10 WEEKEND THINGS

Taking shots …

1 – RED ALERT: It’s tough to write about sports when your beloved home province is on red alert with two maniacal killers on the loose. Prayers and condolences are with the people of Saskatchewan, the victims and their families, on this Labour Day Monday. Praying too that this crisis ends immediately, and as safely as possible. This is a good time for people to band together, use media and social media to communicate effectively, and stay as safe as possible. We are in a period of unimaginable hurt in society – whether it’s visible or not – so now is a great time to exercise greater patience and tolerance with others.

2 – RIDER NATION RAGIN’: Make it four consecutive home losses for the Green & White. But it didn’t have to be this way. The Riders fell 20-18 to the Winnipeg Blue Bombers in Labour Day Classic LVIII on Sunday but they had the game in the palm of their hand. Unfortunately it caromed out of their hand as a tipped ball and interception by the Bombers’ Nick Hallett with 2:10 to go. That play wasn’t game-ending, but it might as well have been. The situation was a Saskatchewan 1st and 10 at the Winnipeg 26-yard line with the Riders down 20-18. I don’t generally like to criticize others if I haven’t been in their shoes, but tradition suggests you’d want to run the ball there. Riders offensive coordinator Jason Maas is feeling an avalanche of heat today, and likely deservedly so.

Losing is a lot easier to accept when you play your best, but fall short. However it’s incredibly difficult to swallow when undisciplined play, brain farts, and questionable playcalling are your downfall like they were in this one.

3 – UPON REVIEW: The Riders letdown their head coach on his 51st birthday. Craig Dickenson was named CFL West Division Most Outstanding Coach in 2019, his rookie year, and a big reason was the trust he bestowed upon his players in that season. And patience. However this year’s batch of players are betraying that trust – specifically Garrett Marino and Duke Williams – and are costing this team games. I don’t know either player personally and can only go by their actions on the field, but they are beyond tasteless. Spitting on opponents, taking them out at the knees, racial comments, TAKING A PENALTY AT A KEY TIME WHEN YOU’RE NOT EVEN IN UNIFORM … you name it. Again, this team is letting Craig Dickenson down.

The eldest Dickenson has more integrity than anyone else in that organization – matched only by Cody Fajardo – but unfortunately both are taking the fall for a lot of it. But that’s what good leaders do.

4 – THE UNDERTAKER: Bill Baker – the Hall of Fame Roughriders defensive lineman and architect of the 1989 Grey Cup champion Roughriders team – always said that if you employ people of questionable character, they let you down when the chips are down and it matters most.

Not good.

5 – BANJO BOWL: The football insiders told me I should expect Saskatchewan to get shellacked in Labour Day Classic LVIII but I was undaunted, picking the Riders to win 27-24. I still think they should have won it. Winnipeg was favoured by 3.5-points going into the game by Bet Regal so at least the Riders beat the spread!

One wonders what the opening line will be for the Week 14 game between Sask and Winnipeg at IG Field this Saturday, known as the Banjo Bowl. I’d guess Winnipeg by 4.0-points, but ya never know.

6A – MONDAY: The traditional Labour Day Monday games in the Canadian Football League are doozies, as always. Toronto (5-5) is at Hamilton (3-8) and the early game has massive playoff implications. It’s a joke that at 3-8, the Ticats are well within striking distance of first place in the East Division but it’s clear the CFL playoff format will never change. So let’s embrace it.

Out west, Jake Maier makes a second-straight start for the Calgary Stampeders (6-4) against the Edmonton Elks (3-8). The Elks record matches the Ticats, yet one franchise is looked at as a laughing stock and the other, we’re continuously told, is a good team. Go figure. Either way, the Stamps are favoured by a whopping 12.5-points.

6B – BO KNOWS: We love sports because of its unpredictability. At least, that’s #1 for me. Going into the season, who in the world thought Bo Levi Mitchell would NOT be Calgary’s starting QB by late August? While spending 17 weeks in Calgary last spring & summer, I was told Bo was finally 100% pain-free and even received treatment from the Houston Astros therapy staff in the off-season. And yet we started to hear whispers of his struggles as early as training camp, and now he’s riding the bench.

Bo and I’ve had a long-standing rivalry but I get no pleasure out of seeing this. Only a bad person enjoys watching another individual struggle. And I’ve been impressed by the way BLM’s handled this situation; he’s looked at himself, vowed to be better, and otherwise bitten his tongue. Could you imagine the circus in the NFL if Aaron Rodgers, Tom Brady or Dak Prescott was to ever be sat down??? So credit Bo for not making this situation a distraction.

