Saskatchewan Roughriders fans held ballcaps in their hands, while some wiped away tears, as the team on Thursday honoured a player and another man killed in a highway crash.

Before kickoff at the matchup against the Edmonton Elks, video screens at Mosaic Stadium played tribute to Roughrider linebacker Jayden Dalke, 30, of Leduc, Alta., and Bhishma Rajyaguru, 22, of Regina.

Attendees stood as the screens showed photos of Rajyaguru with his family and friends, and a video of him dancing played. 

A voiceover said Rajyaguru was a gifted percussionist and was always there for his friends and family. 

A video of Dalke then played on the screens. It showed him interacting with his teammates and fans, while a voiceover from a player described him as being the team’s glue. 

A helmet with the initials ‘JD’ sat on a table behind the players’ bench. 

Fans clapped once both presentations were over. There was then a moment of silence, lasting about one minute.

“What a loss,” said one man after the tributes were over.

On July 18, Dalke was reportedly driving on the wrong side of a divided highway at night when his SUV smashed into another SUV that Rajyaguru was driving. The vehicles had no passengers.

RCMP have said alcohol and cannabis were found in Dalke’s SUV, which had pulled out of a gas station with unpaid fuel about a half-hour before the crash.

Both Dalke and Rajyaguru died at the scene on Highway 11 near the town of Lumsden, northwest of Regina.

The Roughriders lost Thursday’s game 36-34. Throughout the match, fans cheered good plays while also booing referee decisions they didn’t agree with. 

Roughriders Quarterback Trevor Harris later told reporters the team gave everything it had despite the circumstances of the crash.

“I was proud of the guys in that,” Harris said. “I hope both families that we honoured are proud and could take some solace in the pre-game tribute to them.”

Corey Mace, the team’s head coach, said it’s been an emotional week.

“Just being out there and seeing both people, both victims, being represented and seeing a little bit about both gentlemen – man, it’s just so sad,” Mace said.

Cody Fajardo, the quarterback for the Elks, told reporters his team had expected the Roughriders to be emotional. 

“We try to put ourselves in their shoes, the empathy in their shoes as if we lost one of our teammates, just how much you want to rally around each other,” he said.

Since police released details of the crash, some fans had headed to Thursday’s game with conflicting emotions. 

Some had said they were apprehensive about going to the game, while others felt they needed to be there for the team. 

At tailgating parties outside the stadium Thursday, the crash was among the topics of discussion.

Lynn Kaglea of Pilot Butte, outside Regina, said she shed a few tears.

“It’s a little bit more sombre than it’s been at other tailgating events,” Kaglea said.

She said she’s been in contact with Dalke’s parents and is planning to make them a quilt. 

“I just think it’s a terrible tragedy,” Kaglea said.

Sandra Poitras of Candle Lake, northeast of Saskatoon, said she’s grateful the team honoured both men. 

“Jayden was on the wrong side of the road and whatever else happened was very, very unfortunate,” she said.

“We all make mistakes, and you can’t mourn him any less just because he was the one that made the mistake.”

But the gatherings outside the stadium were also like any other. 

Fans were grilling meat or eating watermelon, while others sipped beer or pop. Some were doing activities, like tossing bean bags in a hole or racing in potato sacks.

Many were wearing green and white, including colourful face paint, beads, and vibrant wigs. Some wore black Roughriders T-shirts. 

“I think everyone’s doing OK,” said Shawn Fiedelleck 

“I was on social media. Big mistake, you know. I’m waiting for all the facts to come out.”

Some in Rider Nation have been embroiled in online debates over the circumstances of the crash.

On various social media platforms and team fan forums, some have speculated whether Dalke was driving while impaired.

Mounties have said autopsies and toxicology tests are being conducted. A spokesperson with Saskatchewan’s justice ministry has said such results are not publicly released because they contain personal health information.

Gerri Sernick, an administrator with the Saskatchewan Roughriders Fan Page on Facebook, said she has had to remove nasty comments about Dalke, including that he doesn’t deserve to be honoured by his team.

“It was truly awful. Since I started that page, I’ve never seen anything like it,” Sernick said in a message earlier this week.

“Regardless of the circumstances, two young men are not going home to their families, and that is where our focus should remain.”

To keep decorum, other fan pages and forums closed comment sections on some posts.

Kerri Ludvigsen said Wednesday police set off a “firestorm” when they released the details about alcohol and cannabis found in Dalke’s SUV. 

“People grieving (now) have to see … messages that are so hurtful and disrespectful,” she said.

At the tailgating party Thursday, Kaglea said people have been “crucifying” Dalke over something that hasn’t been proven. 

“As a parent, it just hurts me that people are saying those things, that his parents are seeing it,” she said.

The Roughriders have shared a GoFundMe page for Rajyaguru’s family, which had raised more than $92,000 as of Thursday night, to cover the cost of repatriating his body to India. 

Rajyaguru came to Canada from the Indian state of Gujarat as an international student in 2022.

