The Monday Morning Goalie For SUDS

TRUTH & RUMOURS FOR SUDS CAR WASH

1 – ROAR BY THE SHORE: It’s not hard to see how the Saskatchewan Roughriders got shellacked 30-16 by the BC Lions on Sunday afternoon before 30,083 fans at BC Place Stadium. The Green Guys lost the turnover battle 4-1, the penalty battle 7-2, and were out-quarterbacked as BC’s Nathan Rourke (355 yds, 2 TDs, 1 INT, 129.3 QBR) outplayed Saskatchewan’s Trevor Harris (356 yds, 1 TD, 2 INT, 81.1 QBR). You watched the game. The Riders had multiple touchdowns called back due to penalties and while fans are griping about the calls, the officials didn’t make anything up. They called what they saw. The Riders fell to 6-4 with the loss while BC improved to 5-5, have won four in a row, and pulled into a tie for third-place in the CFL West with Winnipeg. For the first time, the Leos are out of the basement. Calgary resides there after Week 12.

2 – AROUND THE LEAGUE: On Thursday Montreal clobbered Ottawa 46-16 to improve to 8-1 while the RedBlacks fell to 0-10. It’s been endlessly fascinating to watch the coverage and goings-on around Ottawa. They’ve fired coaches, players, and “reassigned” the President, but none of it has made a difference. They could do worse things than bring back former team co-owner Jeff Hunt, my old Junior Hockey buddy, to fix things at the top. In true “Huntsy” fashion, he said he’d do it for free. … A classic CFL ending on Friday night in Edmonton as 22,805 watched the Double-E outlast Winnipeg 22-19 on another walk-off field goal by kicker Vincent Blanchard (he was coached as an amateur by 2-time Grey Cup champion Chris Milo in Quebec). Death, taxes and Cody Fajardo winning. That’s what you can count on! Edmonton improved to 8-3 while the Blue Bombers dropped to 5-5. Concern is high in Winnipeg even moreso now, as the team can’t seem to win key games even with Zach Collaros back behind centre. I picked them for last-place this season while TSN’s Luke Willson picked them to win the West. Can’t wait to see who’s right. … And as expected, Toronto motorboated Hamilton 39-20 in the rain at BMO Field and Argo QB Chad Kelly threw 3 TDs. Is there a more Jekyll & Hyde quarterback in the land than Chad Kelly?

3 – THEO: The whirlwind week began in Calgary where The Rod Pedersen Show broadcast live from Theoren Fleury’s Breaking Free Foundation 10th Annual Golf Classic. Despite what we’ve heard about the prairie economy, a record fundraising total was reached and all funds go to the foundation which provides free counselling for Albertans who’ve suffered abuse & trauma. It’s my fourth year hosting the event and when those Calgarians ask why I come over for it, I tell them there’s nothing I wouldn’t do for Theo. And vice versa. Looks like we’ll be doing some events across Saskatchewan this winter together. Stay tuned…

4 – PERRY BEREZAN: I was setting up the sound system in the event hall at Golf Fanatics in Calgary when Flames great Perry Berezan (1984-89) came up and introduced himself. I was always a big fan of the Edmonton product as a player, and from later listening to him on Flames radio when I lived there. He stuck out his hand and said, “Rod Pedersen? Perry Berezan. Big fan!” Now I’d always heard nothing but exemplary things about Perry from the Calgary hockey folk but the things which came out of his mouth over the next few moments almost knocked me over with a feather. He wanted to know all about The RP Show, how it’s going, how it started, why it started, where’s it going, and a whole lotta other things. My jaw was on the floor. Then, Perry went out and “stole the show” in the Hot Stove, as his Flames teammate Colin Paterson mentioned later. Did you know he was credited with the goal after Steve Smith scored on himself for Edmonton, ending the Oilers’ Stanley Cup run (briefly)? Being from Edmonton, Perry said his aunt wouldn’t talk to him all summer. What an amazing guy Perry Berezan is! …. Calgary and I are like star-crossed lovers. We love each other, hate each other, love to hate each other, hate to love each other, and through it all, the timing has never been quite right to come together. Maybe it will in the end. “Didn’t you almost come here?” Perry quizzed. “Ya,” I said. “Like three times.”

5 – LABOUR DAY WEEKEND GOLF CLASSIC: For a 4th straight occastion, Saskatchewan Roughriders & Winnipeg Blue Bombers Alumni will gather at Aspen Links in two weeks’ time for the annual Labour Day Golf Classic. Thanks largely to a monstrous donation by the BOMBER Alumni last year, 2025 was the largest fundraising total to date. But I think we can top that this year. Organizers have brought me back to host the Draft on the Friday night and golf festivities on Saturday. This year, teams will get Labour Day Classic TICKETS with your entry! Confirmed Rider Alumni include Ray Elgaard, Luc Mullinder, Neal Hughes, Andrew Greene, Cory Stevens, Evan Johnson, Chris Getzlaf, Mitch Picton, Macho Harris, Tad Kornegay, Ventson Donelson, Rob Bresciani, Marshall Hamilton, Wes Cates, Robert Mimbs, Gene Makowsky, Dwayne Provo, Bomber Alumni Gavin Walls, Brett MacNeil, Brendan Rogers, Gavin Walls and special guest Nik Lewis. Register today by sending $750 to transfers@aspenlinks.ca or call Ricky Kezama at 306-535-5722.

