10 WEEKEND THINGS

Taking Shots …

1 – DUB HUB: We are just over a week into Western Hockey League East Division Hub Centre play and the hockey has been FANTASTIC. Here are the standings so far, and hopefully you’ve been able to catch a glimpse on AccessNow TV and WHL Live:

Saskatoon 3-0-1
Winnipeg 3-1-0
Moose Jaw 3-1-0
Prince Albert 2-1-0-1
Brandon 2-1-1
Regina 1-2-1
Swift Current 0-4-0

2 – THOUGHTS: None of these results are particularly eyebrow-raising however the Moose Jaw Warriors racing out to a 3-0 start caught everyone by surprise. They’re a very good team now and next year they’re going to be GREAT. GM Alan Millar has left them in good hands. … I expect Warriors head scout Jason Ripplinger to be named the next GM in Moose Jaw. … Connor Bedard has recorded eight points in four games and continues to be the talk of the hockey world. All eyes will be on him Saturday when the Pats face the Brandon Wheat Kings at 8:00 pm on AccessNow TV. … Former Pats broadcaster Kevin Gallant has come up with a nickname for the 15-year old phenom — “Bedzky” (given his record-breaking string of multipoint games to begin his career). … Not exactly sure on this but I’m told the Swift Current Broncos have lost 22 in a row but have the youngest average age in the Hub at 17. Head Coach/GM Dean Brockman has them working extremely hard and they will be good. But you have to feel for those players now. Brockman took over a bare cupboard after the 2018 championship run. Any criticism of him is misplaced.

3 – BACK ON AIR: Lots of people have asked, “Are you really having as much fun as it seems on the Pats TV games?” The answer is yes, of course, and if you don’t believe that, you really don’t know me at all. It hurt a bit a few weeks ago when I was on a Lethbridge podcast and the host said, “I never knew you were in the WHL before!” I wondered to myself, what in the hell did I spend those 17 seasons (1993-2010) in the league for if people don’t even remember? And I never wanted to leave in the first place.

In 2010 the Parker Family – owners of the Pats – forced me to choose between the Roughriders and Pats and although I’m a hockey guy to the bone, c’mon! That was at the absolute peak of Rider Pride plus I was insulted to have been presented with an ultimatum like that in the first place. There are many more details to that story but you’ll have to wait for the release of my upcoming book I’LL TAKE IT FROM HERE – Stories From My Decades In The Game. 

Suffice it to say, I’m on Cloud 9 to be back in the Pats booth and don’t intend to leave if they’ll have me. This has always been my home and I love it here.

4 – NEW ARENA: Great story in the Leader Post this week quoting Pats owner Shaun Semple on building a new entertainment facility, and home for the Pats. It’s not a secret that the Semples – owners of Brandt – have the resources to construct an NHL-calibre facility and if they did, I’d expect it would go right downtown on Dewdney Ave. Shaun admitted it’s a longterm project but the time to start discussing it is now. Like I wrote last week, I can’t get over how much interest there is in this story and plenty of people have asked my thoughts. Here they are: the Brandt Centre (nee Agridome) is my favourite facility in the world and you could eat off the floors, even 44 years after it opened. Almost all of my best career memories happened there. I was also raised by two farmers who instilled in me the attitude, “What you want and what you need are two different things.” So, no, I don’t think we need a new arena but I’m not so romantic with my notion that I’d stand in the way of progress. A new facility could make this a destination city and attract an NLL franchise, world-class shows and revitalize downtown which is desperately needed. The way I see it, it’s win/win.

5 – CFL/XFL: Speaking of being romantic about a notion, that’s where I feel CFL fans are right now with the proposed CFL/XFL “collaboration”. As I’ve said all week and on Friday’s commentary, I’m losing interest in debating the future of Canadian professional football. I know my information is true because it’s come straight from the source, yet there are a few claiming it’s false. As a CFL insider said to me last week, “There are a lot of people lying right now”. So why fight that? I don’t need garbage like that in my life.

There was a notion that as talking heads, we should move on from the CFL/XFL chatter and discuss the 2021 season and start with our previews. Excuse me? What season? There’s no Draft scheduled. There’s no training camp date or location. If the execs spent more attention on their own jobs rather than telling us what to do, we might be much further down the line. So that’s where I’m at. Show me. I’m not falling for this anymore.

