THURSDAY RUNDOWN: NFL OPENING NIGHT! PLUS STANLEY CUP AND CFL

It’s a big day in sports and we teed it up on Episode #315 of The RP Show, Canada’s Daytime Sports Talk Show! Here are the highlights:

• Rod and Dupes opened with The Warmup covering these Quick Six show topics: 1) NFL season-opener Thursday night with Houston at Kansas City on NBC, 2) The Raptors and Celtics are going to Game 7, 3) The Yankees spank the Blue Jays 7-2, 4) The Lightning are up 2-0 on the Islanders and Thursday night Vegas plays Dallas in Game 3, 5) NFL News – The LA Rams and CB Jalen Ramsey agree to a 5 yr/$105M deal (and why does everyone want out of Jacksonville?), and 6) What’s next for the CFL?
• Vegas Golden Knights insider Gary Lawless joined the show for a deep dive on the Vegas/Dallas series. He also asked why Golden Knights GM Kelly McCrimmon isn’t a finalist for the GM of the Year Award? (Rod figures it’s because he’s the new kid on the block). Regarding the Fleury/Lehner controversy, Lawless reported that it’s a non-story and old news. He also talked about the sale of the Brandon Wheat Kings and admitted that McCrimmon feels the Wheaties need local ownership to guide them through the Covid crisis. Gary also offered some thoughts on the CFL and said Randy Ambrosie is under serious fire as Commissioner of the league. He also mentioned that while Ticats owner Bob Young said CFL business is complicated, Gary quipped that the owners are not the only ones who know how to read a balance sheet.
• The daily Capital Auto Mall/Universal Collision Centre poll question was: Who’s the NHL’s GM of the Year – Julien Brisebois, Lou Lamoriello or Jim Nill? At press time, Lamoriello was way out in front.
• Hour 2 was broadcast on Facebook Live only and NFL Insider Jim Lang joined the show from Toronto. He feels tonight’s Texans/Chiefs game will be sloppy due to the absence of preseason games but it’ll be exciting. Regarding the Jaguars, Lang feels the problem is head coach Doug Marrone. His must-see game in Week 1 is Tampa/New Orleans. Jim took several questions from viewers on NFL stories and Week 1 match-ups.
• Leader Post columnist Rob Vanstone joined the show to discuss the absence of CFL football on Labour Day Weekend. He feels the CFL made the right move by cancelling the season, but has no idea how this league will look once it resumes. RV also offered his take on the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
• Thursday’s show is available for viewing now on our Facebook page, you can listen to the podcast by clicking on the CONTENT tab at the top of this page, catch the replay at 4:00 pm ET on Game+ or listen anytime to our 24-hour live audio stream at RodPedersen.com/ListenLive.
• See you at 10 am MT on Friday for Football Friday!