10 WEEKEND THINGS

Taking shots …

1 – 109th GREY CUP: Mark it down. Grey Cup Sunday is still the biggest day of the sporting year in Canada and in 2022 it falls on November 20, with all the focus on Mosaic Stadium in Regina, SK. Despite the well-documented struggles of the Canadian Football League, its title game remains Big Time. At least, I hope it does. We’ll find out around 6:00 pm ET on TSN, ESPN2 and Fubu TV. I’ll be watching from South Florida with no huge rooting interest, other than hoping for a real good game. Grey Cups usually are.

2 – HISTORY: In case you missed it, the Toronto Argonauts will oppose the Winnipeg Blue Bombers in this year’s Grey Cup. They haven’t met since the 1950 Grey Cup, the “Mud Bowl”, which was the 38th Grey Cup and played before 27,101 fans at Varsity Stadium in Toronto. Paul Dojack was the referee. The Argonauts won 13-0. I’m dying to learn what the *scanned* attendance is (actual people in seats) for the 2022 Grey Cup. Will it beat the attendance of the last Grey Cup between Toronto and Winnipeg? I’m curious. In 1950 they didn’t fudge attendance numbers.

3 – SOMETHING’S GOTTA GIVE: The Toronto Argonauts have won their last six Grey Cup appearances (2017, 2012, 2004, 1997, 1996, 1991). Are you like me and have watched ’em all??? So that’s quite a heater but it has no bearing on the 2022 game. Meanwhile Winnipeg’s Mike O’Shea is looking to become the first head coach to win three consecutive Grey Cups since Don Matthews (1995/Baltimore, 1996/Toronto, 1997/Toronto). One of these impressive streaks will end today.

4 – ATTENDANCE: I’m curious to see how full Mosaic Stadium is for this Grey Cup because, according to ticket buyers, thousands of tickets are available for resale on Ticketmaster.ca. Saskatchewan Roughriders fans snapped ’em up with the plan of watching their team in the big game but with their team being knocked out of contention long ago, they now have no interest in going. This underscores the long-held notion that Regina is a Rider town, not a football town. The forecast of minus-4 degree Celsius is braveable, but deemed not worth it by many. I’m certainly not criticizing. I’ll be watching from my living room too!

5 – RIDERS: Not going to spend a lot of time on the Green & White here today but after spending a week in the Wheat Province, it’s clear to me that many Rider Riders feel the problems of the football club are a “quick fix”. I admire their optimism, but don’t share it in any way, shape or form. We’ve examined the history of the club since Chris Jones left over and over here in this column so you know my thoughts! I’m covering other things now like NHL, NFL, College Football, etc.

But there are no quick fixes in sports. Compare it to your home reno’s. How long do quick fixes last and how effective are they? Football is no different.

Good luck! Roughriders fans deserve the best of the best. Ask yourself if you’re getting it.

6 – BO LEVI: It seems as though the public consensus is 50/50 whether pending free agent quarterback Bo Levi Mitchell will sign with Hamilton after the Tiger-Cats acquired his rights from Calgary this week, giving their franchise a jumpstart on free agent talks. The football people feel there’s no way Bo won’t sign with the Ticats, and that the club wouldn’t have made the trade if they weren’t confident they can sign him. IMO anyone beating the drum that Mitchell may still sign with Saskatchewan is doing so to rev up optimism and give people something to talk about. That used to be my job, so I get it. But I also don’t believe it.

Meanwhile this Grey Cup Week likely gave Bo Levi a good sense of what life in Regina would be like as the Riders starting quarterback. Mitchell was in the Queen City providing commentary for TSN and couldn’t move two feet without someone being in his face. Some like it, some loathe it. At least now he has a taste of it.

Anybody notice the absence of Cody Fajardo this week? Didn’t think so.

They forget fast. (a.k.a. Do what’s best for you. Always).

7 – CFL: Where to begin. There’s no reason to anticipate the CFL not always being around, because it always has been. If it can survive Covid, then it can survive anything. But it needs wayyyyyy more help than I think they even realize. I’ll get into that in the next point. On the RP Show this week at Ballers Rec Room, I asked TSN’s Voice of the Grey Cup Rod Smith about the state of the CFL. He replied in his trademark bass voice, “Until I hear otherwise, I’ll assume it’s fine.”

