The Monday Morning Goalie For SUDS
Truth & Rumours For SUDS Car Wash
1 – UP WEEK: The Rider Nation has always been an impatient bunch. But it seems they’re getting grumpier with age as all I heard last week across the Wheat Province was the impending heat on Saskatchewan head coach Corey Mace should the club lose Saturday’s home date with the Toronto Argonauts. A loss would’ve been their third in a row. Oh, and QB Trevor Harris is old. Uh, they just won the Grey Cup last season. Didja forget? In the end it didn’t matter, as the Green & White outlasted Toronto 28-24 in a very entertaining CFL clash before 33,350 at Canada’s finest outdoor football stadium. The Riders threw the dog a bone and that’ll keep ’em happy for a week heading into the Labour Day Classic. But what in the world would the 306 citizens be like if they actually had a bad team? We’ll find out one day under Mace, but not anytime soon.
2 – WEEK 13, THE REST: The week opened with an upset of sorts, as Winnipeg trounced Montreal 44-28 at Princess Uh-Oh Stadium on Friday. It was an upset if you look at the standings, but the Bombers have now won six of the past seven against the Alouettes, home teams are 14-2 in the past 16 CFL games overall, and Winnipeg remains a very tough place for visitors. Oh, and the Alouettes were jobbed on the 4th quarter video review which overturned their takeaway and gave them no chance of winning the game. It was the TSN Turning Point. Are we allowed to say that? I’m not sure anymore. … On Saturday afternoon QB Vernon Adams was scratched for Calgary which caused many to change their picks over to Hamilton. However I knew the Ticats were starting their backup too, so it was no slamdunk. In the end, the Stampeders’ Josh Love won the Battle of the Backups as Calgary prevailed 28-23, pulling them out of the West Division basement (momentarily), and the Ticats still don’t know who their QB is behind the injured Bo Levi Mitchell. … Week 13 closed with BC putting Ottawa to sleep, 45-24. Oh there was some drama, as the game was tied 17-17 at halftime, but the 0-11 RedBlacks just can’t hang. Admit it; you were hoping Lions tailback Zander Horvath would score a Lions record five touchdowns! He had to settle for four, tying a club record, and the Leos have now won five in a row to go to 6-5, and get back out of the West Division cellar. Sorry Calgary!
3 – LABOUR DAY: Too soon? Next Sunday marks the 61st Labour Day Classic between Winnipeg and Saskatchewan in Regina, and the Riders lead the all-time series 39-21. Here’s a tip: it’s easy to remember which number Labour Day Classic it is, because it matches the same year as the Super Bowl. Y’er welcome. Anyway I have two favourite LDC’s: my first in the broadcast booth in 1999 as Curtis Mayfield scored three touchdowns and Sask beat the Bombers 42-17 to go to 3-6. Alas, we never won another game that season under Cal Murphy. And of course we all remember the 2007 LDC when Kerry Joseph sprinted for the winning TD in the dying seconds which triggered the Riders’ torrid second half culminating in the 2007 Grey Cup championship. Nearly 20 years ago. Wow.
4 – CALGARY: There were some rumblings this week in Cowtown about civic officials talking about talking about a new stadium for the Stampeders. When I was in Calgary 10 days ago the rumour I heard, from people in the know, was that the Saddledome is due to be imploded and a new football stadium would be constructed on those grounds, right next to the new hockey arena. That would be too tidy, wouldn’t it? I’m told Calgary sports owner Murray Edwards certainly has the money and the sway to do it. I never thought the Stampeders would get a new home in my lifetime but as Gary Etcheverry is fond of saying, “Never’s a long time.”
5 – COLLEGE FOOTBALL: Annnnnnnnd they’re off! Week 0 had some eyecatching results as Bill Belichick’s UNC Tar Heels went to 1-0 with a 15-10 win over TCU in Dublin on Saturday. It’s only Bill’s second season in Chapel Hill, but it feels like his 10th. No, Chris Jones is no longer there. He’s coaching DBs at Louisiana-Monroe. … It’s supposed to be a big season for UNLV and we’re following closely as Rebels games air on the same channel in Las Vegas as the RP Show (Silver State Sports). Alas, UNLV lost 27-21 to Memphis at Allegiant Stadium. … NDSU beat Jacksonville State 33-7 and Florida State popped New Mexico State 34-17 on the eight-game schedule.
6 – NFL: The 18-game regular season can’t come soon enough. As it is, we’re still at a 3-game preseason but it stopped being interesting 10 days ago. Teams have been in training camp for over a month. The positions were picked weeks ago. Training camp and preseason in the NFL is no longer about getting in shape and installing the playbook. The guys are showing up in game shape and got their iPads in the spring. Now it’s just tedious. … However we’ve learned that Deshaun Watson will start Week 1 for Cleveland but we still don’t know who will start Week 1 for the Las Vegas Raiders (no one knows why Klint Kubiak hasn’t named Kirk Cousins yet). … Dak Prescott didn’t play in the preseason for the Cowboys, who finished 2-1 in exhibition games. They open Week 1 at the NY Giants on Sunday Night Football in John Harbaugh’s Big Apple debut. … The storylines are endless.
