Roughriders

[raysox]

Can anyone shed some light on why both Saskatchewan and Ottawa used the name Roughriders for so long? Ottawa existed from 1876 to 1996, with Saskatchewan being formed in 1910. They were in separate leagues and then merged, but was there anyone who tried to push a name change at any point? Has there ever been another league that had 2 teams with essentially the same name(I don't want anyone to be like OTTAWA HAS A SPACE THO)?

The uniform match ups weren't bad, either.

[Funky Bunky]

There's a difference between Roughriders, and, Rough Riders, THO

[vman]

Has there ever been another league that had 2 teams with essentially the same name

The AHL currently has both the Norfolk and Milwaukee Admirals.

[gmu599]

The quick and dirty answer was because they originally were part of separate football associations that eventually came together to form the modern day CFL. Kind of how some NCAA members have the same mascot then become part of the same conference (Think SEC).

One way people distinguished the difference between the two, was to call one The Eastern Riders and the other, the Western Riders.

[walby2]

This has become a much bigger deal in hindsight than it ever was at the time both teams coexisted, IMO.

People knew that there were two teams with effectively the same name in a small league, precisely because the WRFU and IRFU evolved from separate leagues into a singular entity which ultimately became the CFL. The Ottawa Rough Riders were the only team in their league with that name for a good 60 years before the merger that created the modern-day CFL in 1959.

In common parlance, people just referred to Ottawa as the "eastern Riders" or "the Roughies" and Saskatchewan as the "green Riders" or "western Riders". (No one ever seemed to call Ottawa the "black Riders" nor did they call Saskatchewan "the Roughies". Don't ask me why.) It never seemed to generate any discussion besides the occasional lame standup comic from LA making a joke about TWO TEAMS IN A NINE TEAM LEAGUE HAVE THE SAME NAME WHAT IS WITH YOU CRAZY CANADIANS LOL WTF.

I'd love to see the new Ottawa team get the Rough Riders name back, but that doesn't appear likely to happen. Too bad, because there was a lot of history and tradition tied up in that name.

[Nook]

The Ottawa CFL team was originally named the Rough Riders, but they abandoned the name sometime before the Regina team joined the CFL (it was something else at the time) and the Regina Roughriders took the name. Eventually Ottawa re-adopted their original name and the two-Rider controversy was born.

As much as the Rough Rider name is important to Ottawa, I think it's time for them to establish something new. Don't pick anything to do with the Riders and Renegades... Both franchises were disasters off the field during the later parts of their tenure.

I like the name "Rivermen" for an Ottawa team.

[DelayedPenalty]

A quick Wiki turned up these answers:

Ottawa: Although in later years the name was said to derive from logging, the team based its colours on Teddy Roosevelt's regiment in the Spanish-American War, which, with the date of the renaming, suggests that the name also comes from the war.

Saskatchewan: The origin of the name has multiple theories, one of which describes how the North-West Mounted Police were called Roughriders because they broke the wild horse broncos that were used by the force and the moniker was adopted from them. Another states that the name was adopted from Theodore Roosevelt's cavalry contingent that was known as the Rough Riders, who fought in the Spanish–American War. It was believed that there were Canadian troops in the contingent that returned to Canada following the war and moved outwest.

So it seems both teams could have derived their names from the same place, though neither of them seem to be conclusive. The fact that they played in different leagues at the time seems to be the best explanation as to why they both existed.

[tigerslionspistonshabs]

This topic always reminds me of South Park (think it may have been the movie) where it's a Terrence and Philip scene in Canada at a CFL game. The commentators are talking about other scores around the league and all the teams are named the Rough Riders lol.

[NatsFan2004]

From a brand and image perspective, it makes more sense to choose a new name for any CFL expansion team (not just Ottawa) rather than re-using an existing name. This really only affects Ottawa, but I think it's a general principle rather than being anti-Rough Riders.

[IceCap]

From a brand and image perspective, it makes more sense to choose a new name for any CFL expansion team (not just Ottawa) rather than re-using an existing name. This really only affects Ottawa, but I think it's a general principle rather than being anti-Rough Riders.

Agreed. When both teams were around people tolerated it because the two teams did come from separate leagues, so it was kind of this quirk that got "grandfathered" in. That would still apply if the Ottawa Rough Riders were still around, but they folded. A new Ottawa team using it wouldn't get the same "pass" the Rough Riders got.

[kw11333]

I think it will be less of a deal if Ottawa has the old "R" on their helmets when they comeback in 2014.

[cmm]

This topic always reminds me of South Park (think it may have been the movie) where it's a Terrence and Philip scene in Canada at a CFL game. The commentators are talking about other scores around the league and all the teams are named the Rough Riders lol.

It's from the Terrance and Phillip "Not Without My Anus" episode, my all-time favorite.

[Howie_16]

I'd like to see them go with "Ottawa Otters". Alliteration + No other team uses this name = Works!

[illwauk]

This has become a much bigger deal in hindsight than it ever was at the time both teams coexisted, IMO.

People knew that there were two teams with effectively the same name in a small league, precisely because the WRFU and IRFU evolved from separate leagues into a singular entity which ultimately became the CFL. The Ottawa Rough Riders were the only team in their league with that name for a good 60 years before the merger that created the modern-day CFL in 1959.

In common parlance, people just referred to Ottawa as the "eastern Riders" or "the Roughies" and Saskatchewan as the "green Riders" or "western Riders". (No one ever seemed to call Ottawa the "black Riders" nor did they call Saskatchewan "the Roughies". Don't ask me why.) It never seemed to generate any discussion besides the occasional lame standup comic from LA making a joke about TWO TEAMS IN A NINE TEAM LEAGUE HAVE THE SAME NAME WHAT IS WITH YOU CRAZY CANADIANS LOL WTF.

I'd love to see the new Ottawa team get the Rough Riders name back, but that doesn't appear likely to happen. Too bad, because there was a lot of history and tradition tied up in that name.

I think that solves the issue of what the new Ottawa club should call itself (ala Toronto Marlboroughs/Toronto Marlies).

[walby2]

I think that solves the issue of what the new Ottawa club should call itself (ala Toronto Marlboroughs/Toronto Marlies).

LOL, yeah... that didn't occur to me! Bring back the "R"!

[Northender]

After the Ottawa Renegades folded in 2006, the Saskatchewan Roughriders got the CFL to agree to not allow the use of Roughriders (or Rough Riders, Riders, Red Riders etc) by a future expansion team, so there will never again be 2 teams with the same name in the CFL.

Further the ownership group of the CFL expansion team in Ottawa has come out and said the team will likely (though they stopped short of saying 100%) will not start with R. They want to go in a new direction that the 18-35's can embrace, rather than go down the nostalgia road again. In fact, they have said Renegades is also not on their list.

[kw11333]

After the Ottawa Renegades folded in 2006, the Saskatchewan Roughriders got the CFL to agree to not allow the use of Roughriders (or Rough Riders, Riders, Red Riders etc) by a future expansion team, so there will never again be 2 teams with the same name in the CFL.

Further the ownership group of the CFL expansion team in Ottawa has come out and said the team will likely (though they stopped short of saying 100%) will not start with R. They want to go in a new direction that the 18-35's can embrace, rather than go down the nostalgia road again. In fact, they have said Renegades is also not on their list.

They are letting the public name their team. They did publicly say they can't use the Riders name, and they don't want to use the Renegades name