Jamie Nye: I still would have rather watched the NFL in Regina

Football fans were entertained last night in Winnipeg.

They didn’t get to see the starters, because Winnipeg botched the field and the pre-season game became a punching bag for critics, as it has been since the word leaked Saskatchewan missed its chance to host the best.

And here is the thing. The Raiders and Packers were going to give you Aaron Rodgers and Derek Carr and Davante Adams as promised.

But again, oops. The patchwork for the goal posts used for the CFL was shoddy and got the teams worried about their millionaire assets, so backups played instead.

Controversy ensued. The promoter and the publicity around this look terrible. And I’ll understand you thinking “Thank goodness it wasn’t in Saskatchewan.”

But football always wins. The game had a great finish. And no matter the size of the field or the controversies around it. I’d still rather watch football than not, and much rather watch it in Saskatchewan than Winnipeg and have the money spent in Winnipeg spent in Saskatchewan.

Of course it helped that the Raiders won, pre-season or not. And certainly, Saskatchewan would have patched the field properly.