It’ll be interesting to see how long Chris is here. I hope he’s here three or four years at least,” said Hopson.
He added that Chris wants the team to be very good for next year when the team moves into the new stadium, which “I believe will be the best outdoor stadium in Canada, maybe even in North America.”
