THURSDAY COMMENTARY: SPEAK EASY

(Listen daily for the Rod Pedersen Commentary on Cat Country 98 & Rock 98.5 FM)

The only constant in life is change and for the CFL, they’re experiencing a lot of it at the moment.

And by the way, savour every second of CFL news we’re getting this week because once this first wave of free agency is over, the league is headed into a pretty dormant period largely till May.

So the comings and goings of free agency this week have been fascinating to watch. Yes, fans have brought up the disturbing trend of players not staying with one franchise for long (popular receiver Greg Ellingson is a great example; signing with his third different team in three seasons), but that’s just the way it’s going to be from now on. You’re going to have to find a way to deal with it.

There are worse things.

Like maybe the competition created by the fledgling XFL and USFL in America. All winter I’d heard murmurs from the football people that recruiting young American players to Canada had become a real chore since the best players are choosing to stay in the States, and play at home.

But Wednesday’s news that Canadian players Richie Sindani and Hergy Mayala have signed with the USFL’s New Orleans Breakers was a real shot over the bow.

It’s one thing for American players to want to play semi-pro ball in the States, but Canadian players too?

That should rightfully set off alarm bells.

As for Richie and Hergy, who could blame them? They’ve tried the CFL thing and now they’d like to give New Orleans a chance. I applaud that! There’s a big, exciting world out there and football is their passport.

And it says here there are more than enough football players in the world and competition is a really good thing. Monopolies are bad.

Just a few years ago there was a stat that well over half the players in the CFL were on their first contracts. I believe some teams were up near 80%. And the quality of ball was pretty good.

Now, if the XFL and USFL survive, that trend will be over and the best players aren’t going to be coming here.

The quality of football will suffer.

But so too did the quality of play in the National Hockey League when the league swelled from 21 teams to 32. The level of play dropped considerably from the high-flying 70’s and 80’s and there were tons of players in the league who shouldn’t be there.

But we still watched.

And we’ll still watch the CFL.

That’s today’s Rod Pedersen Commentary

(The Rod Pedersen Show airs daily at 12 pm ET on Game+ TV, WQEE Radio and YouTube Live)