10 WEEKEND THINGS

TAKING SHOTS …

1 – BANJO BEATDOWN: On Labour Day Weekend the Winnipeg Blue Bombers punched the Saskatchewan Roughriders in the mouth (23-9). In the return engagement – Saturday’s Banjo Bowl – they tossed them outta the ring to the tune of 33-9 and showed the world who the best team in the CFL is. The game in Sask was more of a statistical domination whereby the IG Field clash was a cage match. The Bombers knocked Rider star QB Cody Fajardo out of the game, won the turnover battle (3-0), sack battle (4-1), yardage battle (416-354), and the historically disciplined Roughriders took 12 penalties for 143 yards. Historically, till this year.

2 – MORE: So the Blue Bombers emerge at 5-1 and are by far are the CFL’s best team. The Riders have now dropped back-to-back games to fall to 3-2 and share 2nd-place with the BC Lions. Calgary and Edmonton are tied for 4th at 2-3. The events of Saturday proved a lot of things in the CFL, and it also closed the book on the unofficial first “third” of the 2021 season. Do things change in the middle third or are these established trends? We’ll see. … Meanwhile news came down Sunday morning that the Labour Day Classic was the most-watched CFL game in six years! That’s just more of a commercial for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers whom are steamrolling both on the field, and off.

3 – STILL MORE: No one in Saskatchewan wants to hear the stat but Bomber QB Zach Collaros is 9-1 as a starter, including a 4-0 run in 2019 which led them to their first Grey Cup championship since 1990. The Stubenville, Ohio product’s time in Saskatchewan was brief (2017-2018) and decidedly unmemorable, but still dots his Wikipedia page nonetheless. For whatever reason, it didn’t work in Sask (I’d love to ask him why) but he fits Winnipeg like a glove. Love that kid! … Cody Fajardo’s concussion has been deemed mild. Prayers up for my favourite CFL player. … The officiating in the CFL this season has been head-scratching at times but that’s not an outright criticism. We’re still wondering how the Riders’ Marino and Hendy got ejected after Saturday’s 2nd quarter brawl but no Blue Bombers? It takes two to tango, I thought. That was a major turning point in the game.

4 – EVEN MORE: Rider kicker Brett Lauther missing two field goals was more evidence that this was just not going to be Sask’s day. … While many in the Rider Nation are writing the season off after these two losses (i.e. John Frenzy), methinks this was still a good measuring stick and the club can right the ship as early as next Friday when they host the Toronto Argonauts. It’s a game Argos defensive end Charleston Hughes has had circled on his calendar for quite some time and he’s another ex-Rider coming in with a chip on his shoulder (see: Collaros, Zach). … Rider defensive end A.C. Leonard being suspended two games for refusing to provide a urine sample for PED testing has turned out to be quite the discussion topic. Is it much different from refusing a breathalyzer? That’s an offence too, but I suppose at least you don’t get a DUI on your record. In Leonard’s case, perhaps he’s thinking he won’t get a positive PED test on his record either. The whole thing smells fishy. Or pissy.

5 – FOOTBALL DAY IN CANADA: Anybody who says nine hours of CFL football in one day is too much is just being negative and should be unfollowed. Every Sunday we get nine hours of NFL football and people can’t enough. CFL tripleheaders are OUTSTANDING, and I just wish they were promoted and marketed more. For instance, here in Calgary, we had to ask staff at the Canadian Brewhouse to turn the Banjo Bowl on for us. Even at that, they put the CFL game on smaller TVs and reserved the big screen for the U.S. Open Women’s Tennis final. This isn’t Toronto guys!!! Huge alarm bells there for me.

