10 WEEKEND THINGS
Taking shots …
1 – It has been an incredibly positive start to 2023 and here’s hoping it stays that way! 2022 was the Year of the Tiger, symbolizing courage and strength but also upheaval (whew!) but 2023 is the Year of the Rabbit, symbolizing luck, success and peace. Bring it on!
2 – There were a couple of things that occurred this week which helped to restore my faith in humanity/sports. The potentially tragic injury to Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin on Monday Night Football (believe it or not he sent a message to his fans on Instagram on Saturday) was horrible but the fact the NFL called that game is a small sign that maybe we haven’t gone to hell in a hand basket just yet. Who cares if the NFL initially considered finishing that game after Hamlin’s heart stopped and left in an ambulance? Of course they considered it! The NFL is a business after all. However Hamlin’s teammates were clearly in shock and forcing them to play would’ve been inhumane.
Humanity prevailed in this instance. The only reason I thought they’d finish the game is because I’ve seen the wrong thing been done so many times over the years. Now let’s see how the Bills fare Sunday against the Patriots. QB Josh Allen said it was good to be back playing football and when tragedy occurs, it’s key to get back to your normal routine ASAP. (I learned this while getting certification for Grief, Trauma & Stress Management. Y’er welcome).
3 – The other glimmer of hope for sports is the Connor Bedard situation. While conventional wisdom would suggest trading Bedard is what’s best for the Regina Pats franchise – and several diehard fans still believe that to be the case – this is different. In allowing Connor to make his own mind up about his future (he wants to finish his junior career as a Pat), this is a clear example of empowering your people or “valuing people”, as Argonauts GM Mike Pinball Clemons put it on the RP Show at Grey Cup Week.
A lot of fans didn’t know what Pinball meant when he said that, but I did. This is a case of a team or employer saying “What do you need?” and then figuring the rest out around it. Because of the good karma, the Pats will be fine down the line. Just like the reigning Grey Cup champions, the Toronto Argonauts.
4 – We had some fun with Connor Bedard’s testy postgame interview on TSN after the World Junior gold medal game in which he barked, “WE’RE NOT TALKING ABOUT ME RIGHT NOW!” to the young female TSN reporter. Did he “snap”? No. Was he direct? Yes. Could he have used a different tone? Yes. Bedard came off to me as someone who was tired of politely answering everybody’s questions and simply wanted to go celebrate with his teammates. For her part, the reporter never cowered and she came right back with another question. But I doubt that interview will go on her highlight reel.
5 – Social media asked if a 17-year old Bedard would be snuck into a Halifax bar as an underage to celebrate the gold medal win? Given the scrutiny on Hockey Canada right now, my guess is the celebration included lemonade and cookies in a hotel banquet room. But do you remember your first incident being snuck into a bar? Mine was as a 17-year old with the Milestone Flyers senior hockey team at Rocky Treleaven’s establishment My Place on South Albert in Regina. My older brothers were there too. Funny how that stuff sticks with you. Labatt’s Lite. And a star is born.
6 – NHL NOTES: Melville, SK’s Damon Severson (pictured) has played in 605 NHL games, all with the New Jersey Devils, and on Saturday scored his first ever overtime goal on an end-to-end rush where he beat New York goalie Igor Shesterkin to give the Devils a 4-3 victory over the rival Rangers in the NHL Network’s Weekend Showcase Game. … The announcers called the game off a monitor in a studio in Seacaucus, NJ. No thanks. … Matthew Tkachuk is being referred to as the Mayor of NHL All Star Weekend given the fact the Florida Panthers forward will be playing in the game, as an American player, in his own rink next month. NHL All Star Weekend goes Feb. 4 & 5 and the RP Show will be there. Still can’t believe how lucky we are. … I hate when the Panthers are the road. The Flames too! … Let me get this straight; Rick Bowness and Jim Montgomery can’t coach in Dallas, Bruce Cassidy can’t coach in Boston and Peter DeBoer can’t coach in Las Vegas but they can coach in Winnipeg, Boston, Vegas and Dallas respectively? Got it. … Paul Maurice is the only one of this game of musical chairs that isn’t having smashing success with his new team but with a superb enough coaching job, he could get the Cats into the playoffs this spring. But Florida needs everything to go right every night and have no injuries in order to win. They’re not as deep as those other teams.
7 – FOOTBALL NOTES: Last night I dreamt of Eric Tillman and Kent Austin. In a media scrum Kent advised, “Everything is as it should be.” FYI I always take Kent’s advice. … A football man from Mississippi called this week and we went over the CFL’s free agent list. The market opens in about a month. This guy couldn’t believe the wealth of talent available and I explained it’s because of all the one-year contracts in the CFL now. Free agency’s going to be loaded every year. … Here’s the good news for Rider fans: the FA list is star-studded and the Riders have money to spend. If they do it right, they could turn things around fast. That’s IF they do it right. But even so, I don’t think Rider fans are going to like the 2023 West Division standings predictions. Speaking of …
8 – Here’s the Grey Cup Futures Odds courtesy of the RP Show’s official betting partner and sportsbook Bet Regal: Winnipeg (+300), BC (+425), Toronto (+550), Hamilton (+650), Calgary (+700), Montreal (+750), Saskatchewan (+900), Ottawa (+1200), Edmonton (+1600). … Don’t shoot the messenger.
