10 WEEKEND THINGS

Taking Shots …

1 – GOBBLE, GOBBLE: There’s plenty to be thankful for on this Thanksgiving Weekend of 2023. Definitely very blessed to have a friend with the Florida Panthers – a Canadian of course – flip us the keys to his mansion in the Florida Keys and say “have fun” for this Canadian long weekend. So that’s been great, but given the gruesome events of the Gaza Strip over weekend, we’re also reminded to be thankful of where we live in Canada and the USA. Life is great!

2 – WE’RE REALLY ROLLIN’: Used to be we’d come out of Plaza of Honour (Saskatchewan Hall Of Fame) weekend in the 90’s such as this and say, “Everything about the weekend was great except the game!” Looks like the Rider Nation is back there again. I flipped on the annual Plaza Game on Saturday – Tiger-Cats & Roughriders – at halftime but it was already over. Hamilton was up 25-9 and a blind man could see Saskatchewan wasn’t coming back. The Tabbies (8-8) rolled to an eventual 38-13 win and Saskatchewan suffered its fifth loss in a row (6-10).

Hey, any analysis here would just be piling on. Again, a blind man can see that the longer things stay the same in Riderville, the worse things get; both on and off the field. I can tell you the other teams around the CFL are saying, “Don’t change a thing!”

It all comes down to one very glaring thing: utter mismanagement at the top of the organization.

If you can’t see that, then you never will or you’ve had the wool pulled over your eyes.

Shalom.

3 – WHAT’S AHEAD: Where things get realllll interesting is in the two weeks ahead. It would still take a miraculous meltdown for Saskatchewan to miss the playoffs as they’re two wins up on the rival Calgary Stampeders for the final playoff spot with two games to go and the teams meet at McMahon Stadium Friday night. The Riders need to lose their final two games and Calgary needs to win two of their final three games to overtake them. It seems unlikely, but I’d suggest everything’s on the table now.

Saskatchewan could fire Head Coach Craig Dickenson to try and spark this team for the playoffs but should they clinch in the next couple of weeks, do they really wanna do that?

What a bind.

4 – CFL NOTES: No CFL team has ever started a season 0-9 and made the playoffs. That includes the 2023 Edmonton Elks and while Chris Jones’ charges were the second-hottest team behind Toronto in the second half of the season, the Argos quashed Edmonton 35-12 Friday night to officially eliminate the Green & Gold from postseason contention. Still, the late surge will be enough for Jones to keep his job. … The very last thing sports teams want to do is fire anyone for a myriad of reasons like 1) Paying them out, 2) Admitting the hire was wrong and 3) Starting over. Since the Elks already torched President Victor Cui this season, they’re not going to want to fire Jones too. … The 2023 Toronto Argonauts were the fastest team in CFL history to clinch first place (12 games) but don’t think their remaining three games are gimmes. They’ve got a talent-laden roster with back-ups who want to show they belong. Watch out for them! … Winnipeg’s stunning 34-26 OT win at BC Friday night proved they are still the kings of the CFL West. But if I was the Lions, I’d be content knowing that’s not the game against Winnipeg they needed to win. The West Final is. We’ve seen it over and over. … Singled out as the reason for Saskatchewan’s problems a year ago, Montreal Head Coach Jason Maas and QB Cody Fajardo are on the verge of clinching 2nd-place in the CFL East and home field in the Division Semifinal. They host Ottawa on Monday. … Starting QB Bo Levi Mitchell in Week 18 after missing most of the season turned out to be a brilliant move by Ticats GM & Head Coach Orlondo Steinauer. It was also quite a gamble. It was a pleasure to preview the game on 900 CHML with host Scott “Boo” Radley Friday evening. I did the interview from Marathon, FL. Technology is a marvellous thing.

5 – MEDIA GUY: CFL On TSN panelist and 5-time Grey Cup champion Jim Barker joins The RP Show every Friday, presented by EMJ Marketing, and we often joke about his refusal to be labelled a “media guy”. I’m not sure why that’s a swear word, but respect Jim’s reluctance to give up the term “football guy”. I’d suggest, why can’t you be both? Furthermore, who’s paying him? I think it’s a media company, the last I checked.