LOS ANGELES — The Los Angeles Rams have unveiled two alternate uniforms designed to connect the current team to its rich California history.

At an event for season-ticket holders next to SoFi Stadium on Thursday night, the Rams revealed a new uniform that pays tribute to their 1951 NFL championship team with a yellow jersey and blue satin numerals in the style used 75 years ago. The Rams then introduced a white alternate uniform with blue numerals emulating the Rams’ primary look during the 1960s, an era best known for the team’s Fearsome Foursome defensive front.

The uniform with yellow jerseys and white pants is dubbed “Classic Sol,” while the all-white alternates with blue numerals are called “Fearsome White.” The Rams will still wear the three uniforms they used last season as well, including their main home and away looks along with their all-black “Midnight Mode” Rivalries uniform.

The Rams will debut their Classic Sol look on Monday night at home in Week 2 against the New York Giants, and they’ll come out again for a high-profile Thursday night home showdown with the Kansas City Chiefs in December. The Fearsome White uniforms will come out on Thanksgiving Eve for a home game against the Green Bay Packers.

While designing these long-anticipated alternates over the past several years, the Rams’ creative team focused on creating throwbacks with modern twists that will remind and educate the 21st-century fan about the franchise’s roots.

Cory Befort, the Rams’ creative executive director, said fans have repeatedly expressed interest in uniforms that would amplify the historic achievements of a franchise that has relocated several times, but still spent most of its existence in Southern California.

“It felt like it was time, but we wanted to do it with intention and meet the moment,” Befort said.

The Rams spent 49 years in Southern California before former owner Georgia Frontiere moved them to her native St. Louis in January 1995. New owner Stan Kroenke brought the Rams back home in 2016, and he opened their multibillion-dollar stadium complex in Inglewood in 2020.

The Rams were founded in Cleveland in 1937, but moved out west in 1946 to become Los Angeles’ most significant major professional sports team to that point. They subsequently won the city’s first major pro sports championship in 1951, beating the Cleveland Browns in the NFL title game at the Los Angeles Coliseum.

That team celebrated its victories at a bar called Tom Bergin’s in the Fairfax district, and it even donated a championship banner to the still-operating Irish tavern. The wordmark used in the Rams’ Classic Sol throwbacks is pulled directly off that banner, and the numerals are designed to mimic the 1951 jerseys.

Even the blue numerals and shoulder stripes themselves are throwbacks: The creative team decided to use authentic satin, which doesn’t stretch like modern uniform material, so the satin stripes are sewn individually onto pieces of gold polyester to prevent excessive ripping and tearing.

“These uniforms are a celebration and reminder of the moments and people that built the Rams into what and who we are today,” Rams chief marketing officer Kat Frederick said. “Every detail was intentionally designed to honour the grit and greatness of our history while delivering a modern look for today’s players and fans.”

The Fearsome Whites are topped by a helmet with a white horn and a white facemask in a departure from the usual blue facemask, while the jersey shoulders have their own small numerals and a continuous blue stripe, just like the 1960s look. The blue chest numerals are outlined in black on the new jerseys.

The Rams launched a rebranding in 2020 for the opening of their new stadium, but never introduced their full NFL complement of five uniform alternatives — a “closet,” in league parlance — until now.

The Rams already unveiled a revamping of their primary uniforms from that rebranding earlier this year, notably eliminating the jersey numerals’ unique colour gradient — the fade on the colours at the bottom of the numbers — and dumping the nearly-white uniform colour called “Bone” in favour of a traditional white shade. The creative team also simplified its Ram head logo and monogram logo.

The team will alter its game presentation depending on which uniforms are being worn at SoFi, Befort said, with new field paint and stencilling along with additional changes that won’t be revealed until September.

LAS VEGAS — Formula 1 parent company Liberty Media, which also promotes the Las Vegas Grand Prix, has agreed to a settlement of about $3 million to end a class-action lawsuit brought by spectators regarding the inaugural 2023 race.

The opening-night practice session on Nov. 16, 2023, was halted after nine minutes when Carlos Sainz Jr. drove over a water valve cover that severely damaged his Ferrari. Practice didn’t resume until the early morning hours of Nov. 17, ending at about 4 a.m. local time.

Fans were removed from the viewing areas before the 90-minute session took place.

Those who had tickets for only that practice session or bought three-night tickets are eligible for compensation under the settlement. Claims must be filed by Aug. 27.

Liberty Media and the Las Vegas Grand Prix did not admit fault under the settlement. A final approval hearing is scheduled for Nov. 4 at the U.S. District Court of Nevada.

The $500 million race in 2023 was supposed to be F1’s coming-out party on the Las Vegas Strip, and the practice-night crash, as well as the disruptions to Las Vegas-area residents during months of preparation, didn’t make for a promising start.

But the race itself was among the best on the circuit that season, and Max Verstappen sang “Viva Las Vegas” as he crossed the finish line for his 18th victory that year.

F1 announced a 10-year extension last month that will keep the circuit in Las Vegas through at least 2037.