10 Monday Things For SUDS Car Wash
Truth & Rumours For SUDS Car Wash
1 – HO HO HO: Gotta admit, it was a heckuva week – highlighted by Sarah Palin’s appearance on The RP Show – and we haven’t even hit peak Holiday season yet! … With gifts galore, upsets in the opening round of the College Football Playoff, unprecedented parity in the NHL, the World Juniors at hand, the NFL in its homestretch, there’s a tidal wave of things to be grateful for at the moment. Let’s dig in …
2 – FOUR MOVE ON: How about reflecting on the just-completed Round 1 of the College Football Playoff? In the second year of the 12-team bracket, the NCAA has a hit on its hands. There were two upsets this weekend (betting underdogs winning): Alabama 34-Oklahoma 24 and Miami 10-Texas A&M 3. In the others, Oregon smoked James Madison 51-34 and Ole Miss rolled Tulane 41-10. I’d have gone 4/4 on picks, except for foolishly picking the Green Wave to upset the Rebels (who needs Lane Kiffin anyway?). Notre Dame would like to see the field expanded to 16 teams, obviously, but if they leave it at 12, no one will complain. The quarterfinals are now set with Miami facing Ohio State on New Years Eve in the Cotton Bowl, and then a New Years Day tripleheader: Oregon vs Texas Tech (Orange Bowl), Alabama vs Indiana (Rose Bowl) and Georgia vs Ole Miss (Sugar Bowl). It’s going to be a fun couple of weeks around here in South Florida with the Miami Hurricanes still in the dance. Saturday’s win at College Station was the biggest for the program since the 2002 Rose Bowl, they say.
3 – NHL: Good luck picking winners in the NHL on a nightly basis. And picking the Stanley Cup finalists? Forget it. … What’s wrong with the Leafs? Nothing a heart transplant wouldn’t cure. … In the space of two weeks in December, the Florida Panthers went from last place to in the entire Eastern Conference to second-place in the Atlantic Division, just three points behind front-running Detroit. In the same amount of time, the Tampa Bay Lightning went from first-place in the Atlantic Division to being out of a playoff spot. It’s wild! … The Calgary Flames throttled Vegas 6-3 Saturday night in the Saddledome? Make it stop. The Golden Knights then lost 4-3 in Edmonton Sunday. Something’s missing there. … Gotta love the press box conversations. A guy leaned over last night during the Panthers 6-2 home loss to the Blues and quizzed, “Where’s Stamkos going to go?” Good question. Who needs an aging sniper at the right price? … After that game, Paul Maurice barked at the assembled media: “Stop! Whoa! I just want to wish you all a Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays and God-willing we’ll see you on the other side.” Then we (the media) were presented with gifts from the team. Can you imagine??!!
4 – GAME NOTES: Jacob Fowler became the youngest goaltender (21 years, 26 days) in Montreal Canadiens history since Carey Price (20 years, 229 days) to record a shutout on Saturday night as the Habs blanked Pittsburgh 4-0. … Fowler is the first Florida-born goaltender in NHL history and the Melborne product is the fifth youngest USA product to record a shuttie. Pittsburgh’s Tom Barrasso is the youngest (18 years, 293 days). … Chicago can’t win without Bedard, eh? … The word on the street is that NHL’ers will compete in the Italy Olympics, but will play the games somewhere else if the arena isn’t ready. And it doesn’t look good. …
5 – WELCOME TO THE JUNGLE: It’s always a thrill to read Mitchell “Scruffy” Blair’s Saturday column at RodPedersen.com. The chap knows his stuff, and explained why the Regina Pats dealt leading scorer Julian Maze to the Calgary Hitmen for a pair of draft picks. The Scruff-dog says there’s heat on Pats GM Dale Derkatch for dealing away such an offensive talent but, in his column, he mentioned why the trade was made. (Thus proving there’s still a place for independent media rather than the state-run offerings which rule the day!) Would a column on a team website include such a bombshell? Pshaw. … I chuckled at the report that there’s heat on the Pats from the Regina sports faithful. A voice in my head said, “Welcome to the jungle”. There’s nothing to bitch about with the Grey Cup champion Saskatchewan Roughriders across the parking lot so the crosshairs need to settle on someone. Welcome to the cauldron, Queen City Kids! Oh and by the way, there’s no better man for the job than Dale Derkatch.
6 – CFL: Speaking of the Riders, they crossed my mind Saturday night when we were chatting in the press box about the success of the Florida Panthers. A learned hockey man said, “Owner Vincent Viola got tired of mediocrity so he handed the reins to the right people – GM Bill Zito”. To this scribe, the difference in the fortunes of the Green & White lays at the feet of one guy: Corey Mace. That’s when things turned. … The biggest news of the week in the CFL seemed to be TSN Luke Willson’s interview with Commissioner Stewart Johnston which contained more backpedalling on the rule & field changes announced in October. So many fans have asked my thoughts on the comments. I go back to the current ecosystem of state-run media. It’s even harder to disguise in a small league like the CFL. … Seems like it could be a quiet off-season in the CFL? The quarterbacks and coaches are set and really that’s all anyone cares about. Hopefully they can manufacture some news to keep us engaged …. When is Jim Popp going into the Canadian Football Hall of Fame? He’s a 5-time Grey Cup winner and still the coolest cat the CFL has ever known.
