2008 -- Oct 9 | Apr 27 | Mar 5 -- 2007 -- Dec 10 | Nov 20 | Nov 12 | Nov 3 | Oct 17 | Oct 3 | Sept 3 | Aug 11 | May 27 | Apr 29 | Apr 14 | Mar 11 | Feb 19 | Jan 27
2006 -- Dec 19 | Nov 26 | Nov 20 | Nov 11 | Nov 6 | Oct 30 | Oct 15 | Sept 23 | Sept 16 | Sept 4 | Aug 27 | Aug 20 | Aug 8 | Aug 1 | June 29 | June 21
Hi everyone,
This past week high school football began! There's nothing like high school football to get you excited about the fall. We spent some time at Holy Cross filming their first day of practice and interviewing head coach Barry Rawlyk and linebacker Peter Oliver. Pete wasn't sure he was coming back to Holy Cross for grade eleven as he was planning on going to school to become a priest. When I asked him how he decided to come back to Holy Cross he simply replied, "Lots of prayer".
We were at Griffiths Stadium for the Huskies home opener. I asked Jerry Friesen (head coach of the Golden Bears) for a moment of his time 20 minutes before kickoff and he was more than happy to accommodate us. What a gracious guy, he gave us five minutes and answered all of our questions with candor and warmth. It made me proud to be from Bedford Road, that's where Jerry went to high school.
Saturday night we spent time with Bob Antymniuk and his family as they danced the night away at the Italian Club. He organizes a family reunion around the Labour Day Classic every year. The next morning we filmed a murder mystery party put on by Ken Byers (Bob's nephew). Around 1 PM we caught up with an all male family reunion at Wascana Park. The guys all wear Rider jerseys and play a spirited game of touch football before heading over to Taylor field for the game.
By the time we got to Taylor Field (3 PM) the practice field was nuts. The atmosphere in front of the stadium was electric. We went up to the announcer's booth and interviewed Chris Cuthbert and Glen Suitor. Chris began his broadcasting career in Yorkton with Craig Wilson, small wilderness. Both gentlemen said some terrific things about the Labour Day game and its significance to Rider fans.
At halftime we interviewed Brian Williams. What a great guy. After his halftime show a number of Bomber fans (who had been drinking a tad too much) asked him to come over to the fence to see them. He shook all of their hands and had his picture taken with all of them. Classy move, and he didn't know anyone was watching him. Brian told us after the interview that he likes to support independent filmmakers, thank you Brian Williams!
After the game we found Bob Poley in the weight room and took him out to the field for an interview. He sure loves talking football.
All in all it was a great weekend. We got some terrific footage of the fans and experienced the Labour Day Classic for the very first time, both Chris and I had never been to one of these memorable games.
I want to thank all of you for the interviews you've granted us. From this point forward most of our footage is going to focus on the game. Talk to you soon.
Regards,
Tom Simes
Five Stones Films