6 – ANALYSIS: Somebody must’ve told Calgary QB Bo Levi Mitchell that the TSN panel was eviscorating him at halftime on Saturday (after a first half which colour commentator Duane Forde referred to as “slow”), because he came out and put 23 second half points on the board in a 32-16 rout of the rival Elks. As it was, Calgary kicker Rene Parades booted six field goals in an otherwise pedestrian game. … Crowds of over 30,000 in both Winnipeg and Edmonton on Saturday were good news for the CFL. … I fell asleep early in the Ottawa/BC game but so too did the RedBlacks. BC led 21-7 after the first quarter and went on to a 45-13 laugher. Ottawa is a distant ninth in the nine team CFL and must be wondering how this happened.

7 – ALBERTA BOUND: We’ve been six days in Southern Alberta with the Rod Pedersen Show and gotten a lot of business done. Aside from three live shows from the Best Western Premier Calgary Airport Inn featuring a bevy of Calgary sports personalities (Devone Claybrooks, Ben Hebert, Danny Austin, etc.), we were invited to Cody Snyder’s Bull Bustin’ at Grey Eagle Resort & Casino (we’ll be broadcasting live from there next year; it’s already set up), as well as a Brooks/Okotoks AJHL game and Banff resort visit. Edmonton, we’re coming for you next month! Who’da thought?

8 – MOOSE IS LOOSE: Congratulations to Darren “Moose” Dupont for taking home the Paragon Award Friday night for Young Entrepreneur of the Year. Not shockingly, he wasn’t on hand to accept the award because we were out here WORKING! However in my letter of support I noted that Darren’s the best boss I’ve ever worked for and it’s not even close. As an entrepreneur he favours individuality, personal freedoms and resourcefulness. His staff is growing and they treat me like royalty every single day. Life doesn’t have to be a thankless grind.

9 – COLLEGE FOOTBALL: The consensus best team in the Pac-12 (Oregon) beat the consensus best team in the Big Ten (OSU) on Saturday 35-28  for the league’s first nonconference victory against a top-five team since Stanford beat Notre Dame in 2015. …  But it was not a banner day across the conference. No. 21 Utah had its nine-game winning streak against BYU snapped. Washington was crushed by Michigan. Cal let one get away at TCU. No. 14 USC looked awful in its conference opener to a Stanford team that nearly was shut out by Kansas State in its opener. … Alabama crushed Mercer 48-14 to go to 2-0. … Led by BYU, all the teams the Big 12 invited to the conference on Friday won on Saturday. No. 7 Cincinnati, UCF and Houston all blew out overmatched foes. … The Cougars seemed to have found another fun quarterback in Jaren Hall to replace Zach Wilson … Welcome to the SEC, Texas. The Longhorns got thumped by former Southwest Conference rival and future Southeastern Conference rival Arkansas. The Razorbacks ran for 333 yards, a dream performance for Sam Pittman, the former offensive line coach who has turned around the Hogs.

10 RANDOM THOUGHTS: News that the Moosehead Inn in Kenosee burned to the ground this weekend is devastating. All I can say is that I’m glad we got there for one last supper this summer. We’re crushed. … The Toronto Blue Jays have moved into a playoff spot. (Insert ‘mind-blown’ emoji). … In the aftermath of the Dallas Cowboys’ 31-29 loss at Tampa Bay in the NFL season opener, I’ve found a silver lining. The Cowboys – who were 6-10 last year – went into the best team in the NFL’s stadium and were a minute away from beating them. It’s a good sign. … This was the first time I cheered against Tom Brady but for those who find him annoying, it’s just because he always wins. He earns it, and it’s not luck. … The UofR Rams face the UofA Golden Bears Sunday at 4:00 pm in Medicine Hat. This is all in advance of a 6-game season. … Reports from Regina Pats training camp are that Connor Bedard continues to dazzle and is ready for the big time! Season tickets have reportedly been hot commodities. I’ve got mine. … The U.S. Open Womens final was a bit of a dud, no? How do you serve it into the net on a stage that big? … Time to hit the road and get back into the normal routine. Thanks for stopping by!

Y’er welcome,
RP
@rodpedersen

(Photo: Darren Dupont/With files from AP)