7 – MADAM GOVERNOR: It was quite a surprise when old friend Ron Duguay appeared on The RP Show on Tuesday to talk NHL, NY Rangers and the Olympics. “Doogs” was joining the show from his home in St. Augustine, FL and in the middle of the interview, his partner Sarah Palin jumped on the screen! The former Governor of Alaska and one-time John McCain running mate (2008 U.S. Presidential election) was in the Sunshine State visiting her beau and jumped on the show to wish me a happy birthday and say what a fan she is! (Very hard to believe I know, but it’s all in the clip). The appearance brought predictable scorn from the political whackos but why can’t we enjoy the moment for what it was? Nice people supporting each other. What a breath of fresh air! … Looking forward to spending time with them at the 2026 NHL Winter Classic featuring the NY Rangers and Florida Panthers at LoanDepot Park, home of MLB’s Miami Marlins, on January 2. The RP Show was approved for media coverage on Tuesday as well. What a birthday!
8 – NFL: Just as unpredictable as the NHL is the NFL. … Although there were few surprises Sunday, other than Jacksonville winning its sixth straight, 34-20 at Denver. …. No surprise the Cowboys dropped a must-win game, 34-17 versus the Chargers, and were eliminated from postseason contention for a second straight year. … Pittsburgh’s Mike Tomlin posted his 200th victory as the Steelers won 29-24 at Detroit, to extend the .500-or-better string to 22 seasons. … Miami’s Quinn Ewers looked, well, like a rookie QB making his first pro start in the Dolphins’ 45-21 loss to the Bengals. … Week 16 kicked off Thursday with a slobberknocker, as Seattle outlasted the L.A. Rams 38-37 in overtime in the Seahawks house. Seattle overcame a 16-point fourth quarter deficit for the first time in franchise history and coach Mike McDonald was 3/3 on two-point conversions including the OT winner. Now THAT’S something that brings a team together, and makes the Seahawks immediate Super Bowl favorites IMHO. … Meanwhile the Chicago Bears said, “Hold my beer” and came back to stun the Green Bay Packers 22-16 in OT on Saturday night. Might we see a Seattle/Chicago NFL championship game? No one saw that coming.
9 – MORE NFL: It’s like any other league. There’s a group of teams in contention for the playoffs and the Super Bowl, and everybody else is planning for next year. The other night at a supper gathering, the guy beside me said the Dolphins should be bringing back head coach Mike McDaniel and QB Tua Tagovailoa. I would’ve immediately discounted that, but the guy has 11 season tickets in the lower bowl. That DOES give you some cred. … We all know what needs to change in Dallas, and we all know it won’t happen. … Football analyst Jim Barker just returned to Toronto from Las Vegas, where he said the word on the street is the Raiders are going to blow it up. Again.
10 – RANDOM THOUGHTS: Great goalie fight in the NLL’s Philadelphia-Rochester game on Saturday! It’s all over the highlight shows. Meanwhile the Saskatchewan Rush improved to 2-1 with a 7-4 home win over the Georgia Swarm. … Journalism is dead. … A.C.C.: Always Carry Cash. … $2,700 for the cheapest ticket to the College Football National Championship in Miami Gardens next month? I’ll pass. … The Merriam-Webster Dictionary says the word of 2025 is “slop”. Sorry to say, we’ve been using it for over 50 years where I come from. … Who is Parson Brown and why would we pretend to be him? … Heard the word “Eskimos” in a Christmas carol this week, and was immediately offended. … I saw Jon Hamm in a TV commercial for St. Jude’s Hospital this week and thought, “I thought you died?” Then I realized it was just his character on Landman. … A former manager of the Harvard Medical School morgue in Boston was sentenced to eight years in prison for stealing and selling body parts. Authorities said Cedric Lodge was at the centre of a ghoulish scheme in which he shipped brains, skin, hands and faces to buyers in Pennsylvania and elsewhere after cadavers donated to Harvard were no longer needed for research. His wife, Denise Lodge, was sentenced to just over a year in prison for assisting him. In one example, Lodge provided skin to a buyer so it could be tanned into leather and bound into a book, a “deeply horrifying reality,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Alisan Martin said in a court filing. Lodge, who was a morgue manager for 28 years, expressed regret in court. Defense attorney Patrick Casey said his acts were “egregious.” … AND HOW WAS YOUR WEEK?
Y’er welcome,
RP
“Heard the word “Eskimos” in a Christmas carol this week, and was immediately offended”
That’s your line of the year! Loved it!
3 – NHL
The very moment the Toronto Maple Leafs inked Brad Treliving to be the teams general manager was the moment the Maple Leafs took a major down turn to their overall on Ice product. Treliving doesn’t bring anything positive to the table for that NHL organization and his credentials as a major sports league gm should be called into question as he is a major hindrance to the Toronto Maple Leafs Hockey Club as evident to the on ice product.
Let the man cook, Jim!
The stove is flaming hot and about to burn the house down and Treliving doesn’t have a answer or a extinguisher.