10 WEEKEND THINGS FOR CAPITAL GMC

1 – TB12: Tom Brady’s New England Patriots aren’t even in Super Bowl LIV but the superstar found a way to completely steal all the headlines with his cryptic tweet of a photo of him at Gillette Stadium (pictured). It’s in black & white and no one can tell whether he’s leaving or entering the stadium! That’s what got media, fans and even NFL players alike chasing their tails as Brady gets set to enter NFL free agency. Will he stay or will he go? Of the dozens of hours of coverage I’ve watched from Miami this week, one line stands out: “Tom feels under-appreciated in New England”. Those are dangerous words for an employer and could provide a big clue.

2 – SUPER BOWL LIV: Being a media junkie, my highlight of the year is Super Bowl Week and the coverage by all the networks from the host city; particularly ESPN and NFL Network. It gives us all the best information, and ideas for our own shows. Watch for the RP Show’s wall-to-wall coverage from 2020 Grey Cup in Saskatchewan! As for Super Bowl 54, you can expect the 49ers to beat the Chiefs by less than 7 points on Sunday. And don’t forget to join us at Baller’s for the inaugural RP Show Super Bowl Barty! Kids are welcome.

3 – BIDDING SEASON: These are no less exciting times in the CFL. In an effort to curb tampering, the CFL has instituted the first Free Agent Negotiating Window which opens Sunday and will run for seven days. Then teams will have 48 hours to finalize deals before Free Agency officially opens on Tuesday, February 11 at 11:00 am CT. Teams have to file their offers through the CFL head office which seems like a massive clerical headache given the fact there’s the potential for thousands of offers to be made, but the CFL wouldn’t have instituted this strategy if they didn’t think they could pull it off. Let the bidding begin (on Sunday)!

4 – F.A.’S FALL: Nick “Fatty” Arbuckle was my #1 free agent but he signed with Ottawa on Friday, the team which held his negotiating rights. The Stampeders ended up with a 1st round pick (#1 overall) and a 3rd by shipping Arbuckle to the nation’s capital ahead of free agency. This was another genius move by Calgary’s John Hufnagel, for whom the CFL GM of the Year Award should be named. Who’s the top free agent now? With Fatty off my board, Willie Jefferson moves up to #1.

5 – RIDER PRIDE: Rider fans’ knees are knocking ahead of free agency, but they always are. However there is considerable unrest. LB Cam Judge, WR Shaq Evans, WR Naaman Roosevelt, DT Micah Johnson, LB Solomon Elimimian and a host of other big names remain “out there”, plus there seems to be plenty of speculation on the future of DE Charleston Hughes. That’s a lot of uneasiness, but GM Jeremy O’Day has never been one to panic and he won’t be influenced by the nervous nellies who make up Rider Nation.

6 – THE NEW CFL: This isn’t our Dad’s CFL. There’s no more loyalty and the abundance of 1-year contracts absolutely favours the players. That stinks for jersey sales but other than that, it’s very exciting. Bottom-feeding franchises can turn their fortunes around in a season with the right moves. Look at Montreal, who had been a doormat for years but wound up with 10 wins in 2019 and hosted a playoff game! The Als went from “a place you don’t want to be” to a preferred destination for players and coaches in less than a year.

7 – IT’S ON: The Saskatoon Kinsmen Sports Dinner is known far and wide as Saskatchewan’s biggest and best sports banquet and it’s this Friday at TCU Place in downtown Saskatoon. The guest speakers this year are Martin Brodeur, Grant Fuhr, Ed Belfour, Bernie Parent, Glenn Hall and Brett Lauther. I’m extremely excited to have a role in this event, for the first time ever! (Yes, Ed Belfour will be on stage despite last week’s incident in Kentucky). For tickets, click here: https://kinsmendinner.ca. See you there!

8 – ALL STAR GAMES: Last weekend was a fun discussion around the NHL and NFL All Star Games and we came to the general conclusion that they’re for the kids, not the adults. I tuned in the festivities Saturday night from St. Louis but didn’t last more than a few minutes. If I want to watch rec hockey, I’d go to The Cooperators Arena. As for the NFL Pro Bowl, news broke during the game in Orlando of Kobe Bryant’s death and the day completely unravelled from there. You can see why players can lose focus on the field and many admitted to it on Sunday. One thing Sunday’s events showed me is that even the NFL can be upstaged.

9 – KOBE STORIES: Everyone’s telling theirs so here’s mine; in 2010 we were on a family trip to L.A. and took in a Lakers/Jazz playoff game. Our girls were basketball players and wanted to see Kobe in warmups so we went to Staples Center good and early. However it wasn’t early enough, as Kobe wasn’t on the floor with his teammates 60 minutes before the game. An usherette said to me, “Mr. Bryant comes to the arena by helicopter 4 hours before the game and warms up by himself 3 hours before the game. Right now he’s in the Lakers locker room.” Interesting. At least we got to see him play live a few times, but most impressive to me are the stories coming out now of his work ethic and drive. What’s also tragic is the fact his life seemed to just be beginning.

10 – POLAR PLUNGE: Despite the cancellation of Waskimo, we’ll still be doing the Polar Plunge in support of Special Olympics Saskatchewan and Law Enforcement on Family Day, Monday, February 17 at Victoria Square Mall. However I won’t be jumping into frigid waters if we can’t reach our modest fundraising goal of $2000. Other local figures such as Police Chief Evan Bray, the Riders Zack Evans and CTV’s Britt Dort are also involved. I thank those who’ve donated but we’re still shy of our goal of $2000. Please consider donating here!: https://secure.e2rm.com/registrant/FundraisingPage.aspx?registrationID=4635591&langPref=en-CA&Referrer=%26Referrer%3dhttps%253a%252f%252fsecure.e2rm.com%252fregistrant%252fCheckResults.aspx%253feventid%253d298796%2526langpref%253den-CA%2526RegistrationID%253d4635591

Thank you,
RP
@rodpedersen