Good answer, and I’m going to run with that too.

8 – CFL RADIO: For the first time in, I’d have to say, at least 80 years there will be no national Grey Cup radio broadcast. TSN is cheaping out and carrying the audio feed of the TV broadcast on 10 radio stations across Canada. TSN CFL Insider Dave Naylor dropped that nugget on the RP Show early in the week and frankly, I never followed up on it at all until it was confirmed by TSN personnel at the Twisted Tea/Ballers Grey Cup party Friday night. Not only is there no national radio broadcast, but the hours upon hours of pregame coverage TSN Radio always produced on Grey Cup Saturday and Sunday are gone too. I’m guessing the TSN big wigs are gambling that you won’t notice or care.

The breakdown and erosion of mainstream media in Canada is killing the CFL more than anything else. If the media’s not talking about it, you’re not talking about it, and TSN is leading the parade. (Was there a Grey Cup Parade this year btw?)

And the radio audience is shrinking. I’ve been on the national Grey Cup radio broadcast multiple times and then travelled the country, meeting people who listened to it. From Prince George, BC to Moncton, NB. Now it’s on a piddly little 10 station network (which apparently doesn’t even include a station in Saskatoon). I look back now and think, “WTF did I do all that for if this is the way it ends?”

Anyway, on the flipside, thanks to a Twitter pic from a Bomber fan on Saturday, it dawned on me what a boon this is for the RP Show. Shayne from Dauphin, MB was driving to Grey Cup in Regina and listening to hours of Grey Cup coverage on the RP Show via Spotify, Apple & YouTube and took a pic of his windshield and dash to prove it. We went wall-to-wall with CFL talk this week with the biggest personalities (Naylor, Lalji, Pinball, etc.) and it adds up to 10 hours for your listening pleasure leading up to the game.

Thanks TSN!

9 – CFL AWARDS: Here’s a list of trophies I’d like to see instituted and handed out by the Canadian Football League, complete with the 2022 winners – GM of the Year (BC Lions, Neil McEvoy & Rick Campbell), Coordinator of the Year (Richie Hall, Winnipeg), Social Media Team of the Year (Winnipeg Blue Bombers, despite them roasting me when announcing the Zach Collaros Extension), and Reporter of the Year (Justin Dunk, 3DownNation).

10 – RANDOM THOUGHTS: Kudos to Mason Nyhus and the UofS Huskies, whom are off to the Vanier Cup in London versus the Laval Rouge et Or. It’s time for Mason to go out with a bang. … The Riders should sign Nyhus. … Wouldn’t you know it – I get back to Florida and just missed visits by the Flames and Oilers against the Panthers at FLA Live Arena. Calgary and Edmonton won both. … You repeat what you don’t heal. Read that again. … It felt like some sort of Twilight Zone to be hanging out with, and talking to Pats fans. The contending Dub teams are loading up, the sellers are unloading, and the Regina Pats are losing with the best junior player in the world, Connor Bedard. What the hell is going on?? (Note to self: practice *detachment*). … What a blast it was hanging out with members of the 2007 Grey Cup champion Roughriders like Wes Cates, Andy Fantuz, Luc Mullinder and John Chick at the Twisted Tea party! It was a lot of fun when I was the same age as the players! As the years went on, it got strange. Especially with the Pats. I liked being friends with the players and hanging out with them, but you can’t do that forever. … As P.A. Raiders GM Curtis Hunt once said, “We get older and the players stay the same age.” … Now I hang out with the old rich guys in Florida and they think I’m young! Quite a switcheroo. … Tim Horton’s new Gingerbread/Chocolate donuts are next-to-God. … Can’t wait to hear the economic impact of the 2022 Grey Cup. Will it rival the $97-million of 2013? That’s where the bar was set. … I told him Friday night but I’ll say it here again: Andy Fantuz is simply outstanding on Hamilton Tiger-Cats *radio* broadcasts. It’s shocking because Andy loathed the media during his time with the Riders. You need to allow people room to grow and change. … Do you? … AND HOW WAS YOUR WEEK?

Y’er welcome,
RP
@rodpedersen