Commentary: If You Build It They Will Come

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

First the good: It’s opening week in the CFL with home games in Saskatchewan, Montreal, Calgary and BC. It feels like people are as curious about the attendance as they are the scores. I have no idea how many will turn out for the Riders’ home opener Thursday against Ottawa but I do know over 50,000 tickets have been sold in Vancouver for the Lions home-opener Saturday against Edmonton and the pregame concert featuring Rap legend Snoop Dogg.

If you build it, they will come.

Next the great: Today is Media Day in Edmonton and the Oilers and Panthers will hold news conferences around their final day of practice at Rogers Place before opening the Stanley Cup Final Wednesday night in Game 1.

Monday was awesome as we learned the RP Show has been accredited by the NHL to cover the Stanley Cup – meaning we’ll be on site – and also were invited to participate in a pre-series Zoom meeting with the NHL On TNT panel.

It’s Eddie Olczyk’s 20th Stanley Cup Final in the broadcast booth and he told many stories, and offered great analysis. I asked him about his love for horse racing and he mentioned he rubs elbows at the track with Panthers owner Vincent Viola, and his horse “Sandman”, who finished third at The Preakness.

Do horses have elbows?

Covering the NHL is G-R-E-A-T!

And finally the ugly: I’ve picked the Panthers to win the Stanley Cup in six games, for my own reasons, and will be pulling for them too. It’s triggered the predictable responses that I’m, “anti-Canadian” and, if you can imagine, “anti-Western Canadian”.

I just let it roll off my back. These people are disturbed. It’s like all the people up-in-arms over their favorite sports teams and leagues celebrating Pride Month. People are bouncing off the walls with this. But how do any of these things affect your life, really?

It must be terrible going through life so easily triggered and offended.

That’s today’s Rod Pedersen Commentary

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