10 WEEKEND THINGS
TAKING SHOTS …
1 – RIDER SLIDE: Anyone can see the Saskatchewan Roughriders are in a lot of trouble following Saturday’s 22-19 home loss to the Calgary Stampeders. The Riders’ top rivals (are they still?) swept a pair of October games between the two and now stand just a win behind in the suddenly close CFL West Division standings. These two teams will meet again in Week 12 and if Calgary wins, Saskatchewan could genuinely be looking at missing the playoffs with a loss. This doesn’t feel like a good time for a bye week.
2 – WHAT HAPPENED: Just a few weeks ago, after the Riders’ Week 8 win at BC, I mentioned the team could start pencilling in home field in the Western Semifinal. That inspiring – and record-setting – victory put Saskatchewan at 5-2 but now if you look back, the Green & White have lost 4 of their last 6 games and are in a tailspin. Again, what happened?
3 – AGAINST THE STAMPS: Saturday’s loss had to really hurt. In a rare feat, the Riders won the turnover battle (3-0) but still lost. The scoring summary reads like a CFL SIM game; field goal, TD, field goal, field goal, field goal. The Riders were out-gained 422-244, with a measly 191 passing yards. The insiders say new Rider offensive coordinator Jason Maas is trying to make Cody Fajardo into something he’s not; a gunslinger. They also feel that Cody’s last O.C. Stephen McAdoo played to Fajardo’s strengths and that’s what led to a West Division Most Outstanding Player nod in 2019 and 4,302 passing yards. Look it up.
4 – SPAZ: I still felt Fajardo wasn’t out-of-line with his postgame comments about his receiver group last week and that this week’s public apology to “anyone whose feelings I hurt” was unnecessary. (Did someone put him up to that?) Anyway, Cody admitted to “spazzing” out on the sidelines which is a term I hadn’t heard since the 90’s. I was afraid there was something offensive in there so I looked the term up. The online definition refers to “lose physical or emotional control”. Sounds about right.
5 – FACE OF THE TEAM: Regardless of what side of the *apology* you’re on, we can all agree that Fajardo acted out of character during the game last weekend. As a certified Recovery Coach professional, I can attest that people do strange, uncharacteristic things when they’re under massive amounts of stress. Remember when Rider GM Jeremy O’Day said before the season that Cody needs to know the weight of the world isn’t on his shoulders? This is what he was referring to. But the fact of the matter is, it IS. And Fajardo’s massive new contract signed in the off-season comes with massive expectations which, statistically speaking, aren’t being lived up to. I’m also old enough to know that advising the Rider Nation to relax and get off Cody’s back would be akin to barking up a dead horse’s ass. So, as you are …
6 – CALL OF THE ELKS: The Riders aren’t the only CFL team which is in big trouble. The Edmonton Elks have the league’s second-worst record at 2-5. Their last win was the Labour Day Classic in Calgary (32-20) and since then it’s been Loss vs CGY, Loss vs WPG, Loss at OTT and Loss at WPG. In Week 11 they host the CFL’s top team, the 8-1 Winnipeg Blue Bombers, which will be another Larry. The insiders say the Edmonton Elks boast the second-best talent in the CFL so whom do you blame? There have been so many blow-ups in the City of Champions this year that at some point, you’d think somebody has to answer for it. Or not. Refer to Friday’s commentary on this website and the topic “Why Some Teams Always Lose”. It starts at the top.
7 – STEELE OF A DEAL: It was unfortunate that Elks radio analyst Eddie Steele was fired this week for pointing out what he feels is wrong with the team, but he knew what he was doing. My phone BLEW UP from football people quizzing why Steele could get fired for simply speaking the truth? I just shrugged and gave out a long sigh. (You’re asking ME?) Unfortunately, again, this is how the media & sports business have gone. Meanwhile at the time of this scandal I was at Jimmy Johnson’s in the Florida Keys and looked down at my Fitbit heart rate. It was at “50”, which is almost clinically dead. I let out a long laugh and whizzed off on my Jet Ski. Some people have figured out what I’m doing with my career, while most others have not.
I’ve long ago given up trying to explain. Just sit back and enjoy.
8 – DROP THE PUCK: The NHL preseason is over and the real season starts on Tuesday. Hockey fans are excited! ESPN gets things going with a featured doubleheader that night: Pittsburgh at Tampa Bay followed by Seattle at Vegas. What match-ups! And they’re the only two games on the slate that night. If you didn’t see us discuss it on my TV show, the Florida Panthers have given me media accreditation for the entire season so it would be a shame not to use it, don’cha think? The Golden Knights are still my team, but they’re not suffering for coverage. The Panthers are, and have rolled out the red carpet. We are literally the only media outlet anywhere talking about them daily. I can’t say enough about the way the Panthers have treated me, and we’ve had some great meetings over the past few weeks. In the meantime, the RP Show will be in Edmonton this week for the Oilers home-opener versus Vancouver on Wednesday. (I’m returning to the Great White North to call some Regina Pats games on AccessNow TV, including Sunday at 4:00 pm versus the Brandon Wheat Kings).