Do we envision a scenario where Mitchell is the #2 in Calgary for the rest of the season? I don’t. The trade deadline is Oct. 5 and one big domino already moved this week with Vernon Adams going from Montreal to BC. Does Hamilton pull the trigger on a trade? 

7 – FALL IS FOR FOOTBALL: Believe it or not, there’s more to life than the CFL. While I’ve been enjoying the Canadian game and watching/dissecting it with my new football buddies in South Florida, I’ve also been spending time at their games in the NFL, NCAA and Florida High School Football. Last week I was at Florida Atlantic University which is just down the street from me. Meanwhile the Cardinal Gibbons Chiefs (Fort Lauderdale) are coached by former CFL WR Matt Dubuc and are the #32-ranked team in America! On Friday night I had the privilege of taking their game in from the sidelines. This week I’ll be in the press box at Hard Rock Stadium to enjoy the Week 1 NFL clash between the Patriots and Dolphins. The NFL PR staff and media have been incredibly welcoming, just like the NHL & CFL staff and media in Alberta have been! So yes, things are great.

8 – ATLANTA: Yes, the Rod Pedersen Show debuted on WQEE 99.1 FM in Metro Atlanta last week and yes, it’s already going better than expected. And no, we are not moving to Atlanta. But some road trips are in the offing. (*Go Falcons*) I can see where people might be confused by the announcement but the simple fact is WQEE “The Home of Southern Sports & Talk” is simply carrying the RP Show nightly between 7-9 pm ET. Station manager Ryan O’Neal wanted a show that stands out from the rest, and is hosted by a veteran broadcaster. That’s us. And it’s growing fast, with the potential of many more radio stations in the U.S. South jumping on board before long, as they’re looking for unique programming too. 

This week I had a listener say: “You’re like Rush Limbaugh! Both the left and the right listened to him just because he’s so damned entertaining! I have no idea what these things are you’re talking about either but you make it entertaining too. I love it!”

F-i-n-a-l-l-y.

9 – LATAM CUP: We are keeping a close association with hockey too. Very close. Just differently. The Florida Panthers are hosting the Amerigo Latam Cup September 14-18 at the Ice Den. It’s the “Latin America” Cup and it features hockey teams from Latin America, the Caribbean and around the world in Mens DI & DII divisions plus Women U20, U16 and U12. The tournament is sponsored, in part, by the National Hockey League and we were asked to be there. Shoot, we may even broadcast the RP Show from the Ice Den. Be watching on those dates because some old friends may show up on the air!

10 – RANDOM THOUGHTS: Things are different now folks. Get used to it. … Condolences to the friends and family of William “Regent” Smith, the last original Regina Ram, who passed away on August 21 at the age of 88. Regent’s son Stu lives in BC but sent me his Dad’s colourful and intriguing biography which included moving from Winnipeg to Regina as a teen to work at McCabe Grain Elevators and play for the Regina Bomber-Dales (one of two Regina junior football clubs at the time). After the merger in 1954, Regent was a member of that original Rams team and despite a tryout with the Roughriders, his football career ended after junior and he entered the workforce. Sounds like quite a man! … Congrats to former Regina Pats head coach Dave Struch on joining the Everett Silvertips as Associate Coach. … The insiders say Jason Maas will be the head coach of the Montreal Alouettes next season. Done deal. … Can we please just get to the MLB postseason? It’s clear the Jays will be in them, and actually have a shot. … We’re not entirely sure of the reason but podcast downloads of the RP Show quadrupled over the summer months. Thank you, if you’re part of the reason why. … I’m somewhat reluctant to do this but my advisors have encouraged me – due to so many new viewers, listeners and readers – to promote the fact I’m a Mental Health & Addiction Recovery Professional with a diploma as Addiction Treatment Specialist, Certified Recovery Coach, Licensed Interventionist and have a certificate in Grief, Trauma & Stress Management. Frankly I didn’t need to go get all that fancy education over the past few years because I’ve lived through each one of those horrible things up close and personal but at least no one can question my qualifications as a coach, and helping others. (No one ever has). I found the road out, and can attest that a better life is out there waiting.

Primarily I work with athletes, entertainers and military but I’ve got room for new clients who aren’t in those fields. DM me.

Lesson 1: You can’t heal in the environment that broke you.

Y’er welcome,
RP
@rodpedersen