10 WEEKEND THINGS

1 – END OF DAYS: Things are starting to move. Unfortunately it’s in the wrong direction. It’s looking like a foregone conclusion that there won’t be a CFL season in 2020 but as it turns out, that’s the least of the league’s problems. Now the entire existence of the CFL is in question. Hey, you don’t need to take my word for it. That’s what I got out of the weekend headline at TSN.ca from Insider Dave Naylor blaring, “Right now, it’s 3rd and Long for the CFL”.

2 – CASH CRUNCH: Why now? Because the CFL is reportedly getting the cold shoulder from the Federal government – who’d prefer a high interest loan rather than a handout – and the league’s deep-thinkers realize their business model won’t allow for them to ever pay that back. They were already losing millions collectively as it was … in the good times!

3 – SAD BUT TRUE: It took a pandemic to expose the underbelly of the CFL. As one prominent pro football figure told me last week, “There’s a handful of guys who’ve been sucking millions out of the CFL for years”. Now the jig is up. It’s been a revolving door of Commissioners and CFL “frontmen” for decades but the key decision-makers have remained the same. That’s where things are about to change. 

4 – DON’T DESPAIR: A lot of people here in the Wheat Province are panicking that this will be the end of Canadian pro football. They’re afraid Mosaic Stadium will become a green and white elephant on Elphinstone St. (a phrase stolen from Rob Vanstone). However the answer to both those worries is “no”. There will always be a green football team called the Roughriders filling the stands at Canada’s football shrine. What league they play in, at this time, is anybody’s guess. (The XFL declared bankruptcy this spring and now there’s an auction planned to buy the business). Shoot, it might still be called the Canadian Football League. Or the Western Canadian Football League, or the Contental Football League, or NFL Canada. If there’s an absence of Roughriders football, it won’t be a long one.

5 – FEEL FOR THE GUYS: Any absence of CFL football sucks. The pause we’re currently on has been torturous. Can you believe the last time we walked out of there, the football gods had just zapped Cody Fajardo with his game-winning touchdown pass in the 2019 West Final getting clanked by the goalpost? That utterly feels like a lifetime ago. The Blue Bombers won 20-13 that day and then the last time any of us saw CFL football was a week later in the Grey Cup when Winnipeg steamrolled Hamilton 33-12.

6 – CASH FLOW LOW: Incidentally that’s also the last time CFL players got paid. For the majority of them, it’s been even longer than that. CAN YOU IMAGINE GOING EIGHT MONTHS WITHOUT BEING PAID? The “seasonal employee” excuse owners, governors and presidents are using is simply that; an excuse. The pandemic has made for extenuating circumstances and it’s inhumane not to look after your players. There’s an unconfirmed rumour that Hamilton owner Bob Young is slipping his players some cash under the table which is totally in character for The Caretaker. If only there were more Bob Youngs in the CFL.

7 – ENOUGH GLOOM AND DOOM: It’s opening day in the Stanley Cup Playoffs! Yes it’s totally weird to be dropping the puck for Day 1 on August 1, but fans will need to make the best of it like everybody else in the NHL. Normally I’d be anchored to the couch for the 15 consecutive hours of live coverage on Saturday but for us the day includes a road trip to Estevan, a round of golf, supper with friends, a night at Estevan Motor Speedway and a TV interview. No matter! You don’t shoot your wad at the Golden Corral when you first walk in the door; you spread your experience out over a long period of time. The same applies for the NHL playoffs. Enjoy!

8 – FACTOIDS: I’ve been granted access to the NHL’s treasure chest of Media/PR info and Game Notes. It’s absolutely glorious. For instance, the last time two NHL games were played in the same arena on the same day was March 3/1968. Madison Square Garden hosted a doubleheader between the Philly Flyers/California Golden Seals and the Rangers/Blackhawks. A storm caused damage at the Philadelphia Spectrum causing the Flyers to move out temporarily. I LOVE this stuff! … It’s been 95 years since the Stanley Cup Playoffs were staged entirely in Canada. The last time the Stanley Cup FINAL was played entirely in Canada was of course 1989 between the Flames and Canadiens … The 2019-20 NHL regular season was declared officially deceased on March 11. The L.A. Kings beat the Ottawa Senators 3-2 at Staples Center that night for their seventh consecutive season. Melville’s Todd McLellan had really gotten the Kings going! Better times are clearly ahead in LA.

9 – HAIL THE S-JAY: The buzz in hockey circles is that the SJHL might be the only junior loop that’s able to faceoff in the fall. The ban on large gatherings in BC until 2021 and the chaos in the Pacific Northwest really looks to put a kibosh on the WHL’s plans. The SJ is set up perfectly with 11 of 12 teams being in Saskatchewan (there will be a way to include Flin Flon safely), they travel by bus and don’t pay the players. It turns out the SJHL will be a great vehicle to park ad dollars and be broadcast live on TV and streaming. That’s not to write off the Dub; the word I got this week was “the smart money is on a November start”. Fingers crossed.

10 – RANDOMS TO END: Hockey is not back. The NHL is back. Big difference. … The Saskatchewan Rattlers play live on CBC-TV at 1:30 pm Sask Time at the CEBL Summer Series! The snakes are 1-2. … There’s no truth to the rumour Ben McIntosh asked for a trade from the Saskatchewan Rush to Philadelphia. The team tells me Friday’s trade was a good deal for both sides and they’re happy with the bushel of 1st round picks they got from the Wings. McIntosh – the 2014 1st overall pick by the Rush – is expected to further flourish in Philly. … Rider fans who can’t get over Andrew Harris’s positive PED test last year are conveniently forgetting Saskatchewan’s Marcus Thigpen getting nailed for the same thing after the 2017 Eastern Semi Final in which he romped for 169 yards (including a 75-yard TD) against the RedBlacks. Drop it. … It’s been six or so weeks since we’ve been able to publish reader comments on this website. I don’t miss them. If you feel the need to comment, do so on the Facebook link or Twitter. Thank you. … Why are the Toronto Raptors being anointed as the NBA Eastern Conference Champs before the playoffs even start? They wouldn’t have won it all last year without Kawhi Leonard and he’s no longer with them. … We can lay off the Wheatland minor hockey teams for visiting a tournament in Winnipeg under a veil of secrecy. They’ll be dealt with harshly by provincial and hockey authorities along with karma. Further whippings on Facebook and Twitter aren’t going to accomplish anything. … Do you want the truth or do you want to feel good? … Will Dean Evason be this year’s Craig Berube? … The Atlanta Thrashers have reported zero positive coronavirus cases. … The name “Seattle Kraken” doesn’t turn my crank but I’ll get used it. The Raptors name didn’t initially either. It’s forward thinking rather than backward thinking, like the “Seattle Metropolitans” which I preferred. Looking ahead is the way to go. Bravo! … Does the famed football adage “If you’ve got two quarterbacks, you don’t have one” apply to hockey goalies? We’re about to find out. … The belly-aching about players missing their families for a few months comes off as really whiny to me. I know tons of military service men and women who are deployed around the world for six months at a clip for a tiny fraction of a pro sports salary. My friends and family say to me, “Rod, you can’t compare every life situation to the military”. I say, why not?

Y’er welcome,
RP
@rodpedersen