10 WEEKEND THINGS FOR TITAN AUTO

1 – LABOUR DAY CLASSIC LVI: The 56th L.D.C. will go Sunday at 1 pm at Mosaic Stadium between the 8-2 Blue Bombers and the 6-3 Roughriders. Not since 1954 have these two teams met in this game with Winnipeg and Saskatchewan sitting 1-2 in the CFL West. The forecast calls for rain and 21 degrees Celsius! That will probably change.

2 – LDC FACTS: The Riders are starting a different QB for the fifth-straight Classic. And, Cody Fajardo and Winnipeg’s Chris Streveler are both making their first LDC starts. … Fajardo is trying to become the first Rider QB to lead the team to 6 straight wins since Darian Durant won 7 in a row in 2014. … Durant was then hurt in the 2014 Banjo Bowl and the Riders haven’t recovered since. Perhaps, till now. … Saskatchewan is 36-19 all-time in LDC.

3 – OVER-CONFIDENCE?: It’s always a possibility when a winning streak gets this long, like the one the Roughriders currently enjoy. But the insiders don’t think Head Coach Craig Dickenson nor GM Jeremy O’Day will allow their players’ heads to get too big. Fans are scrambling to find out when is the last time the Riders won 5 in a row? Um, last year when the club won 7 straight under Chris Jones, whom we’ll remind you, is having the last laugh with the NFL’s Cleveland Browns.

4 – THEY SAID IT: Bulletin board stuff from Stampeders receiver Eric Rogers, who told the Calgary’s Sun’s Danny Austin, “We’re not really worried about Sask. We pretty much dominated them when we played them, that was our easiest game so far this year. They’re playing well right now, but they haven’t really beaten anybody.” Of the Riders’ nine games, a paltry three have been against the meat-grinder that is the CFL West.

5 – WILLIE J: Overheard a Rider fan spitting mad and kicking garbage cans at how much he “hates” Willie Jefferson. I asked him why and the answer was, “Because he left Regina!” Folks, that’s the kind of stuff that rots your insides. Willie Jefferson’s loyalties are to his beautiful family, and to Chris Jones. He doesn’t owe squat to anyone else. Plus, it’s clear the Riders felt signing Micah Johnson was a priority over giving the dough to Willie, who’s having an MVP season with Winnipeg.

6 – ANCHORS AWAY: The Atlantic Schooners ownership presented their business plan to Halifax city officials on Friday. The project is moving along like molasses but at least it’s going the right direction. The vast majority of football people are skeptical that we’ll ever see CFL football permanently in the Maritimes, so I hope the Drummond/Leblanc/Bowser group proves ’em all wrong.

7 – SACRE BLEU: Of course the Schooners group has the full backing of CFL Commissioner Randy Ambrosie, but not all of his attention. His main concern at the moment has to be the sale of the treading-water Montreal Alouettes. So many potential owners appear to have kicked tires, but then ran away. Why is that? There’s a lineup of millionaires to buy junior hockey teams (which sell for about the same price as a CFL team), yet potential CFL owners are scarce. Why?

8 – THE COMMISH: So many people have asked what my time was like around Randy Ambrosie at Touchdown Atlantic. It was refreshing. Randy is a lot of things but above all, he’s a man of integrity. He didn’t exactly inherit a Ferrari with the CFL three years ago so he’s made a series of moves to fix the game, control costs, and hopefully now grow the game. He has a twinkle in his eye when it comes to Canadian football; I just wish he’d display it more to CFL fans. But getting rope-a-doped in that interview last month by CTV Atlantic’s Steve Murphy didn’t help.

9 – NFL CUTS CFL’ERS: 1200 players are being cut or waived this weekend by NFL teams. That list has already included CFL’ers Duke Williams, Jordan Williams-Lambert, Alex Singleton, Marken Michel, Jameer Thurman and Matthieu Betts. So basically, everybody but Sam Eguavoen.

10 – RANDOM THOUGHTS: We joked that they should be handing out the WHL Cup to the Saskatoon Blades this weekend at the preseason WHL tournament in Regina. Based on Friday’s 8-3 hammering of the Pats, maybe it’s not a joke. … Pats fans are predicting a long year. I liked their structure under Head Coach Dave Struch in the first period Friday night, but then the roof caved in. Perhaps the fans are right. …  The pundits’ preseason pick to win the SJHL – the Battlefords North Stars. … The UofS Huskies getting mauled by the Bisons in Winnipeg Friday night had to be a surprise. … Be sure to come by our All Star/Celebrity Touch Football Game Saturday night at 6 pm at Leibel Field! We’ve assembled a star-studded cast of CFL and U-Sports alum to go head-to-head along with local media and social media figures (including Amanda Ruller and Amazing Race Canada’s Lauren & Joanne Lavoie). All proceeds go to Regina Minor Football and the Regina Riot. … Along with the Canadian Forces Tailgate Party at the Armoury on Sunday, we’ll be airing a live 1-hour pregame show on our Facebook channel The Rod Pedersen Show. Darren Dupont and I will host it, joined by Rider Alumni! 🙂

RP
@rodpedersen