9 – COLLEGE FOOTBALL: The last time the No. 1 team in the country lost to an unranked team was 2008. The last time Alabama lost to an unranked team was 2007. Texas A&M snapped both those streaks and brought true chaos to this college football season. The Aggies dragged a two-game losing streak into Kyle Field on Saturday night, looking like one of the most disappointing teams in the country. Then Texas A&M beat the mighty Crimson Tide 41-38.
A&M’s upset, the biggest victory of Jimbo Fisher’s tenure in College Station and the first over Nick Saban by one of his former assistants in 25 tries, capped yet another thrilling Saturday in a season that is trying hard to make up for the pandemic-plagued mess of 2020. Saturday afternoon featured back-and-forth offensive outburst between ranked teams in the Big 12 (Oklahoma-Texas) and Southeastern Conference (Arkansas-Mississippi), and a top-five slugest (Penn State-Iowa) in the Big Ten. Over the last two weeks, 10 teams ranked in the top 15 have lost, including seven in the top 10.
10 – RANDOM THOUGHTS: Who says you can’t teach an old dog new tricks? It’s been fun learning NCAA Football, and sliding into the Dolphins & Panthers scene. They’ve all been so welcoming! … There’s a TV station that plays Golden Girls on a 24-hour loop down here. I’d say that show is where I first thought South Florida night be the place to be, way back in the 80’s. … My new friends rib me about being old and make fun of my ancient Garmin GPS unit and Canon Powershot camera. Hey, THEY WORK and came in real handy when getting close-ups of Dan Marino last Sunday on the field at Hard Rock Stadium. … A story in the Toronto Star said the WHL was “rocked” by the P.A. Raiders third jersey scandal this week. Sorry honey, but we’ve been through far worse than this as a league. Try again. … Spending time at sports bars in South Florida like (Kim) Bokampers, Jimmy Johnson’s Big Chill & Bru’s (Bob Brudzinksi) got me thinking again about opening my own place. I’ve got tons of cool sports artifacts with nowhere to display them. You’re supposed to punch me in the nose if I ever suggested this again!! We were close to building a sports bar on Evraz Place right where that new McDonalds just opened, but the deal fell apart. Everything happens for a reason. … My boss Darren Dupont has been nominated for ANOTHER business award, this time the Young Entrepreneur Award with the Saskatchewan Young Professionals & Entrepreneurs (SYPE). Wish him luck! … Prayers up to Montreal Canadiens icon Carey Price who entered the NHL & NHLPA’s Player Assistance Program this week. A note: the #1 treatment for Mental Illness and/or Addiction is holistic healing. I should know, I’m managing five of them and am unmedicated! There is hope.
HAPPY THANKSGIVING
Y’er welcome,
RP
@rodpedersen
(With files from the Associated Press)
The riders O line is absolutely awful. Poor cody was running for his life for the 2nd straight week. Help us brendan labatte
Who is Cody going to blame for this one?
Cody Farjardo selfishly thinks it’s a good idea for the bye week, he’s ecstatic about it. He gets to go home or other arrangements while putting Rider football on the back burner. It seems Cody vastly underestimated the enormity of expectations on his shoulders as the starting quarterback of the Saskatchewan Roughriders Football Team and it shows. At his salary he’s not on par to productivity and high fanbase expectations. Paying out based on a one season 2019 performance not good business on team management. Anyway you cut it there’s always the next man up ready willingly and able to… Read more »
Did you ever stop to think maybe this is exactly what Cody and the entire oline needs is a break from the game and recoup and if you think you can do a better job get your ass out on the field
Linds,
Did you ever think you don’t know what you’re talking about?
You are to put it mildly off kilter.
To paraphrase the great former Alouettes Head Coach Dan Hawkins.
These guys all missed all of 2020. 2021 is a reduced schedule of only 14 games without a preseason. The CFLPA mandates a 4 hour workday. These guys get an entire offseason. They get more time off to get paid a yearly salary in a condensed time period. It is more time off than any working person can fathom.
……IT’S PROFESSIONAL FOOTBALL!!!!! If it is to much for these guys…..go play intramurals brother….go play intramurals.
Get real! This is professional football where every ounce of one’s self is required. If Cody Fajardo can’t handle his duties at the salary he’s being paid in a shortened 2021 CFL season he’s in the wrong business. What irks me is the guy got paid for the entire cancelled 2020 season. Cody Fajardo had ample time to prepare himself for the rigors of pro football mentally and physically. Its become highly apparent something is off to his well-being, he’s not 110% in the game and its showing for all to see.
There was something off with entire offense. When you watch winnipeg its almost as if they say what they will do and wish the other team luck. Its built on a running back akin to a ww2 sherman tank. Play action and setting up the deep ball knockout punch We do none of that due to the Receivers with the exception of one being absolutely useless. That drop in last 3 minutes i just felt so bad for cody. It is what it is. College football is very similar to CFL with how the roster construction happens. Its actually more… Read more »
Wut?
Look back at the schedule for this year and find the last time Cody was the better of the 2 QB’s playing in the game. Blame the Oline & the receivers but the blame falls at the feet of the chosen one QB.