6 – NFL PRESEASON: RP Show viewers are starting to realize what a gem analyst Mike Davis is on every Football Friday (Vegas Knight Hawks Head Coach & GM/Major Indoor Football League). He’s just like all the other football guys, but delivers his analysis just like he’s in a boardroom at the stadium, or in a locker room. This week I brought up the Fernando Mendoza hype in Vegas – I’ve even fallen for it myself – but Davis snapped, “It’s Kirk Cousin’s job! End of discussion!” It reminded me of all the times Rider coaches snapped at me after having enough of my antics in the media (I found it amusing then, and still do). Anyway, shockingly, the Raiders still haven’t named a starting QB for Week 1 against the Miami Dolphins at Allegiant Stadium. To me, this is the #1 NFL story going into the season. … Wait a minute. Cleveland QB Deshawn Watson says “hold my beer”….

7 – NFL PART II: The Browns were trounced 31-7 by Buffalo in a preseason game Saturday and after going a woeful 5/12 for 36 yards, and being booed at home, Watson told the media afterwards “I feel like I get more love on road games than I do at home games.” What a start for the Browns! … The Dolphins got destroyed 26-3 at home by the NY Giants and fans back home are predicting the worst season in Dolphins history. … One of our football analysts, Cardinal Gibbons High School Coach & CFL Alum Matt Dubuc told the RP Show this week “The only pro team in South Florida is the (ACC’s) Miami Hurricanes.” … And watch out for Dallas. Never mind the fact they’re 2-0 in the preseason following a 34-13 win at Arizona Saturday. Something’s different in the Big D, and we all can see and feel it. Jerry’s shut-up and got serious about fixing the defense. There is no drama for the first time in, ever. Sometimes owners get tired of being mocked and laughed at (it happened in Florida with Panthers owner Vincent Viola). Maybe it’s finally happened with Jerrah too.

8 – COLLEGE FOOTBALL: As my good friend Alan May of Washington Capitals TV regularly says, “Always say yes”. I got offered the opportunity to co-host the College Football Saturday Preview show on WQVZ Radio in West Central Georgia and Eastern Alabama beginning next week and while, as you know, College Football’s never really been at the top of my list, it feels like God’s tapping at my door again! Now with WCBL baseball behind us, I’ve got the time to prepare properly and the next step on the path has arrived. … The guys on the show have already done their Top 10 list for the 2026 CFB season. Want mine? Wait a week. … But I’ve got Texas-Miami in the National Championship to be played at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas in January.

9 – BASEBALL: One final kudos to the Saskatoon Berries for claiming the WCBL championship with a sweep of the Sylvan Lake Gulls last Sunday. I’m particularly happy for my longtime friends, broadcaster Les Lazaruk and pitching coach Dustin Molleken, who will finally get a ring. What a fun season it was! … Saskatoon alum Carter Beck was following along while being called up from minor league Augusta to Rome, and said on the RP Show on Monday that he felt it was only a matter of time before the Berries won it all. … We had endless postseason gatherings with the Moose Jaw Miller Express and while we fell short to the Berries in Round 2, the Millers will still raise a banner for capturing the East Division pennant for the first time in club history. … While chatting with Winston Walls, the Texas pecan & Christmas tree magnate who was up from Terrell, TX to grab his son Westin, the record-setting WCBL strikeout king, Winston leaned over at a BBQ and said, “When did the name ‘Regina’ stop being funny?” I replied, “It’s never been funny.”

10 – RANDOM THOUGHTS: Twitter trolls call it “just having fun”. I call it, “Get a life”. … The NHL is adding not one, but TWO teams in Texas? I gotta think on that one for awhile too. Sounds like Fake News. … FYI don’t use ChatGPT for instructions on how to take the train from Downtown Vancouver to Surrey. … Scruffy says Columbia House is closing its doors after 71 years. I thought they closed their doors 40 years ago and I still owed them money? …. Whatever happened to Pokey Reddick? … Ty Benefield, son of CFL great Daved Benefield and current DB at LSU, is ranked #1 for the 2027 CFL Draft. … Has the Maps app ever NOT said “Traffic is light” in Saskatchewan? … Julia Roberts was born in Atlanta. … A tractor-trailer rollover sent a truckload of squid spilling into a Rhode Island roadway, leaving a stench as they sat in the road for hours in the summer heat this week. It was a warm, sunny day in the coastal town of Narragansett when the spill occurred, and Narragansett Police Captain Ryan Prest said he was told that the scene “started to smell bad as the squid sat out in the sun for a few hours.” Police responded at 9:27 a.m., and the intersection wasn’t reopened until 5:15 p.m. The Narragansett Police Department made light of the situation in a social media post on Wednesday, stating that the town is “still recovering” from the “Squidpocalypse of ’26 — the spill that put ‘slippery when wet’ to shame.” … AND HOW WAS YOUR WEEK?

Y’er welcome,