Commentary: All Aboard
(Listen daily for the RP Commentary on the All New Hits 98)
They say the truth hurts.
Sometimes, the truth doesn’t hurt at all.
On this Major League Baseball trade deadline today, a lot of us are gonna be watching the newswire and refreshing our phones to see what the Blue Jays do to stay on top in the AL East and take a run at the World Series.
No, hardly any of us predicted they’d be in this position and that’s what makes it a whole lot of fun.
A viewer to the RP Show – from parts unknown – wrote in recently and called us a “bandwagon Blue Jays show”.
I replied, “Thanks for noticing.”
You’ve been listening to this commentary for years and maybe watching the show too. We’ve long said our pillars of sports talk are NHL, CFL & NFL, and the Blue Jays when they’re winning.
Hey – don’t blame us. The nation pretty much zones out on baseball unless the Jays are in contention and that’s only happened a couple of times in the past generation.
You gotta go with what’s hot and now the Bluebirds are Canada’s Team.
Calling me a “bandwagon jumper” doesn’t hurt me at all. That is, if I even had feelings!
And trust me, the Jays don’t mind if we’re bandwagoners. They love the hype because it sells jerseys and tickets and drives ratings.
At the peak of Rider Pride around 2010, the Riders were what was hot across the land and people from outposts like Fort MacMurray, AB, Cambridge, ON and Gander, NF were snatching up Rider gear and coming to the games at home and on the road.
I know cuz I met them.
Hall of Fame Rider President Jim Hopson sure the heck wasn’t concerned with how long those people had been fans, or why. He was too busy adding up receipts and laughing all the way to the bank.
Those days are long gone and for now, it’s the Jays turn.
And the bandwagon has plenty of legroom and comfy seats.
That’s today’s Rod Pedersen Commentary
(Sign up for the Rod Squad Newsletter for FREE today! Get Rod’s exclusive 10 Weekend Things column plus other writers, betting tips, Hot Takes, best interviews and more!)
Saskatchewan is the most guilty place on earth of being bandwagon jumpers Exhibit A: Any junior hockey market when they go on a playoff run – WHL, SJHL, whatever Exhibit B: The Rush (“I was there when they won the championships. But I haven’t been to a game since Covid! They were fun, we just don’t have the time anymore!”) Exhibit C: The Riders. I’m from the camp of that they can fix with strategy around the Rubber Chicken Dinner circuit. Next CBA: Minimum 5 appearances on behalf of the team outside of the Team’s Census Metropolitan Area for a… Read more »