9 – That Mississippi football guy was nice enough to invite the RP Show to broadcast live from the Reese’s Senior Bowl in Mobile, Alabama the week of Feb. 4. Unfortunately, that’s the same week as NHL All Star Festivities. My biggest problem continues to follow me around; the inability to be in two places at once. Maybe the RP Show will become big enough one day that we can have Moose Dupont at the Senior Bowl and me at the All Star Game. And then Super Bowl is next on Sunday, Feb. 12 in Arizona! … Frankly if I had my druthers we’d be broadcasting from both the CJHL’s Centennial Cup and CHL’s Memorial Cup in 2023 but as it turns out, the Stanley Cup Playoffs have been more attractive to advertisers for the time being.
10 – RANDOMS: Almost finished up the series George & Tammy on Paramount, chronicling the lives of the King & Queen of Country Music, George Jones and Tammy Wynette. Similar to the movie Elvis, it’s got a very sad undertone. Try, if you can, to learn from others’ mistakes! … George Jones was also known as “The soul of country music”. I can attest, as a former deejay at 1190 CFSL Weyburn. Those were fun years. … Lanny McDonald has been called “The soul of the Calgary Flames”. … Country music in a hockey arena is a buzzkill. Don’t @ me. … Yellowstone is turning out to be just as gut-wrenching and pillow-squeezing as This Is Us. I can’t take much more of the drama!!! … My Florida friends often ask regarding Yellowstone, “Is that what life’s like up there?” I say, “Yes”. … The highlight of my week was ESPN analyst and former Patriots linebacker Rob Ninkovich holding up a hand-drawn pic of Aaron Rodgers and apologizing to the Packers QB for counting Green Bay out of the playoff race. Hilarious! …. This sports & media business is supposed to be FUN. … At Ferryman’s we put the FUN in funeral. … AND HOW WAS YOUR WEEK?
Y’er welcome,
RP
@rodpedersen
When I was a kid I thought both George Jones & Elvis were how you do it if you’re going to blow your life up. Whiskey, women, and bars so as a teenager what could be cooler than that? Turns out plenty. The guy to watch in that series is Peanut Montgomery. There is a fine line between sticking with George like he did and then full blown enablement which Elvis got . I think George made it out alive because of that and sadly both Tammy and Elvis didn’t. Typical drug addicts nothing more and nothing less. We don’t… Read more »
4) The young female reporter is yet another example of an individual being completely out of her element. The team won. He is part of the team. She asks dumb question and she got the answer direct or not. I am shocked she hasn’t gone on a stress leave. Also the entire Bedare trade talk is a game of show and tell. They are telling everything but showing nothing. Seattle was here on Friday. They beat the wagon off of Regina and that team is set. Conor has done his part he is the Captain of the team and leading… Read more »
5) Getting snuck it or sneaking those first drinks as a teenager. If 10 people did it then 9 out of 10 completely forgot it. For the 1 out of 10 and I was the 1. Those moments are equal to when people recall where they were the day JFK was assassinated and for my generation 9/11. It is that clear and was that much of a life changing experience. Fast forward 30+ years and those memories along with hero worshipping George Jones, Elvis, Ric Flair, Waylon Jennings, Hank Jr. Then seeing how those guys wound up…..no thanks. Today it’s… Read more »
If I were CFL commissioner I’d ban 1 year contracts for any player with less than 10 years on an active pro roster. This constant carousel of players moving around the league just sucks from a fan standpoint.
Agreed, it hasn’t been great from a fan perspective and you would think the team’s perspective as well
You are seeing more multi-year contracts now with some (QB’s) having guaranteed money. Fact is, if you don’t guarantee some kind of money, & you can break any contracts over a year at the team’s discretion without consequences, unlike football ops salaries, why would the CFLPA agree to forcing players into longer contracts without the teams having to honor them but the players having to do so? Plus mgmt on teams has already said that their job is going to be harder with the new league open for business this year – part of the argument vs the cap on… Read more »
Fair enough. Maybe the scales need to tip back in favour of the players a little bit more. It could be in the long term interests of the league.
That female reporter is the best TSN has had in years. Her questions were short, direct, and to the point. A welcome change from the sideline reporters (male and female) that TSN has paraded out for its CFL and NHL broadcasts the last 10 years. They all thought they were the show with 45 second monologs and questions before turning the microphone over in an interview. The worst of these left TSN during 2022. Just saying! I expect this “young female reporter” will be gone from TSN in just a few months and on to greener pastures at ESPN or… Read more »
Mike Johnson was the only one who knew the rules.
You spelled Bob McKenzie wrong.
Johnson was calling for the crease rules to be from the NHL rule book, not the IIHF rule book.
Fully agree Darrell. You bring up the point about the reporters during the cfl coverage. Those sideline commentaries are a joke and distract from the game with useless drivel no one cares about. They also continue on and on while the next play starts. Its a joke and do they actually think anyone looks for or waits for these commentaries. But in saying that, even worse is the in booth interviews where the two play by play guys have some sort of visitor in the booth and continue on and on and on about things again no one cares about.… Read more »
You’re selling out RP. Skipping out on the Memorial Cup, for the love of money.
If you’re interested in sponsoring our MC coverage, hit me up!! Otherwise, have a great day.
We hear different things.