Mike Abou-Mechrek

Mike was born and raised in Toronto, Ont. He attended the University of Western Ontario and graduated in 1999 with Bachelor degrees in Economics and Religious Studies. He spent the next 10 years in the Canadian Football League with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, Ottawa Renegades -- and most recently, with the Saskatchewan Roughriders, where he helped bring home the 2007 Grey Cup. Mike is a loving husband to his sexy wife Kathie, and is a very proud father of Myia, three and a half, and Kailem, eight months. "The Abous" have made Saskatchewan home and Mike is working in Regina with Investors Group doing financial planning and making his clients' dreams a reality. In his time in the CFL, his unique brand of humour and wit afforded him many opportunities to "play" in the media. For the 2010 CFL season Mike will be writing a weekly column as only he can. OUT AND ABOUT covers the lighter side of sports and gives readers a closer look behind the scenes and into the minds of some of our favourite Riders.

E-mail: mike.abou-mechrek@investorsgroup.com

Jeff DeDekker

Born and raised in Prescott, Ont., Jeff DeDekker has been in the newspaper business for the past 26 years. After beginning his career as the sports editor of the Prescott Journal, Jeff made stops at the Portage la Prairie Daily Graphic and the Moose Jaw Times-Herald before joining the Leader-Post in May 1987 as a copy editor. In addition to his desking duties, Jeff also wrote a weekly column on sports media (Tuning In) and a weekly baseball column.

He also was a busy freelancer, writing regularly for The Canadian Sportscard Collector, the Sacramento Bee and the Las Vegas Sun. In October 2007, Jeff was named the entertainment co-ordinator of the Leader-Post. Included in his new duties are his blog on country music, Musings at the Ploughboy Mansion, and Showbits, an entertainment gossip column which is shared by Jeff and fellow blogger Courtney Wagner.

E-mail : JDeDekker@leaderpost.canwest.com