10 Thanksgiving Things

Truth & Rumours

1 – HAPPY THANKSGIVING …. : …..from the Florida Keys! We make an annual trek down here to celebrate the Canadian Holiday. It’s low-season in this tropical destination which means it’s pretty much a ghost town. That provides plenty of time to reflect on things to be thankful for. If you really wanna turbocharge your life, give thanks EVERYDAY! It takes some practice but once you do, there’s no other way to live. Most of all, thank YOU.

2 – NHL: Have to be honest — the NHL season is less than a week old but it’s already provided endless entertainment. They’re facetiously planning a parade in Calgary and Salt Lake where the Flames and Utah Hockey Club are 3-0. They actually ARE planning a parade in Winnipeg where the Jets are 3-0. Hey! I’ll take the over-the-top exuberance any day over the “Fire this guy! Cut that guy!” vitriol that we’re seeing in other markets including, if you can believe Florida, where the Panthers are off to a 1-2 start. Hall of Fame Flames Voice Peter Maher once told me the first 15 games of the season are meaningless. It’s games 16-30 which tell you what type of team you have. 

3 – OTHER NHL NOTES: Evgeni Malkin became the third player in Pittsburgh Penguins history to reach 800 career assists this week, joining legends Mario Lemieux and Sidney Crosby​ … Stars defenseman Mathew Dumba (cousin to the Regina, SK Dumba family) is day-to-day after a lower-body injury, and his status remains uncertain for upcoming games​. … Pittsburgh’s goalie Alex Nedeljkovic is making progress in recovering from a lower-body injury but is still unavailable​. The Pens are 1-2-0. …  Boston Bruins goalie Jeremy Swayman earned his 80th career win, making him the second-fastest U.S.-born goalie to reach the milestone​. … Rookie Logan Stankoven had a three-point night in Dallas’s season opener, becoming the second rookie in franchise history to record three points in an opening game​. Some pundits have him as the favourite to win the Calder Trophy. … Toronto Maple Leafs’ new signing Max Pacioretty netted his first goal for the team in their opening victory​. … The Florida Panthers visit the Boston Bruins today, Columbus Day, at 1 pm ET.

4 – ON ROUGHRIDERS: If you haven’t noticed, it’s quite remarkable what the Saskatchewan Roughriders are doing. Their current four-game win streak has put them at 9-7-1, one point back of the first-place Winnipeg Blue Bombers (10-7). So they’ll host at least the Western Semifinal, but could finish first if the Bombers lose their final game to Montreal, and Sask beats the hapless Calgary Stampeders. Not many would’ve predicted this after a seven-game winless skid a month ago, but hats off to the green guys! Especially head coach Corey Mace, offensive coordinator Marc Mueller and quarterback Trevor Harris; three of the nicest guys in the CFL.

5 – SHADES OF ’97: If we’re going to compare this current era of the Saskatchewan Roughriders to the 1990’s – the similarities are there if you are brave enough to look at them – this season strikes a resemblance to 1997. That season the Jim Daley-led Riders won three of their last four games to rally for an 8-10 record, then won road playoff games to appear in the Grey Cup. Unfortunately they were trounced 47-23 by Toronto in the CFL championship game at Commonwealth Stadium, with Trooper serving as the halftime act. All this simply points out that nothing has been accomplished yet, if your goal is winning championships. I believe that’s still the goal around there.

6 – RIDER PRIDE: Columnist Mitchell “Scruffy” Blair has had horse caca thrown his way – and some landed on me – after his weekend column which declared, “This just in: Rider Pride is dead.” The reaction has been amusing to both he and I, but there’s plenty who agree with him too. HEY – it’s simply his observation and opinion with plenty of facts to back it up. The truth generally hurts. There were scores of empty seats at Saturday’s home game against BC, the Plaza of Honour has become nothing more than an elitist rumour, and now the team is begging the City of Regina to forgive seven figures in unpaid rent. Does that scream “Marquee Franchise” or “Canada’s Team” to you? It sure the hell doesn’t to me. You go Scruffy!

I can actually see the City giving in to the Riders (eventually everybody does, clearly). 20 years ago the Lorne Calvert Saskatchewan NDP government forgave a $3-million loan to the Roughriders, which many of us had a tough time believing at the time. That didn’t help the NDP come election time in 2007, as the Brad Wall Sask Party Train flattened them and has been in power ever since.

