View from the Cheap Seats is kind of an extension of the newsroom. Whenever our three regular reporters, Calvin Daniels, Thom Barker and Randy Brenzen are in the building together, it is frequently a site of heated debate. This week: How do you feel about the possibility the Edmonton Rush professional lacrosse team might move to Saskatchewan?
Not holding breath
Last year we did our Top 5 sports to watch on TV in this space. If we were to do that again now, one that wasn’t even on my radar last time would slip into third place.
It is a shame that professional box lacrosse simply does not get much attention outside its major markets. This is a sport that is exciting, entertaining, fast-paced and truly Canadian.
I have a long history with box lacrosse. When I was growing up, my brother was seriously into the game. My last stint living in Ottawa just happened to coincide with the three years that city had a franchise, the Rebel, I went to some games and it was really fun.
But even with that history, it is really easy to lose track of the game because it is just about as low a priority as there is for North American broadcasters and news agencies.
And unfortunately, the league has a way of chewing up teams and spitting them out. Of the 10 teams that have won championships in the modern era, only five remain in the league. At its peak, there were 16 teams, now there are nine. A total of 30 teams have gone defunct over the years.
So, I greet the news that the Edmonton Rush may be considering a move to Saskatoon with a mixture of feelings. First, it is sad that Edmonton hasn’t stepped up to embrace its team. Particularly this season as they are currently in a battle for the championship with the Toronto Rock (oddly the most successful team in the league bucking the trend of big smoke professional sports franchises of sucking).
Would I welcome the Rush to Saskatoon? Hell yeah! Would I travel to Toontown for games? Sure I would.
Do I expect Saskatchewan to get behind professional lacrosse if it comes to the province? Not really, but I hope to be proven wrong.
-Thom Barker
Rushriders?
I have been a fan of lacrosse for decades, going back to some early coverage I did on the sport when I was still writing a sport column at my hometown newspaper The Tisdale Recorder.
I also happen to be rather devout in my support of all things Canadian, and since it is our official summer sport my interest includes the sport.
There are two distinct versions of the game; the first being played on a basically football-sized field outdoors.
Major League Lacrosse is the eight-team pro loop for the outdoor game, although sadly there are currently no Canadian teams since Hamilton transferred south to Florida a couple of seasons back.
The indoor version (box lacrosse) also has a pro league; the National Lacrosse League, which at present falls only behind Canadian Football League action in terms of my current favourite sports to watch.
With a 30-second shot clock guaranteeing lots of shots, shots which come from all angles (even from behind the net) there is lots of offence.
Add in physical play akin to hockey, and the game is amazing.
The NLL has four Canadian teams, two of those Toronto and Edmonton currently in the league championships, the first time for an all-Canadian match-up for the crown.
You would think having won the NLL West and being in the final the Edmonton Rush would be a happily stable team, but that is not the case. While Edmonton has suffered through abysmal hockey for years with the Oilers and the Eskimos a long way from the CFL dynasty days, you might think the Rush would be the toast of the city.
Fan support however has not been great for the Rush, far behind the rival Calgary Roughnecks, and with no lease moving forward with the new arena in Edmonton, and talks with the City for some aid stalled at best, the Rush could end up league champs, and be on the move.
As strange as the scenario is, it could be good news for Saskatchewan.
Rush brass have visited Saskatoon as a possible new home.
While lacrosse may not be everybody’s most thought about sport, the Rush would be the province’s second professional sport franchise, and we here at least appreciate a winner, and how to support a team which is not always the best, as witnessed by the love affair with our CFL Roughriders.
With only nine home games, the ability to support the Rush and the NLL should be reasonable to achieve for a vibrant city such as Saskatoon, and the population within a 100-miles making a game trip easy to do.
I know I’d head west two, or three times a season to watch the Rush (Saskatchewan Rushriders anyone?).
For me the breaking news the NLL might be coming to the province was major, and I hope it transpires and that sports fan here jump on the lacrosse bandwagon. It truly is a great sport to be a fan of.
- Calvin Daniels
Bring it on!
Rumour has it that the Edmonton Rush of the National Lacrosse League are on the move, with Saskatoon listed as one of the more likely places for a team that is currently one win away from an NLL title.
But would having the Rush in Saskatoon be a good thing?
Without a shadow of a doubt the answer is yes. Or as WWE’s Daniel Bryan would say, Yes! Yes! Yes!
Saskatchewan currently has but one professional sports franchise in the Riders, yet the Riders are supported better than any CFL team and probably supported better than any NFL team. Should the Rush move to Saskatoon then chances are they’d also be very well supported by Saskatchewan, especially if they choose to become the Saskatchewan Rush (or some other, better, team name of course).
Having the Rush in Saskatoon would also give people in Saskatchewan a professional sports team to cheer for outside of the CFL and curling season.
And just think about it. Box lacrosse is a sport built for Saskatchewan. It’s rough, it’s tough and it’s far more physical than it’s field lacrosse weaker brother.
People in Saskatchewan love their physicality, whether it’s in the form of the Riders or junior hockey, so it just makes sense that professional box lacrosse would take off in the land of the living skies.
-Randy Brenzen
