10 WEEKEND THINGS

Taking shots …

1 – ELK HUNTING: Lots to be said about Saskatchewan’s 26-16 victory over the Edmonton Elks on Saturday to close out Week 2 in the CFL. …  QB Cody Fajardo has yet to throw an interception this season and looked mint on the game-winning 28-yard toss to Mitchell Picton in the 4th quarter. … Don’t think Cody didn’t want to show up Chris Jones in this one. He did. … WR Mitch Picton’s pro story is one of perseverance and Saskatchewan/Regina kids should sit up and pay attention to what’s possible if you don’t give up on your dreams. Mitch could’ve called it a career over the past few years but he didn’t, and now he’s basking in the winner’s circle. … The Riders are 2-0 against teams which have a combined record of 0-4. No matter; early wins build confidence and you can only play the teams who appear on your schedule. … But 134 yards in penalties is something Head Coach Craig Dickenson will want to address. It was a problem last season too, no? Edmonton took only 55 penalty yards. … The attendance was listed as 23,121. … It was, I believe, the Riders’ seventh straight victory over Edmonton. A buddy asked me before the game how many Rider victories I can recall at Commonwealth in my time. The answer? Not too many. 

2 – FEAR THE DEER: It’s going to be a long season for the Elks. In fact it already is. Interesting to note the only other CFL team to go winless at home like the 2021 Edmonton Elks (0-7) were the 1959 Saskatchewan Roughriders who went 0-8 at Taylor Field. We’ll have to ask John Lynch about that season. … Duron Carter has yet to make his Edmonton debut however the list of former Riders who wore Green & Gold on Saturday consists of: Matt Elam, Tobi Antigha, Ed Gainey, Makana Henry, Caleb Holley and Manny Arceneaux. … Longtime Elks/Eskimos radio colour commentator Dave Campbell missed the game due to Covid protocol (we’re still doing that??) and was replaced for one game by former Edmonton long-snapper Ryan King. He was outstanding! The 9-year CFL vet had a strong voice, knew the ins and outs of all three phases for both teams (what they were thinking and why) and worked well with play-by-play man Morley Scott. I chuckled at Ryan referring to Saskatchewan’s QB as “Cody” multiple times. Even if you don’t know Fajardo, you feel like you do. Very lovable. … Elks offensive lineman Mark Korte is being flamed for missing the game to attend his wedding. I say, “Do what’s best for you” but not many others are. It’s a different time, and I’m not sure the way we did things back in the day were right.

3 – OTHER WEEK 2 NOTES: Last week here we noted that the Bo Levi Mitchell critics are doing nothing but firing him up. On Saturday evening Mitchell called out his critics after leading the Stampeders to a 30-27 comeback overtime win at Hamilton. If the 24-point comeback wasn’t the most in CFL history, it’s gotta be close. The famed Canada Day Comeback in 2010 between Saskatchewan and Montreal was a 21-point Rider deficit, and we thought that was a lot. … The Stamps are 2-0 with a won/loss margin of +6. Good teams find a way to win and mediocre/bad teams find a way to lose. The Ticats are 0-2 with a margin of -20. … Didn’t watch a snap of the Winnipeg/Ottawa home-and-home series but it’s not surprising the Blue Bombers went 2-0. However the arrow is pointed up for the RedBlacks. … Many are saying the Toronto Argonauts are “fluky” for some late-game victories – including Thursday’s 20-19 win over Montreal where Als kicker David Cote missed a 21-yard FG with 11 seconds to go – but I say there’s no such thing as luck. The harder you work, the luckier you get. … Watching Alouettes owner Gary Stern try to navigate Twitter is amusing. Normally I say owners should be seen and not heard but in this case, you go Gary! The CFL’s been missing personality for awhile and following this has been fun. However I don’t think Stern will be calling out the opposition again on game weeks anytime soon. Speaking of …

4 – THREE-PEAT: It’s been quite a calendar year for Stan Kroenke. The owner of the L.A. Rams won a Super Bowl in February and on Saturday night, as owner of the Colorado Mammoth, won an NLL championship. It’s quite a trophy case. Kroenke also owns the Colorado Avalanche whom are two wins away from a Stanley Cup title. Can you imagine winning three championships in ONE year? Kroenke was regarded as the best owner/executive in sports before 2022 so this run may solidify him as the best sports owner EVER. If the Avs win Stanley, I think he will be.

5 – STARTS AT THE TOP: The fans watch the games and cheer on their teams but have very little knowledge of what actually goes on behind-the-scenes. But that’s where all the action really is. It’s why we talk about ownership SO OFTEN on The RP Show. If you don’t know what I’m talking about, watch the documentary Winning Time on HBO Max chronicling the rise of the L.A. Lakers under owner Jerry Buss which we discussed here last week. The owner (or President if it’s a community-owned team) generally operates a franchise in one of two ways: 1) hires good people he/she trusts and lets them do their job or 2) micromanages every aspect of the organization and has their finger in everything. In 30+ years in this industry, I’ve seen both methods up close and have seen them both work successfully. I’ve also seen both methods fail, way more often than not. I’d just love to find out which method Kroenke employs.