7 – HELLEBUYCK: I guess there’s no delicate way to announce your intentions to divorce, but Connor Hellebuyck tried it on Thursday. But he didn’t fool anyone. After 11 seasons with the Jets, the best goalie in the world publicly requested a trade and the fallout has been immense. We’ve all seen the clip by now of the ESPN Pardon The Interruption hosts eviscerating Hellebuyck which was stunning in a lot of ways. For instance, the most scathing commentary of this story has come from OUTSIDE Winnipeg. Perhaps the Jets supporters are still too stunned. Either way, we all saw it coming. Maybe Winnipeggers did too. … TSN’s & NHL Radio’s Martin Biron says the Sharks, Red Wings & Sabres have interest in Hellebuyck. George Richards of Florida Hockey Now says the Panthers are OUT on Hellebuyck. If George says it, it’s true. He has the ear of the organization.
AMERICAN PLAYERS: For at least 20 years, probably more, I’ve said if I was the General Manager of a Canadian NHL team, I wouldn’t draft a US player. And don’t try to twist it; my favourite all-time hockey player is Mike Modano of Livonia, MI. It’s not about that. But we clearly have enough quality Canadian hockey players being developed who know the culture, know the pressure, and are raised to be happy wherever they play. The US players are just … different. And they’re clearly not worse, if you look at the current world hockey super powers. But Hellebuyck, Johnny Gaudreau, Matthew Tkachuk, Quinn Hughes, Brady Tkachuk, yada, yada, yada. Tell me I’m wrong? Of a lesser tier are Blake Wheeler, Jacob Trouba and Blake Coleman. Next will be Auston Matthews. Sure he’s been great for the Leafs, but many have Toronto picked to miss the playoffs this year. He’s hardly put the buds on his back.
8 – DUB HUB: We’re keeping an eye on WHL training camps. Team White beat Team Blue 8-4 in Sunday’s Regina Pats intrasquad game in the Brandt Centre. Maddox Schultz ended the game with four points (1G-3A) and is always worth the price of admission. The Pats host Swift Current on Tuesday in preseason action. … The Moose Jaw Warriors intrasquad game goes at 5 pm Monday in the Remple Temple and the admission charge is a donation to the CMHA in honour of Warriors prospect Ethan Williams and alum Rob Trumbley. … In our weekend newsletter I quizzed who would finish higher in the standings this season; the Pats or Warriors. A hockey man texted and said he expects the Pats to win the East Division! … Kudos to my brother from another mother – Saskatoon Blades Voice Les Lazaruk – for being recognized at the Pro Hockey Scouts Foundation induction banquet last week with the Bob Ridley Broadcasting Honouriam. Les came to the Dub in 1994 and is still going strong. He treats every broadcast like it was his first!
9 – CANADIAN SPORTS MEDIA: The trip to Vancouver last weekend for Sports/Recovery business was amazing but my findings as they relate to sports media out there were bleak. Can you imagine that Vancouver sports fans have NOWHERE to listen to an hour of talk radio for coverage of their teams daily. Calgarians have one hour nightly on QR77 and Mike Richards is getting one hour on Saturday mornings on 770 AM as well but that’s a far cry from the 24 hour sports talk radio they had up until June. Sure there are some big name podcasts, but they talk 100% NHL which explains why the Lions rolled out the red carpet for me. As Lions voice Bob Marjanovich said as we leaned on the tackle dummies at the team’s Surrey practice facility last weekend, “Podcasts are great but there’s no substitute for live broadcasting”. Case in point; we were able to analyze on the spot Ottawa’s hiring of Jim Popp on Monday’s RP Show before anyone else (a great move by the RedBlacks, btw). Where’s this going? I have no idea but our digital numbers have tripled. Imagine If we’d actually planned it!
10 – RANDOM THOUGHTS: Regarding the Blue Jays, it’ll be over soon. But they’ve made it fun. … The shoe that fits one person pinches another. … Liquid Paper was invented in Dallas, TX by Bette Nesmith Graham and sold to Gilette in 1979. … Let’s normalize wearing headphones in public. … After their price hike on day passes, I haven’t been to the Temple Gardens Mineral Spa in MJ once this summer. Was this their intention? … Twitter was launched to the public on July 15, 2006, 88 days after the launch of RodPedersen.com. Instagram came along in 2010. … Dolly Parton was born in Pittman Center, Tennessee. The icon of icons. … With screams and giggles, whipping ponytails and white-knuckle grips, Minnesota fairgoers are taking delight in the magic of the Tilt-A-Whirl ride as it turns 100 years old. The iconic ride and its brightly colored cars debuted at the Minnesota State Fair in 1926, and it has been a mainstay at fairs across the country ever since. Herbert Sellner, an inventor for a manufacturing company in Faribault, Minnesota, created it after attempting to make a water ride with spinning boats — which failed and was destroyed in a storm. Friends Riley Lovett and Molly Rossbach enjoyed their turn on Thursday with giggles and nostalgia, talking about the “butterflies” they got years ago during their first Til-A-Whirl ride. Upon learning the ride was 100, Lovett high-fived her friend Rossbach, who proclaimed: “Happy birthday Tilt-A-Whirl!” … AND HOW WAS YOUR WEEK?
Y’er welcome,
RP
