Smoky haze across the city doesn’t stop practice
Environment Canada ranked Calgary ’s air quality heath index at 10+ as smoke from B.C.’s forest fires blanketed the city on Wednesday.
That, however, didn’t stop the Calgary Stampeders from practising at McMahon Stadium despite the fact that both end zones were covered in a thick haze.
Head coach Dave Dickenson indicated that he did not consider cancelling practice, but warned his players to be cautious. According to Environment Canada, the air quality was bad enough that it was considered a high risk that contributes to health concerns.
“It affects us, no doubt about it,” Dickenson said. “It is what it is. We’ve got to work, you guys (media) are out here working. Maybe if we had an indoor facility, we’d use it. It would have been nice. But we don’t, so we have to work today.”
Experiencing similar conditions in Edmonton, the Eskimos moved their practice to their indoor facility but the Stampeders do not have that luxury.
“We talked about taking extra water breaks and I cut (the length of practice) down a little bit. But football players aren’t like the general population,” Dickenson said. “We don’t love being out here, but we’ve got work to do.”
So they practised. “When I went to Montana State and living in the Northwest (U.S.), you’re going to get that,” said middle linebacker Alex Singleton of the smoky conditions. “There’s lots of national parks and lots of fires going on all the time and unless it’s snow or ash, you’re practising.
“You just have to come in with the right mindset that you’re practising. It doesn’t matter what the weather report says.”
For the second straight day, equipment manager George Hopkins blasted crowd noise through the loudspeakers at McMahon Stadium, simulating the raucous crowd noise of Mosaic Stadium.
It’s standard practice ahead of road games against the Saskatchewan Roughriders; the same process they used ahead of their 34-22 win on July 28 in Regina.
But it also means their game notes and preparations are still fresh.
“When you’ve seen the facilities and know what kind of crowd you’re going to get, it’s not like you’re looking forward to it but it’s certainly going to be tough,” Dickenson said. “It’s tough to beat anyone back-to-back. We know it’s a huge, huge challenge and we’re going to be in tough. It’s going to take every one of us to get it done and I think they’re going to be desperate after losing a couple.”
Calgary is 7-0 while Saskatchewan is 3-4 and have lost two straight.
DB Ciante Evans did not practise on Wednesday after colliding with DB Troy Stoudermire during Tuesday’s practice.
“He’s definitely sore,” Dickenson said. “It’s one of those things where they were competing and going hard. But he did have a good fall and I’m confident he’ll be in the lineup (Sunday).”
Running backs Terry Williams (shoulder) and Don Jackson (hamstring/leg) practised again for the second straight day.
“We’re moving,” Dickenson said. “All three (Romar Morris included) should be healthy to go. I’ve gotta see a few more days but we’re trending in the right direction and we’ll see how we do.”
DL Ese Mrabure and DE Cordarro Law were both placed on the six-game injured list.