Commentary: The Good, The Great & The Ugly

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It’s Tuesday and time for the Good, the Great & the Ugly!

First the good: Round 3 of the Stanley Cup Playoffs begins tonight with the Florida Panthers at the Carolina Hurricanes in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Final. The Edmonton Oilers and Dallas Stars get going on Wednesday with Game 1 in the West.

What’s good about it? Everything. But my pre-playoff Stanley Cup Final prediction was the Panthers & Stars and we’re right on track for that.

I’m also pretty excited to announce a partnership with Coolbet Canada – Always The Best Odds At Coolbet – where you can get a sign-up bonus up to $200 with the promo code RP200 at Coolbet.com. We’ll have NHL, CFL & NFL picks weekly, and Rider kicker Brett Lauther endorses Coolbet as well. We’ve been pretty good at nailing our picks of late.

Next the great: The Canadian Football League preseason opened Monday in Langford, BC (near Victoria) with the Calgary Stampeders upending the BC Lions 26-16 at a sold-out Starlight Stadium. I had issues watching the game on CFL+ but I’m certain that was due to operator error. 

But it was great to just know they were playing! Vernon Adams Jr. didn’t play at all for Calgary while Nathan Rourke completed one pass for seven yards for BC.

What was great about it? The fact that the off-season is over. The Riders visit Winnipeg on Saturday.

And finally, the ugly: This one depends on perspective. If you’re an NFL quarterback, or their agent, it’s actually pretty damned good. But San Francisco quarterback Brock Purdy’s new contract, signed over the weekend, is a sign of the times in the NFL.

Purdy’s deal – at $53-million per season – makes him the 7th-highest paid quarterback in the league. Who’s #1? Dak Prescott of my Dallas Cowboys at $60-million per year.

If you’re sensing a trend, you’d be right. Of the Top 10 highest-paid quarterbacks in the NFL (Dak Prescott, Josh Allen, Jordan Love, Trevor Lawrence, Joe Burrow, Tua Tagovailoa, Purdy, Jared Goff, Justin Herbert & Lamar Jackson) not one of them has won a Super Bowl.

I guess if you’re sleeping on stacks of $100-bills, you won’t have nightmares about never hoisting the Lombardi Trophy. I’m guessing Patrick Mahomes and Jalen Hurts are sleeping just fine.

That’s today’s Rod Pedersen Commentary

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