Commentary: Way To Go

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It’s Tuesday and time for the Good, the Great & the Ugly. There’s just way, way too much goodness to keep under wraps!

First the good: It’s with considerable intrigue that we’re following the blossoming Blue Jays season. It really began on Day 1 of spring training when Vladimir Guerrero Jr. said the team missed the deadline to get him a new deal, so he’ll play this season and go to free agency.

Cue the panic across Canada and apparently in the offices of Rogers too (owners of the Blue Jays) because word came down last week that Team President Mark Shapiro feels they’ll get a deal done. Reportedly he’s getting heat from his bosses to keep Vlady in baby blue.

There was no doubt at Sunday’s Blue Jays grapefruit finale in Dunedin that Guerrero is the star of the show. Meanwhile preseason prognostications have the Jays universally picked to finish last.

What drama!

Next the great: Not since 1993 have seven Canadian teams been in contention this late for the Stanley Cup Playoffs and not since 1986 have all seven Canadian teams actually been in the NHL postseason (the Quebec Nordiques were part of it back then).

Need I say more? The playoff races are literally as wild as ever and as Commissioner Gary Bettman said last week, the playoffs have already started.

And finally the ugly: As a sportstalk host, I’m keeping my eye on everything and that includes March Madness even though I never filled out a bracket and am not watching the games.

What’s the takeaway after the opening Round of 64? That there are no Cinderella stories this year and there likely will never be any again.

Why? Because of the N-I-L deals in college sports (schools legally paying players) there are no hidden gems in the small schools like Butler, Florida Golf Coast, etc.

The best players are chasing the money in the power conferences and created the widest gap ever between the haves and the have nots in college sports.

In short, they’ve ruined the mystique of March Madness.

Way to go. 

That’s today’s Rod Pedersen Commentary.

(The Rod Pedersen Show airs daily at 12 pm & 4 pm ET on Game+TV, Podcast & YouTube Live)