7 – CFL ODDS & ENDS: Reports out of Calgary are that Dave Dickenson has “lost the team”. The Stampeders are a CFL-worst 4-11-1 and visit Bo Levi Mitchell and the Hamilton Tiger-Cats in Week 19. That would be salacious, except the Tabbies are out of the playoffs too. … Apparently new Edmonton Elks President Larry Thompson will decide the future of the 6-11 team. Oy vey! Larry knows heavy construction, but does he know football? I hope he calls Hugh Campbell. … The B.C. Lions have destroyed their own team! This entire CFL season has been nothing short of mind-blowing. … Congrats to Cody & Laura Fajardo on the birth of their son Cian. Cody will miss today’s meaningless home game against Ottawa. Cody’s redemption story is one of legend. … This year’s Grey Cup in Vancouver will feature ______ vs ______? Before the season began, I predicted a BC-Montreal Grey Cup. Could still happen.

8 – NFL WEEK 6 TAKEAWAYS: Green Bay’s QB Jordan Love threw for four touchdowns in a 34-13 win over the Cardinals, spreading the ball to nine different receivers. His patience and off-script plays stood out​, as usual. … Philadelphia narrowly beat Cleveland 20-16 with Jalen Hurts throwing for 264 yards and two touchdowns. The Browns’ Deshaun Watson struggled, getting sacked five times​. He says he doesn’t have social media, so he doesn’t hear the critics. It’s the only smart thing he’s done! … The Lions blew out the Cowboys 47-9, with Detroit’s offense accumulating 507 yards. Now I owe Detroit sportscaster Lou Gamelin lunch. Again, the only way Dak Prescott takes the Cowboys to the Super Bowl is if he’s driving a tour bus. …The Ravens won 30-23 over the Commanders, with Derrick Henry recording his 20th game of 100+ rushing yards. Did you know poet Edgar Allen Poe is buried in Baltimore? His famous work “The Raven” is what the local NFL team is named after. …. The Los Angeles Chargers held the Denver Broncos scoreless until the fourth quarter, winning 23-16. Their defense was relentless, pressuring rookie QB Bo Nix throughout the game​. That snapped Denver’s three-game win streak.

9 – FALL CLASSIC: Some boob from Penticton, BC wrote into the RP Show, criticizing our MLB Playoff coverage because “nobody in Canada cares since the Blue Jays are out”. Excuse me? Do you speak for all of Canada? … I’ve watched as much baseball in October as I have hockey or football and it’s thrilling that MLB is going to get the dream match-up of the Yankees versus the Mets or Dodgers in the World Series. That is, if the Yankees don’t screw it all up by losing to Cleveland in the ALCS. New York hosts the Guardians in Game 1 tonight at Yankee Stadium.

Spending the summer with the baseball guys in the WCBL, I learned that MLB hasn’t gone to computerized balls & strikes calls because they “don’t want to take the human element out of the game”. THEN DON’T BITCH WHEN THERE ARE MISTAKES!

10 – RANDOMS: Still don’t have an answer – is it Fall Supper or Fowl Supper? … Congrats to Roy Shivers & Darian Durant for being inducted into the Riders Plaza of Honour. Roy and I started out being close in 2000, but by the end he wouldn’t speak to me. I’m sure it’s something I did! As usual. … Rumour is Darian is moving to nearby Fort Lauderdale, FL and that has the football folks around here excited. … I’m sick of the election! In both countries. … Did you now the Warner brothers from the famous Warner Bros. movie fame are from London, ON? … Watch out for quarterback Jay Vanderjagt, son of former NFL’er and CFL’er Mike Vanderjagt. He’s eligible for next spring’s CFL Draft. That should be a very interesting event. … Join us in Wolseley on Saturday for the town’s first-ever Sports Celebrity Dinner. Lorne Molleken, Bob Poley, Gil Dash and I will be on hand raising funds for the Wolseley Sportsplex. To snag the remaining tickets, email wolseleyarenaboard@gmail.com. … An annual event in Maine involving mud, beer and cash has once again drawn dozens of eager competitors. More than 30 couples participated Saturday in the North American Wife Carrying Championship. The raucous, politically incorrect event involves embarking on a 278-yard race during which contestants splash through water, leap over logs and trudge through mud — all while carrying their partner like a sack of potatoes. The championship is based on Finland’s “Ronkainen the Robber,” whose gang was known to pillage villages and carry away the women. Traditionally, the Finnish event featured male competitors carrying a woman. On Saturday, competing couples didn’t have to be married, and did the couples didn’t have to be a man and a woman. … AND HOW WAS YOUR WEEK?

Y’er welcome,
RP
@rodpedersen