10 WEEKEND THINGS

Rodservations ..

1 – The tipping point for me came this week when a gym buddy told me his grandson has hung up his goalie pads and decided to get on with his life after the NCAA school he committed to this fall had cancelled its season due to the pandemic. I’d followed the young man’s career through the SJHL and OJAHL but now he’s going in to be an EMT. Something in my brain “tweaked” that I’ve seen enough lives end, get ruined or be altered forever by the incredibly over-precautious handling of Coronavirus. That’s what led to “the rant”.

2 – So to quote The Champ, I snapped. People who say “It’s just sports” or “It’s just music” are actually the selfish ones with no empathy. This industry of Sports & Entertainment, where I’ve spent my entire life, has been gashed beyond recognition and to be honest, the bloodletting is just starting to begin now. I haven’t even brought up the Travel/Tourism Industry. My friends and colleagues have been living in a state of trauma and terror for months and only now are they getting some answers. And the news isn’t good. If somebody told me 20 years ago I’d never broadcast or be able to write again I’d be tearing the walls down. Everyone’s been biting their lip but I didn’t know how many, until hundreds flooded my inbox and DMs with a simple “thank you” for sticking up for them this week. They’re all afraid for their jobs so they’ve remained silent. I am not.

3 – I won’t call them “sheep” because I don’t think they are but those on the other said of the argument say “Look at the numbers”. I have to respond with I AM!! 131,124 Covid cases in a country of 36-million people adds up to 0.36 percent of the population. And that’s CASES not deaths. Shall we even bring up the recovery rate which illustrates you have a minuscule chance of dying if you contract the virus? Far, far, far more people have died in this country this year from heart disease and mental illness yet the government isn’t locking up the sweets or the booze. “Listen to the scientists!” they say. I have to ask if any of the scientists have ever missed a paycheque for 7-10 months, or how they’d feel if they were forced to give up their career in science? Have they ever run a business and had hundreds of employees and their families relying on them?

I’m done with trading one life for another and please spare me with the “What about seat belts?” argument. Whether I wear a seat belt or not doesn’t affect anyone else’s life or career. That comment just proves you don’t have a grasp of the situation.

If we’re in this together, have you opened your wallet to support amateur teams, the food bank or other various fundraisers or are you busy looking after yourself at this time?

4 – RANT OVER/You can’t truly get away from the pandemic talk because it’s seeped into every aspect of our lives but it’s really hitting home for people now that there’s no football on Labour Day Weekend. Sunday’s Riders/Bombers meeting would’ve been the 56th edition of the LDC. You might get some solace in the fact we are broadcasting two CFL SIM (computer-simulated Esports) games on Monday on The RP Show Facebook channel. The 8-2 Roughriders take on the 4-6 Blue Bombers at 1:00 pm MT followed by 6-4 Edmonton at 8-3 Calgary at 4:00 pm MT. Please give it a try because you may like it.

5 – Here’s what worries me the most about the current plight of the CFL — I don’t see anybody screaming from the rooftops to save it. The axe swung in the CFL office this week for 29 employees and everyone’s waiting for it to happen with the teams. Many can’t figure out why it hasn’t happened already. This is it. We are IN a crisis in Canadian football. A 5-alarm fire. Take a look around at what’s happening.

6 – You have to wonder if the 1993 Montreal Canadiens are similar to the 1972 Miami Dolphins. The ’72 Dolphins are the NFL’s only team to go undefeated all season and win the Super Bowl and whenever a current NFL team goes on a run and eventually loses that first game, members of that Miami team (Bob Griese, Larry Csonka, Mercury Morris, etc.) all meet in the street and toast with a bottle of champagne. They all still live in the same Miami neighbourhood! Now with the ’93 Habs STILL being the last Canadian team to win the Stanley Cup after Vancouver lost out Friday night, do Guy Carbonneau, Patrick Roy, John Leclair, Mathieu Schneider et al do the same thing? I doubt it.

7 – You’ve gotta hand it to Chris Cuthbert and Louis DeBrusk, but particularly Cuthbert. They called both Game 7s on Friday from the Edmonton bubble, one of which went to overtime. CC’s voice never cracked once and that’s tough to do. I don’t think anyone else notices how chintzy it looks for Sportsnet to have one crew do two games when the network’s got tons of announcers sitting at home (Rick Ball, R.J. Broadhead, etc.) doing nothing.

8 – What would’ve happened to Peter DeBoer if his Vegas Golden Knights had lost Game 7 to Vancouver Friday night, whatwith the controversy he’s created in goal with Robin Lehner/Marc-Andre Fleury? As it turns out, it doesn’t matter. Lehner posted a shutout in the VGK’s 3-0 win and they’re off to the NHL’s Western Conference Final. Don’t you get the feeling Marc-Andre Fleury will play a big role in these playoffs before it’s said and done?

There are TONS of Vegas fans on the prairies due to the Brandon connection and Saskies Chandler Stephenson and Brayden McNabb on the Golden Knights roster. I got a text from a Brandonite Friday afternoon saying, “Are we going to win tonight?” It felt good.

9 – From famed Calgary sportswriter George Johnson on Twitter: “In only three years of existence, the Vegas Golden Knights have already won five playoff series (and counting), leaving other long-standing franchises off in shadow. Congratulations to Kelly McCrimmon, one of the game’s stand-up gents”. — I’ll submit two things on that: 1) Crim hails from Plenty, SK and 2) The NHL should get used to it. We dealt with McCrimmon’s dominance in the WHL’s East Division for decades and you can’t do anything but take your hat off to the man. He said in the past few years, “We’re not doing anything different in the NHL than we’re doing in the WHL” when it comes to constructing teams. It shows. He’s the next Glen Sather.

10 – Regina Pats fans will not be sad to see McCrimmon go! News broke Thursday evening of the Brandon Wheat Kings being sold and it appears they’ll soon be in the hands of Brandon business magnate Jared Jacobson. I’ll have much, much more on that in my column at DUBNetwork.ca which I’m going to work on right NOW.

Happy Labour Day Weekend,
RP
@rodpedersen

(Photo: Mark Lewis)