Riders-Bombers Labour Day Classic overshadowed by Khalif Mitchell controversy

It wasn't that many years ago that the Riders were so bad, the only expectation from fans was, if nothing else, at least win the Labour Day game.

This year, with a record of one and eight, they're back to mastering "nothing else" so Labour Day it is, a game the Riders have not lost since 2004.

But when we should be hyping a game, which is circled annually on every Rider and Bomber fan's calendar, the 2016 edition has taken on a dark shadow with racial overtones.

Khalif Mitchell has dominated the headlines for all the wrong reasons since signing with the Saskatchewan Roughriders on Tuesday. 

He's an organic chicken farmer, who a few days ago was more concerned about the price of eggs in Venezuela than football.

Today, after more than a year out of the game, Mitchell is hoping to impress the coach enough, so he can play as early as this Sunday.

But so far, all Mitchell has brought to the coach are headaches and to Rider Nation further embarrassment.

The less you talk the better off you are.- Chris Jones

Mitchell's past caught up with him before he finished his first practice as a Rider.

By Wednesday, it sounded like he really didn't understand what the fuss is all about.

"Because I play such a high level of football people pay a lot of attention to me.  I mean I'm only on the practice roster and you guys are all in my face with cameras, so I think the real thing that comes about, it's just who I am."

Who he is, is a nasty player on the field, but a two-time league all-star.

Mitchell is also known for liking and re-tweeting a Holocaust denial video on social media. He was fined for it in 2015 by the CFL. Mitchell apologized and was eventually released by the Montreal Alouettes. 

News of his re-surfacing in the league quickly spread, in the most negative of ways, across social media on Tuesday, and even reaching the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs which questioned why the Riders would sign a player who has not learned from his past mistakes.

• CFL to monitor social media posts of newest Saskatchewan Roughrider Khalif Mitchell

• Saskatchewan Roughriders face criticism after adding Khalif Mitchell to practice roster

Whether it was in response to the bad publicity Mitchell's signing has generated, Chris Jones didn't say, but the Riders' boss apparently warned Mitchell that any further social media misbehaviour will lead to his dismissal. 

That's also what he conveyed to the league office.

"I spoke with the folks in Toronto and we had a really good, probably hour-long conversation.  I told them the way we view it, we're here to play football and to coach football, if there's anything that's said, Khalif won't be here." said Jones to media after practice Wednesday.

This is the same man who nine months earlier, on the day he was hired, promised he would bring in good people first who happen to be good football players.

• Roughriders hire Chris Jones as new head coach, GM

Since then, Jones has managed one victory in nine tries, thousands of dollars in fines for breaking league rules, and Khalif Mitchell.

Right now he just looks desperate.

As the Argos' defensive coordinator in 2013, he coached Mitchell during one of his two all-star seasons.

"I've had Khalif on our football team in Toronto and he did an outstanding job, he didn't have a single bit of trouble with us ever in the locker room or in public, Khalif is more of a team guy than what people would anticipate. I know what we need to do and how we handle Khalif."

Which is focus on football and stay off Twitter. 

As Jones said on Wednesday, "The less you talk, the better off you are."

The Riders take on the Bombers on Sunday at 1 p.m. CST at Mosaic Stadium.