December of 2023 was when I started this blog. Since then, I've had the pleasure of meeting wonderful people, gaining valuable experience and making many connections. I've met with the likes of TSN journalists, passionate fans and other young content creators like myself. And I can honestly say that having this blog has changed my life for the better. But how did I get here? To answer that we need to go back to September of 2023.
September of 2023 is where I met the CFL family in person for the first time. I had a dinner at the four seasons with a YouTuber named CoachPhilReacts, as well as many Rider fans from Twitter. At this dinner, I met people on the nonprofessional side of things. The passionate fans who really wanted to talk about football, the Riders, and their stories from their everyday lives. I can't explain it, but to me it really felt like home. These people welcomed me in with open arms and couldn't wait to hear about me, my personal life, the Riders, everything. Around this time, I really started getting into the CFL, and a big part of it was those people I met. When I started this blog, they were there to support me right away and showed me nothing but love on Twitter. Nowadays, when I see them in person, they're always so warm and friendly. They really do feel like family.
November came quickly, and just like that, the season was over. Me and my mother were already deep in the offseason blues. No real exciting news coming out except for Grey Cup recaps. We were bored. Then news came out about the Riders' coaching search. We shared our opinions with each other on who we thought would be the best coach to lead the beleaguered Riders out of their 2-year playoff drought. On November 30th, it was revealed that Corey Mace had become the new head coach of the Riders, and I was very happy with this decision. I wanted to share my opinions with people, but all I had was my mom to talk to. I was thinking about careers at this point, and sports journalism came to mind. I immediately fell in love with the idea. To start my journey, I decided to reach out to sports journalists on Twitter to see if they had any advice for me. The first one I reached out to was Dave Naylor. To my surprise, he responded very quickly with a large paragraph, with the main message being to do, do, do. What that meant is to do whatever I could to get experience and build my resume. He even offered to call me sometime to talk about it. I was overjoyed. I immediately told my mom about it. She suggested that I start a blog. So I took her advice and I published my first ever blog post on December 13th of 2023, talking about offseason rumors and the new coach in town. Soon enough, I would meet the man himself in a very unlikely place.
February of 2024 was a very big month for me. It started out with a call from Dave Naylor, on February 1st. I had compiled a list of questions on my computer that I asked him during the conversation we had, and he had an answer to every single one of them. No matter what I asked, he gave me a very concise and well explained answer. During the call, he said he had to go do Ottawa radio, and that he'd call me back in 20-30 minutes. That showed me that he really cared about this conversation and that he could take time out of his busy schedule to make time for me. That already meant the world to me. When we got back on the phone, he complimented the questions I asked and said that he knew he wasn't wasting his time. I smiled wide and I knew that this is what I wanted to do for the rest of my life. After our hour long call, we said goodbye and hung up. To me, this is something that really sparked my passion for sports journalism.
After that came free agency, which of course gave me much opportunity to write about blockbuster moves that teams made during that period. Free agency had just concluded when I went with my parents to go help out at my little brother's birthday party at the Brandt Centre, which is where the Regina Pats play. We were sat behind one of the nets, and who the Pats were playing I can't remember. But what I do remember is turning around and spotting none other than Corey Mace, the new head coach, sitting way at the top of the arena, in one of the seating areas with tables and high chairs rather than the usual fold out chairs used in the arena. I was immediately starstruck. I originally was going to keep to myself until I pointed him out to my mother who told me I should go say hi to him. I was incredibly nervous, but I obliged. Saskatchewan hospitality, after all. I walked up to his seat and introduced myself. We had a chat about the city and free agency, after which we shook hands and I started to return to my seat. It was only after that that I realized I had not got a picture with him. So I ran back up the steep stairs and asked for one. He obliged, and this was the result.
I was writing my blog consistently during the season, and in the words of my mother, the 2024 Riders became "My Team". They're the squad that started my passion for writing about Canadian football, and I knew the most about this team than any other. I would sometimes get my mom to quiz me on the Riders' roster and get every single player matched with their number. I also started paying lots of attention to other teams around the league, meaning I could do the name and number quiz with other teams with mostly the same accuracy. Every week I published a new post, I would get support from both my parents as well as my CFL family on Twitter. It felt like what I was meant to do. Back in April when I posted a draft article, someone on Twitter replied and said "Chimirri-Olson has X going Y in the draft." I smiled when I saw it. Someone had referred to me by my last name just like they do with actual sports journalists. It made me very proud of my work.