If the CFL still had the Gibson’s Finest Reporter of the Year (maybe they do), I’d nominate Jim Barker because he’s given a much-needed injection of pizzazz into the CFL media scene. In the U.S. we have a Media Person Of The Year in both college football and the NFL and it’s routinely won by Pat McAfee.

There’s a lesson in there for anyone willing to notice.

6 – LORD STANLEY, LORD STANLEY: Kudos to Vegas Golden Knights Assistant Director of Player Personnel Bob Lowes for bringing the Stanley Cup to his adopted hometown of Regina, SK on the weekend, and turning it into a fundraiser for InPower. Fans made a donation to the organization which supports breast cancer survivors for the opportunity to get their photo taken with the Cup. On The RP Show last week, Lowesy agreed the Stanley Cup is likely easier to win than the Memorial Cup, and went into the reasons why. Bob participated in three Memorial Cup tournaments and never won it but ended up winning the biggest hockey prize of ’em all. Things work out the way they’re supposed to!!! Sometimes it just takes awhile.

7 – BEDARD: If my stats are correct, Connor Bedard had five points in four NHL preseason games with the Chicago Blackhawks this Fall and is now ready to embark on his rookie season. It begins Tuesday when Chicago visits Pittsburgh on ESPN and Sportsnet. The former Regina Pat is doing nothing to diminish my prediction of him being a point-per-game player in Chicago this year. It was also interesting to see Minnesota goalie Marc-Andre Fleury stymie Bedard, then trip him during a shootout attempt last week. That was Connor’s Welcome To The NHL moment. Let’s see where it goes from here!

8 – OTHER NHL NOTES: Three games dot the slate on Tuesday’s opening night of the NHL season – Nashville at Tampa Bay, Chicago at Pittsburgh and Seattle at Vegas. The Florida Panthers don’t open their season till Thursday at Minnesota. On Wednesday the Oilers open at Vancouver while the Jets visit the Flames. … Quirky stat of the week: Six Atlantic Division teams have been in the last five Stanley Cup Finals – Tampa (thrice), Florida, Montreal & Boston. … As we discussed on NHL Radio last week with host Scott Laughlin, our newly-launched podcast “The Cats ‘N Bolts Show” was born out of a lack of quality NHL coverage in Florida. We started with the Panthers, then realized folks in Tampa Bay want regular coverage of their team too. So voila! You can watch the show here.

9 – BURNING QUESTIONS: Here are five going into the NHL season – 1) How many points will Connor Bedard reach as a rookie and how close can he get them to the playoffs?, 2) Are the good times over for the Tampa Bay Lightning?, 3) Will the New Jersey Devils continue their rise or were they a flash in the pan?, 4) In Pittsburgh, is it going to be the Penguins of old or just the old Penguins?, and 5) Which Canadian team will advance the furthest and will the 1993 Drought finally come to an end?

10 – RANDOM THOUGHTS: If you allow others to get you down, that’s on you. … When your Dad stared at you with a weird look on his face, it’s because he couldn’t/can’t hear you and is wondering if it’s worth asking you to repeat yourself, or to just play dumb. That’s where I’m at now. … It’s a crime how teams and media can vilify players, like what’s currently going on in Chicago with QB Justin Fields. Therefore it’s wonderful to see Baker Mayfield’s redemption story with the 3-1 Tampa Bay Buccaneers. … Someone actually thinks Kent Austin would leave Auburn to take over the Saskatchewan Roughriders? Mon dieu. What more evidence do you need that HE’S MOVED ON? … Once you’ve driven a grain truck for a living, you feel like you can squeeze anything into a tight parking space. And you can. … If you want to achieve true happiness, don’t just be thankful on Thanksgiving Weekend. Be thankful everyday. … A stranger named Adam stopped me in a Starbucks in Downtown Boca Raton this week and said he watches The RP Show. It was a little flabbergasting, but I’m getting used to it. He wants to get on the show because, “I know more about sports than most sportscasters.” I get that a lot. But let me ask you – can you be entertaining? Can you attract and retain an audience? Do you have hundreds of relationships with people in sports and broadcasting acquired over decades in the business? No? Okay then get back to me once you do. … Gotta go! Time for a swim. … AND HOW WAS YOUR WEEK?

Y’er welcome,
RP
@rodpedersen