10 WEEKEND THINGS

Taking shots …

#1 – TAKE A BOW NHL: It couldn’t have worked out much better for the NHL. Toronto-area kid Connor McDavid of the Edmonton Oilers won Friday’s Skills Competition at the NHL All Star Festivities in Toronto and on Saturday, Leafs star Auston Matthews was named MVP of the 3-on-3 All Star Tournament at Scotiabank Arena. While the farcical events of last year’s All Star Festivities in Sunrise, FL remain largely unsaid, it’s clear Gary Bettman put his foot down and mandated a more traditional All Star Weekend in the Mecca of hockey. They got it! A real win-win. Btw the last Toronto Maple Leaf to be named MVP of the All Star Game was Vincent Damphousse in 1991. Other Leafs to achieve the honour are Bruce Gamble, Frank Mahovlich and Eddie Shack.

#2 – BIEBER FEVER: It’s no secret I’m not a pop music follower but I’ve long been a Belieber since seeing Justin perform at Regina’s Brandt Centre almost 20 years ago. Having great seats in the Molson suite, we had a perfect sightline onto the stage and I marvelled as the kid played the drums, saxophone, piano and guitar with ease. I also saw him fall off the stage due to an unfortunate misstep but he never missed a beat! You’ve gotta respect the talent. It’s been troubling to watch his personal and health struggles since but I’d say his appearance at All Star Weekend was triumphant. Plus I loved his jacket.

*That Bieber concert was the loudest I’ve ever heard an Agridome crowd. The only thing that rivalled it was the Backstreet Boys reunion tour a decade or so ago. Those events dwarf the decibel level for the 2001 Memorial Cup semifinal. Beyond grateful to have witnessed them all!

#3 – YOU’RE FIRED!: Since the end of last year’s NHL season, 13 head coaches have been fired. The most recent was Melville, SK’s Todd McLellan of the L.A. Kings on Friday. Now more than ever, being fired in sports is not a reflection of your abilities. I’m not sure what it is a reflection of, but Todd McLellan, Jay Woodcroft, Craig Berube and the like are still good coaches. It’s out of control but it’s not new. One evening over wings at Diggers in Prince Albert in 1993, Raiders coach Donn Clark said to me, “Why would you want to be a broadcaster, in such a volatile, unstable industry like that?” I responded, “And why the hell would you want to be a coach, for all those same reasons?” Clarkie responded, “Good point.”

#4 – SUPER BOWL: Can’t remember when I’ve been as excited as I am to attend Super Bowl LVIII this week in Las Vegas. You’re going to be inundated with NFL and Las Vegas coverage from our platforms as we lead up to the Chiefs & 49ers in the NFL championship game one week from today. But for me, the excitement comes in the days before as we broadcast live from Radio Row at Mandalay Bay & host Sober Bowl Las Vegas at the Clark County Amphitheater with NFL greats, musical acts, comedians and more! At the moment it seems a little overwhelming but we can do it.

#5 – THE ENTERTAINMENT CAPITAL: The early word out of Vegas is that they’ve never seen anything like it (and that’s saying something for Sin City). The hotels are scrambling to get tickets for the “high rollers” because they’re scarce, even though the average price is $10,000 and lower bowl seats at Allegiant Stadium are going for $25,000. And get this: Vegas mainstays Jon Taffer (Bar Rescue), Terry Fator (America’s Got Talent), Carrot Top, and Wayne Newton are all holding news conferences this week for the NFL and entertainment media. I’m going to try to attend as much as I can. You can see why the NFL was eager to have Las Vegas host a Super Bowl. There was a rumour that the League would like to hold Super Bowl there every season but I can’t see that happening.

#6 – HAD I KNOWN: Having covered 21 Grey Cups but only one other Super Bowl, I thought it would suffice to get into Las Vegas on Wednesday. Uh uh. The Opening Night celebration goes Monday, and us media have been invited to an event that day at Allegiant Stadium where media are invited to sample the food which will be on the concessions menu for the game. Right down my alley! Maybe next year. Veteran Vegas oddsmaker Johnny Avello was on the RP Show on Friday (he’s lived in Nevada since 1979) and he said to expect long lineups and plenty of waiting. That doesn’t faze me! My hotel is at Las Vegas Blvd & Tropicana Avenue and can walk everywhere so traffic won’t be a problem and I have the patience of Job. (Look it up).

#7 – RIDER RADIO: If you came here looking for commentary on the events of this past week in the Saskatchewan Roughriders broadcast booth, you came to the wrong place. Put it this way: 2024 will mark four voices of the Riders in the past six seasons. And Jesus wept. I’m just glad my 20-season run likely won’t ever be broken, am content knowing it’ll never be the way it was again, and am extremely happy to look forward to all the opportunities there are out there for a guy like me. 

#8 – CFL FREE AGENCY: It is a big deal. The 2024 CFL Free Agency period begins at noon ET on February 13. Can’t see us ramping up a ton of coverage on it until after Super Bowl but that’s fine. However things that stand out for me are — 1) Brady Oliveira should be the top target as a ratio-breaking MVP tailback who realizes this is perhaps his only window to get the bag, 2) Sorry Andrew Harris but receivers make more money than running backs because they’re at more of a premium and don’t get hurt as much, and 3) Teams have a chance to flip their fortunes fast due to the short CFL contracts which are en vogue these days. However they have to do it right. The Riders are counting on this. We’ll see.

#9 – BARKING: 5-time Grey Cup champion and football lifer Jim Barker appears on the RP Show every Friday – presented by EMJ Marketing Speakers Bureau – but here’s the ironic thing: Until Friday we never had each other’s cell phone number, have never worked together, and never had a private conversation. But we click on air. After Friday’s show Jim called and we had a great visit, for the first time one-on-one. His daughter’s a pit boss at the Bellagio and she’s going to set me up with some great Vegas experiences this week. Write this down: IT’S ALL ABOUT RELATIONSHIPS.

BONUS – RING THOSE PHONES: February is Telemiracle month and today I’m asking you to support Saskatchewan’s Charity by purchasing your tickets in the online 50/50 raffle which is live now. It’s a win-win because you support the province’s disadvantaged people, but also have a chance to win BIG! Please click here: Telemiracle5050.com.

#10 – RANDOM THOUGHTS: People say they’ll never bet against Patrick Mahomes, and then they do. I’ll take the Chiefs to win by three in Super Bowl LVIII. … For some reason it felt weird to not have Dave Couliere at the NHL All Star Game. (Look it up). … Whatever happened to Cybill Shepherd? … Whenever I’m out for a walk and someone honks, I still think they’re honking at me. That may never change. … We could really use a stagecoach emoji, and a Saskatoon berry emoji. … Travelers in northwestern Minnesota can shake off their trepidation about hitting the winter roads knowing Taylor Drift is clearing a path ahead of them. The snowplow named for Taylor Swift was the runaway winner of Minnesota’s fourth annual Name a Snowplow contest this week, with eight new names announced Tuesday. Taylor Drift received 12,027 votes, nearly twice as many as the second-place finisher. … AND HOW WAS YOUR WEEK?

Y’er welcome,
RP
@rodpedersen