Meet some of southern Saskatchewan's biggest Riders Fans

Carlyle, Sask. -

Dean and Sherry Zacharias of Carlyle, Sask. are some of the province’s biggest Saskatchewan Roughrider fans and have the stories and memorabilia to prove it.

“My stepfather was a big Rider fan. Then my best buddy growing up was a big Rider fan and we’d both play football all the time with our friends and everyone wanted to be [Ray] Elgaard. That’s really where it all began,” Dean said on how he began following the team.

However, for Sherry, her fandom began later in life. “It started with the ‘89 Grey Cup. I was just a young fan at the time in the bar and the atmosphere was great,” she said. “It wasn’t long [after] that I met Dean and he was an avid fan. So of course I became even more of a fan.”

Many of Dean and Sherry’s Rider memories are proudly displayed among the walls of their basement. A spot where they often host their friends and family to watch the team’s away games.

“It was a bit of a competition,” Dean said on how his collection of Rider memorabilia began. “It was the same buddy who I became a fan with, we both started ‘Rider Rooms’, and we began collecting things. He would get one thing and then I’d get something better and we went back and forth,” he chuckled. “It got a little crazy over the years and it turned into this.”

“I am so proud of Dean and everything he’s collected. It’s a passion of his and I’m happy that it stays down here [in the basement],” Sherry joked.

The walls are filled with such items as jerseys, hats, life-sized player cutouts, newspaper articles, pictures of their Grey Cup adventures alongside players and staff they have met along the way, footballs, and many miscellaneous Rider logo decor. Their roof has even been given a make-over and now mimics football turf.

However, when he was asked which item on the walls was his favourite,” Dean said “Actually it’s a piece of drywall. My buddy and I had a bet going of who could have an actual Rider autograph their wall in their ‘Rider Room’ and Dan Rashovich was nice enough to come over when he was in town working to sign my wall. So to me, that’s the thing that’s most special.”

Former Saskatchewan Roughrider Dan Rashovich signed a piece of drywall. (BritDort/CTVNews)

“I think the best part about the collection is the pictures. They’re all about the experiences, not just the football team. People come down and they want to know ‘what’s going on in this one?’ or ‘what happened here?’ and it takes us an hour at least to get through the stories and to me that’s so meaningful and what makes it unique,” Sherry said.

When the couple is not hosting watch parties for games in their Rider Room it is because they are attending games in the stands. Dean’s family has had two season tickets since 1974, but him and Sherry purchased their own in 2003. Now the two try to make it to every home game. They also try to travel to every Grey Cup festival and game when they are hosted in the West. This year Regina’s 2022 “Bring it to the Heartland,” will be their ninth Grey Cup Festival. Even though the couple attended Regina’s last Grey Cup week in 2013 where the Roughriders won at home, one of Sherry’s favourite memories is from 2015 in Winnipeg.

“We were doing a flippy cup competition [at one of the Grey Cup events]. I was up against [former Roughrider and 2013 Grey Cup Champion] Geroy Simon and I beat him,” she said. “After I remember saying ‘Geroy Simon I beat you, I totally beat you!’” The couple even has a photo on the wall from the winning moment.

Perhaps an even more meaningful moment came when the couple travelled to the 2019 Grey Cup Festival in Calgary. Sherry had recently been diagnosed with breast cancer but the couple still chose to make the trip despite their situation.

“I was newly diagnosed and we walked into our Airbnb in Calgary. I went into the bedroom and on there bed were laying two jerseys that had ‘together since 1990’, the year we started dating, on the backs. Dean had surprised me and now we try to wear them to almost all of the games,” Sherry said. The jerseys are displayed on the wall when not worn.

Sherry and Dean with their “Together Since 1990” jerseys. (BritDort/CTVNews)

It’s not just the walls that are covered with memories and items. The basement also has shelves, a cabinet case full of items and multiple tables. Amongst the tables is one made from a piece of a section from Taylor Field at Old Mosaic Stadium, put together by Dean.

“I got the top from an old student,” Dean, who is a former teacher said. “I tore apart some old stools I had and put that on top.” They noted it is one of their guests’ favourite spots to sit when they come over to watch games.

Sherry and Dean sitting at a table made from the stands at Taylor Field. (BritDort/CTVNews)

At the games though you can find Dean and Sherry on the 52-yard line behind the visitor’s bench. Before they took over those seats at new Mosaic Stadium they were just a few rows back, in the same spot, at old Mosaic. Both have fond memories over the years at the iconic sports venue. They even have bolts and a piece of concrete from the original structure. Dean is among the thousands of Rider fans that agree the 2013 Grey Cup is one of his favourite memories.

Bolts and concrete [far right of shelf is concrete] from the grandstands at Old Mosaic. (BritDort/CTVNews)

“It was really special. Even though the building was a little bit older, it was just a classic. That game stands out as a classic,” he said.

Sherry’s favourite memory is one Rider fans may not be as fond as. “All of the games were fantastic but my favourite memory was when my daughter was a little Rider cheerleader and it was the ‘blackout bowl’. She just finished her halftime routine and it started hailing and storming. You never forget trying to find your kid in the dark and your other kid wondering why everybody was taking off their [soaked] clothes,” she said while laughing.

In 2022, the Roughriders are on the cusp of officially being eliminated from playoff contention which means they have so far failed to give fans the exciting season they received the last time the Grey Cup was hosted in Regina. But for Dean and Sherry, that will not stop their love for the game and the upcoming festivities.

“It’s football Mardi Gras! It’s all about the CFL and people coming together across Canada because football is a feeling so go out and enjoy it,” Sherry said.

“It’s been a long season but there’s always next year. I know we always say that but things go up and down all the time with the team. There’s always friendships that we have with other Rider fans that make being a Rider fan special. So hang in there, it’s going to be alright,” Dean said.