The season came and went. It felt like a blur. The miracle of Nick Arbuckle stepping up and winning a Grey Cup for the Toronto Argonauts was nothing short of amazing. Still, it was bittersweet. One of the most important football seasons of my life was over. During it, I made new friends, formed strong relationships with the CFL family and Coach Mace and kickstarted my journalism career. But all good things must come to an end, so I started thinking of offseason content to make. It is not easy to come up with that stuff, as my friends at Piffles and 2 and Out would know. January was quite boring, but February brought free agency, which I covered. That is one of my favorite times of the year. Then we get to March of 2025. And this has been a big month for me.
I started out by asking Dave Naylor if he would be in Regina for the combine. When he said yes, I asked if I would be able to job shadow him there, as a way to soak up experience and knowledge from a pro journalist like a sponge. He agreed to the proposition and he told me we would find a time. I was over the moon. There are not many opportunities to do what I was about to do, so all I could do the rest of the day was wear a smile. Later that month, there was a nationwide CFL Fans Fight Cancer dinner happening. I attended the one in Regina, and once again I was warmly greeted by the CFL family. Familiar faces, people I had never met, and Coach Mace. He came up to me and asked how I was. I mentioned I was job shadowing Dave Naylor, and his face immediately lit up. He was genuinely interested in what I was doing, which meant so much to me. He also told the diner that I was one of the first people that ever came up to him and welcomed him to Rider Nation, and that he would never forget my face. The fact that I am this close to a CFL head coach and that he cares about not just me, but everyone he talks to, speaks to his character as a man and inspires me. At that dinner, I really felt like I belonged there.
Friday, March 21st, which at the time of writing this was yesterday, was when the job shadow came to fruition. I met Dave at the front entrance of the Affinityplex. He spoke to the ticket personnel, explained that I didn't have a media pass but that I was with him, and they let me through. The next three hours were fascinating. I got to go on the field to watch drills up close, I soaked information up from Dave about players and the league, and I had another encounter with Corey Mace. This time, Dave and I were watching the 3 cone drill close up. I looked behind me in the direction of the 40 yard dash and saw Mace. He pointed at me, then at Dave, gave me an understanding nod and grin, then walked up behind us, hugged us at the same time and said to me "You're in good company!" Dave and I laughed it off, and Corey Mace became less of a public figure and more of a friend to me. In fact, he mentioned to Dave one day before the combine that I was meant to job shadow him. This jogged his memory and he reached out that day to work out a time. That was really special to me. Dave and I moved to the 40 yard dash, and seeing these athletes run this drill from close up was incredible. When Ope Oshinubi ran the fastest 40 time of the day, an audible uproar came from the crowd, the players, Dave, and me. We sat down, watched more runs, chatted about the league, and then he ran to do some interviews. I walked over with him and met WizardTakes, an Instagram page focused on the CJFL. We were in the same boat, both young Canadian football content creators, and we had a nice discussion about our respective areas of expertise. Just then, Dave came over and said "Do you want to come meet these guys?" I was so excited. I shook hands and chatted with CFL royalty such as Paul LaPolice, Duane Forde, Farhan Lalji and Marshall Ferguson. I made four more connections that day. At the end. I said my farewells to Dave and thanked him for the opportunity. As I turned around and left, I had the biggest smile on my face.
Today, Saturday the 22nd of March, a very kind twitter user by the name of Riders Fan 13 (who I later found out is named Alex) donated his two tickets for Saturday and Sunday's combine to me. The CFL family's generosity and kindness were on full display. We met up at the Combine and had a great conversation. There I also got to say hi to RiderCharm and Prairie_Scot, 2 of my CFL family Twitter friends, and they were so interested in my endeavors the day before with Dave. It made me happy to know that they both cared so much about what I was doing. I also got to speak with Sheldon Jones of the 2 and Out podcast. After the day's events were done, me and my mother went to the media area behind the mesh to speak to Dave again. Just like with Corey, Dave felt like less of a public figure and more of a friend that day.
To Dave Naylor - Thank you for taking me under your wing. Your constant willingness to take time out of your schedule and teach me about the industry and your personal experience is invaluable to me. I hope to be able to work alongside you in the future.
To Corey Mace - Thank you for always being kind, friendly and supportive to me. It means the world to me knowing that you'll always be in my corner. One day down the road I hope to get to be in the media room asking you questions after a big win.
To the CFL Family - Thank you for the hospitality you've shown me. From that first dinner all the way to feeling like family, you've been there for me all throughout my journey thus far and I can not thank you enough for that.
And to you, the reader - Thank you for reading the things that I post. It genuinely means so much to me that you've stuck with me throughout this past year and a half and continued supporting my work.
Thank you for a great year and a half. I look forward to the years to come. This is not me quitting the blog, this is me thanking everyone who's made this possible from the bottom of my heart. Don't worry, I'll still be posting.
Thank you again.
By Bruce Chimirri-Olson
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