The CFL will play in 2021 if it receives a cash injection. Where’s it coming from?

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6 – GOD BLESS AMERICA: We might’ve gotten a glimpse into what a merger could look like by our collaboration with American and XFL podcasts. With the RP Show airing on Game+ in 31 states (including New York, Texas, Florida and California), we’ve caught the eye of sports fans down there and that’s what’s led to my appearance on the XFL Mark Podcast out of Washington, plus the Belly Up Podcast Network where I’ve done interviews in St. Louis, Albany, Los Angeles and Long Island. It’s skyrocketed our followers and viewers because we’ve been able to tap into that population of 328-million south of the border. The CFL could do the same thing (and maybe that’s what they’re hoping to do without changing the way they operate).

7 – WALLLLLLLLY: CFL icon Wally Buono appeared on TSN 1200 Ottawa this week and had many interesting comments. In an appearance on the RP Show in 2019, Wally admitted the CFL had gotten “stale” and had likely reached its potential for growth in Canada. That comment never really caught on because it was Wally and no one would ever take him to task. If I’d said it, I’d face the firing squad but I digress. Anyway Wally thought the XFL might embrace the CFL’s rulebook, especially since The Rock played in the league. So here we go again, talking about a merger.

8 – THE RATIO: If this is going to happen, a task force should be assigned NOW to decide how the ratio will be handled moving forward. Forget about 3 downs, wide fields, 20-yard end zones, the rouge and all the rest. The fundamental cornerstone of the Canadian Football League is the mandated ratio of Canadian players which the U.S. government deems unconstitutional. Which it is. A panel of Canadian football experts – I’d start with Wally himself – needs to be struck to figure out how to accommodate a merger yet save grassroots football in Canada. I’m not smart enough to figure this out, don’t have the necessary background, and am not scared to admit it.

9 – OTHER SPORTS: It probably feels like it, but I want players, coaches and staffs of other sports not to think we forgot about them. In 2021 we can watch who’s viewing our Instagram, Twitter and Facebook stories and it’s filled with personnel from Junior A hockey, university and junior sports, the NLL and more. My heart sinks to my toes when I see their names because it was one thing when NO ONE was playing (See: “We’re all in this together”). But now to see their brethren in other leagues or in America back playing, the depression that follows is unfathomable. Kudos to the teams who’ve instituted Mental Health Check-Ins with their players and staff because it’s in dire need. I literally can’t even think about it for long because it’s incredibly upsetting. Reach out if you’re struggling! DM me.

10 – RANDOMS TO END: This is great -> of the 14.7-million entries in ESPN’s March Madness bracket, only 108 are still intact after Friday’s Day 1! 5.1-million perfect brackets were busted by Oral Roberts’ win over Ohio State (I picked Oral Roberts ;)) … Rule Your Mind Or It Will Rule You. … Kudos to former Regina Pats equipment manager Brad Harrison who celebrated his 1,500th pro game with the Edmonton Oilers this week. He’s a Yorkton product. …. Junior players who have protected Twitter/Instagram accounts are SMART. They can’t be trolled nor hated on, and only allow followers they accept. Coaches, pay attention to this! … We got a Moose emoji. Now we need a Lawn Mower emoji. … Thanks to Manscaped for renewing their deal as a sponsor of The RP Show! And thanks to those who ordered their Lawn Mower 3.0 personal care package using the promo code FANSIDED20. … The run by Team Dunstone at the Brier made me long for the days of curling on the radio in Saskatchewan. I used to operate those games on 1190 CFSL with announcer Chuck Pachkowski. “Rod, have I had too many beers to go on?” Chuck used to ask over the phone line from some far-flung curling club around the globe. “No, no Chuck, you’re fine!” would always be my response. Who the hell was I at age 17 to make the call on that???? …. You don’t need to pass an IQ test to have a Twitter account or have a baby. … My iPhone autocorrect changed “Hitmen” to “Hot Men” this week and I’m still an emotional basketcase over it. Proofread your posts people!

Y’er welcome,
RP
@rodpedersen

(Photo: Keith Hershmiller Photography)