Gainer the Gopher
Gainer the Gopher is the mascot of the Saskatchewan Roughriders of the Canadian Football League. The Gainer costume is modelled after the Richardson's Ground Squirrel, commonly referred to as a "gopher" in many parts of North America. He is from Parkbeg. Gainer, whose name is an anagram of "Regina", bought a ticket to see his favourite football team play back in 1977. Immediately after entering the stadium, the lovable gopher knew he had found his destiny. After leading the crowd in a variety of cheers that day, the Roughriders hired Gainer on the spot and the  rest is now history. Over the years, Gainer has grown and evolved into a high-spirited rodent for all to love and in 2006 another important transition took place. It was then that Gainer the Gopher first donned his new jersey bearing the number 13. This was an honour for Gainer as it made him the ambassador for all Saskatchewan Roughrider fans who are the ever-important 13th Man. Prior to this, he wore the jersey number 1/2. He also has two cousins named Leonard and Goof that usually only appear at Roughrider home games. Gainer continues to be an  ambassador for the Riders both at Mosaic Stadium during the football season and at community events all over Saskatchewan throughout the year. Gainer was first 'played' by Don Hewitt; of Regina, SK, in 1977. Don Hewitt is currently a reporter and on-air personality with CTV Regina. Controversies. In 2006, Calgary Stampeders officials barred Gainer from appearing on-field during their west division semi-final game against Saskatchewan, arguing that it would attract attention away from their own mascot. During the Roughriders' 2019 home opener on July 1, 2019, the team unveiled a new iteration of Gainer with a noticeably  slimmer appearance and redesigned face with white eyes and green pupils. The new design was met with criticism from fans on social media, as well as former premier of Saskatchewan Brad Wall—who dubbed it "midlife crisis Gainer", and joked that he had been on "some sort of fad diet". The design was revised for the next home game on July 6, switching to black pupils. The new Gainer became the subject of further controversy during a game against the B.C. Lions, where Gainer was seen dragging a stuffed lion plush by its tail and grabbing it at its crotch