There are a number of reasons to be excited about the pre-season home opener. For most fans, it will be their first look at the renovations at Mosaic Stadium. I haven’t seen the completed version yet, but the early looks have been pretty cool. It will be a different stadium experience for players and fans.

There other reason is we’ll get a chance to see how the Riders bounce back from losing 44-10 to the B.C. Lions on Wednesday. I know teams aren’t supposed to rebound or bounce back from pre-season games, but the Riders have to show better than what they did against the Lions. I expect they will because the No. 1s will get a lot more game time. That limits the opportunities for the prospects, but that is life in the CFL.

The Riders devoted nearly all of Monday’s morning practice session to special teams. I understand the importance of special teams and it’s no accident that the Riders were improved in the aspect in 2011. Craig Dickenson is a special-teams genius and he gets the most out of the players. It’s just not exciting to watch. There is a lot of coaching and the players spend a lot of time listening. Head coach Corey Chamblin said the fans in Moose Jaw will see more offence and defence in tonight’s second session at the FieldHouse.

The focus on special teams limited how much I could learn about the offence and defence. G Brendon LaBatte was back with the first-team offence, which is a good sign. Chamblin said he’s still working LaBatte slowly back to the active roster. G Chris Best is still nursing a foot injury and rookie Ben Heenan was in at right guard. We’re nearly through training camp and I still can’t figure out what’s going to happen with all of the offensive linemen. Maybe the next few days will help with that.

DB Macho Harris was back in sweats after I thought he was making advances with his hamstring injury. The Riders have seen enough of Harris that they are willing to be patient with him and wait for the injury to be healed. I guess that says how high they are on the defensive back.

New DT Jay Alford was at practice and spent a lot of practice chatting with Keith Shologan and Tearrius George. Chamblin said that Alford was a little out of shape, but was still expected to play on Friday. Here’s a link to the youtube video of Alford recording a game-changing sack in the final minute of the 2008 Super Bowl with the New York Giants. There will be more on Alford in Tuesday’s Leader-Post.

SB Jordan Sisco is a changed man. Well, at least he’s clean-shaven. Sisco has removed his impressive beard. I would guess that punter Chris Bodnar has the best remaining facial hair. These are the kind of insights you get when the Riders spend a lot of time on special teams.

I didn’t tweet much today because there wasn’t a lot going on. You can still follow me though.

But today’s mini-camp at the FieldHouse in the Band City is an example of how the Riders are expanding their brand in a province that they already dominate when it comes to football.

Somehow head coach Corey Chamblin sensed that the weather wouldn’t be great for the mini-camp and the Riders needed to look elsewhere to conduct it. The Credit Union EventPlex isn’t available due to the Taste of Spring, so a decision was made to look around the area and they settled on the FieldHouse.

It was a great idea. I’m not sure how many fans were on hand, but there were enough to make the mini-camp worthwhile. There were some familiar faces from Regina, but a lot of new ones as well. Thursday provided them with a chance to watch the Riders up close. The also got to do it indoors. It was a nice perk considering how windy and cold it was.

Here are some final thoughts and observations from the mini-camp. Those of you who follow me on Twitter may find some of these observations familiar.

- Moose Jaw got it right with their new FieldHouse. There is a regulation-sized soccer field, which can accommodate the needs of most CFL teams. The walking track is outside the support posts, which adds even more space to the facility. A truly first-class facility that I’m sure will serve Moose Jaw for a long time.

- The three players who impressed me on Wednesday and Thursday were defensive end Brent Hawkins, receiver Sinorice Moss and defensive back Chris McKenzie. The current legal woes of Odell Willis increase the pressure on Hawkins to come through after missing last season with shoulder injuries. He did that with his speed and power. He survived all three practice sessions, which has to be a good thing. The Riders really need a pass rush in 2012 and Hawkins is a key to those hopes. Moss can simply fly. The former NFLer showed that when he beat a defensive back on tight coverage at the line of scrimmage. By the time Darian Durant hit him, Moss had three strides on the DB. Moss has speed and would be such an asset to the offence if his skills can translate to the CFL game. I know other players had interceptions, but whenever I looked up McKenzie was picking off another pass. He was also flying around the field. I have to believe the Riders are counting on him in 2012.

- There were a couple of celebrity sightings today. Brian Towriss, head coach of the University of Saskatchewan Huskies and a native of Moose Jaw, was on hand to watch the drills. I heard that Colin Thatcher, who lives in Moose Jaw, was also on hand. You’ll have to google Thatcher’s name to find out his background.

- It’s interesting that the Eskimos were showing off their facilities to draft prospect Ben Heenan today in Edmonton. Heenan is projected to be the first overall pick in upcoming CFL draft and the Riders still hold the rights to that pick. Edmonton is slated to pick second. There was some buzz about a trade brewing between Edmonton and Saskatchewan for the first overall pick. The Riders and Eskimos both stated that no trade has been made. I never say never, but I feel the move is more about generating publicity in a hockey-mad market than much else. Edmonton also has a huge stadium to fill and they need the exposure.

- Rob and I covered today’s mini-camp, which is one less person than we had Wednesday. We still have the full-court press. I have leads on Rob Bagg and Shomari Williams. Rob digs deep into the life of Moss. Our efforts will be online later and in Friday’s Leader-Post.