A wonderful example of this is Winnipeg Blue Bombers President Wade Miller who seems have blended both styles and turned Winnipeg into the CFL’s marquee franchise with back-to-back championships and perhaps a third title on the way. The other teams are still trying to figure it out, and possibly regressing.

As you’ve seen, I’ve spent a TON of time with owners in the NHL, NFL, CFL, NLL, CHL, etc. over the years and I’ve studied the sh*t out of them. I’ve seen what works and what doesn’t, and it’s translated well to The Rod Pedersen Show Corp and building corporate culture as a means to winning.

6 – AVS: Also going on Saturday evening was Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Final and Colorado destroyed Tampa Bay 7-0 to go up 2-0 in the series. The Avalanche were favoured going in but if anybody said they saw THIS coming, I’d say they’re pulling your leg. The 11 goals-for in two games is the 7th most in Stanley Cup Final history. … Teams which go up 2-0 in the Stanley Cup Final go on to win the series 90% of the time. … If any team can beat the odds, it’s the Tampa Bay Lightning but captain Steven Stamkos seemed pretty deflated after Game 2. … Game 3 goes Monday at 8 pm ET in Tampa.

7 – VASI: Anybody who criticizes Lightning coach Jon Cooper for leaving goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy in for the entirety of Game 2 should check themselves, particularly if they never coached the game at any level. For one, as 2-time defending Stanley Cup champion, Cooper is above criticism from these pundits. For two, nobody knows the relationship between Cooper and Vasilevskiy but clearly it’s one of respect. This is no Patrick Roy/Mario Tremblay situation. And for three, Vasilevskiy has played every minute of every game in the last three Stanley Cup playoff runs. Why change now? … If you noticed, the Lightning scored zero goals in Game 2 (“0”) and Jon knows his goaltender bears no responsibility for that. … What happened Saturday night was a situation of respect, and more of that should be shown to the Lightning head coach/goalie tandem.

8 – WILD AND WOOLLY: Congratulations to the Colorado Mammoth, 2022 NLL champions! The Mammoth won Game 3 of the Best of 3 championship series with a 10-8 victory over the Buffalo Bandits in a sold-out Keybank Center in Buffalo, NY Saturday night. Details and coverage of the series is somewhat sketchy but if you follow the league and team accounts, it’s all there. It’s amazing how this league pulls in huge crowds in its specific markets but really isn’t covered anywhere in the mainstream. Perhaps that’s changing. Anyway, congrats Colorado!

9 – MEMMER BEGINS MONDAY: The teams have arrived in Saint John, NB for the Memorial Cup and it begins Monday night with the OHL champion Hamilton Bulldogs up against the host Sea Dogs. On Tuesday night the WHL champion Edmonton Oil Kings face the QMJHL champion Shawinigan Cataractes. Apologies if I’ve missed the hype (I’ve only been in Canada less than 24 hours) but the tourney hasn’t exactly been shoved in my face. However there’s been fantastic coverage on the CHL’s official website here. Major junior hockey in June! Enjoy it while it lasts.

10 – RANDOM THOUGHTS: The kickoff of another Rider season has reinforced why moving The RP Show around Canada and the USA has been a tremendous idea. Our #1 region for viewership remains Saskatchewan – by a mile – but having me in the Queen City overlooking the Green & White reminds me a whole lot of Ken Miller hanging around in 2011 when Greg Marshall tried to takeover the Roughriders. It was awkward for everybody. We have shows scheduled for Saskatchewan this summer and they’re going to be awesome but as for now, we begin another stint in Calgary at Grey Eagle Resort & Casino this week. … Thanks for continuing to support the show and also for supporting our gracious sponsors! … Hats off to Hall of Fame writer Terry Jones for a distinguished 50+ year career with the Edmonton Sun. He was let go over the phone this week and, judging by his Twitter account, didn’t take the news well. I’d suggest the phrase: “Don’t cry because it’s over. Smile because it happened!” Jonesy was always a guy who made you rip through the newspaper to find his column everyday. There aren’t many like him around anymore. God bless, and thanks Terry! … A big argument broke out in the gym locker room this week in Coconut Creek, FL over which the RP Show needs more or less of: CFL talk or junior hockey talk! We’ll keep doing what we’re doing and hope people like what they see. … Self-employment/contract work in the media is the way to go in this new age, but it ain’t for the faint of heart. More and more I’m learning that broadcasters and writers aren’t business people. They’re going to need to learn to be to survive, or least to be happy! … That’s it for this week. HAPPY FATHERS DAY!

Y’er welcome,
RP
@rodpedersen

(Photo: David Boles/630 CHED)