Monday Morning Sentimonies: Retro Sentimonies

For today’s Sentimonies we are going to go into the Rider Prophet time machine and resurrect a post from 2011. I did a series of posts saluting the infamous CFL USA expansion. Today’s post was a feature on the very first American CFL team. Enjoy.

Rider Prophet Salutes US Expansion: Sacramento Gold Miners

In 1993, Sacramento became the first American team to join the CFL. They were actually supposed to be one of 2 teams (the other being the San Antonio) to join the League in 1993 but the latter folded before it even really got started when the owner ran out of money (a telling omen of how the whole US expansion thing would go). The Gold Miners came from the remnants of the Sacramento Surge of the World League of American Football.

Years in the League: 1993 – 1994

Overall Record: 15-20-1

Notable Players: QB David Archer (that Rider-hating SOB), WR Rod Harris, DT George Bethune, RB Mike Pringle, RB Mike Oliphant, QB Kerwin Bell

 

The Good

- They forever etched themselves in the CFL record books by becoming the first American team to defeat a Canadian team… by beating the Saskatchewan Roughriders (pauses to silently shake head in disgust).

- They had some decent talent on their team and showed signs of improvement over their 2 years

The Bad

- Their “stadium” sucked. Most of the seating was grandstands and the closest thing to amenities provided were port-a-potties

- Attendance. They had to give away close to 2000 a game to make the crowds look more respectable… you know relatively speaking.

Fate

The team relocated to San Antonio following the 1994 season.

Video Evidence:

Here's a clip of a '94 match-up against the Stamps.