FLAME TECH FOOTBALL FRIDAY RUNDOWN

Fridays are reserved for the gridiron and we tackled all the latest news on Episode #470 of The RP Show – Canada’s Daytime Sports Talk Show! Here’s the rundown:

• RP and Moose Dupont kicked it off with The Warmup for Four Seasons Sports Palace covering these Quick Six show topics: 1) Thursday NHL leftovers (Winnipeg would be in tough against Toronto in the playoffs), 2) CFL leftovers – will the league actually play in 2021? RP said it’s too difficult to predict since we don’t have all the facts, 3) The 8-10 Blue Jays visit the 10-9 Tampa Bay Rays on Friday, 4) Round 1 of the NFL Draft goes next Thursday. After the QB drama, it appears to be a thin draft, and 6) The RP Show NHL Top 5 are Vegas, Colorado, Carolina, Washington and Boston while the Bottom 5 are Ottawa, San Jose, Anaheim, Buffalo and Columbus.
• Hall of Fame Roughriders broadcaster John “Frenzy” Lynch joined the bunker for Segment 2 and our visit with Ottawa RedBlacks, Senators & 67’s broadcaster A.J. Jakubec. They unpacked this week’s CFL news and Frenzy is full-on expecting the CFL to kickoff in three months’ time. A.J. is optimistic as well and reported the RedBlacks are ready to play with or without fans. Rod said that’s great, but are the other eight teams? Jakubec quoted a former CFL exec who pegged Sask’s franchise value at $100M or better, Ottawa at $15M-$30M and both Toronto and Montreal at $1! Regarding a CFL/XFL merger, Jakubec said Ottawa football fans love games at TD Place Stadium and will fill the park for whatever league the RedBlacks play in! He revealed that after losing pro football twice in the nation’s capital, fans there don’t want it to happen again. A.J. also discussed the cancellation of the OHL season and said he’s heard rumblings of a prospects tournament for draft eligible Ontario players to get onto the ice in advance of the NHL Draft.
• The daily Capital Auto Mall/Universal Collision Centre poll question was: Which NFL QB prospect will be the best pro – Justin Fields, Trevor Lawrence, Mac Jones or Zach Wilson? At press time, Trevor Lawrence was leading by a mile.
• News came out that NDSU QB Trey Lance’s father Carlton played for the Saskatchewan Roughriders in 1993. Frenzy and Rod said they don’t remember him and Lynch said it was “Lance for a glance!”
• In the Hour 2 Second Half Kickoff we discussed more of the CFL news and the prospects of them actually hitting the field this year. They also reported on the latest on the vaccination effort across Canada, which will ultimately dictate the CFL’s fortunes.
• Longtime Sportsnet Blue Jays sideline reporter Barry Davis joined the show from Toronto and talked about the Blue Jays’ weekend series at Tampa Bay. Barry said we simply need to roll with the punches of a still-young Blue Jays lineup and while they’re experiencing growing pains, Toronto’s in the thick of it in the AL East race. Viewers were eager to learn about Barry’s post-Sportsnet life and his podcast Outta The Park. He said his life includes a lot less stress.
• RP and Moose Faced Off on how the CFL will look in the next five years. Rod said his wish would be for a 22-team league with teams in Canada, USA and Mexico with regional ratios for each team, a multi-network broadcast deal and a truly healthy league. Darren said he favours a Canadian-strong league with franchises in smaller centres like Quebec City, the Maritimes and Kelowna or Kamloops. The Face Off is presented by Ultimate Fan Zone Moose Jaw and the Mad Greek Restaurant.
• Friday’s show is available for viewing now on our Facebook/YouTube pages, you can catch the replay at 4:00 pm ET on Game+, you can listen to the podcast by clicking on the CONTENT tab at the top of this page, or listen anytime to our 24-hour live audio feed at RodPedersen.com/ListenLive.
• Don’t forget to tune in Friday at 8:00 pm as the Regina Pats take on the Moose Jaw Warriors in the Dub Hub on AccessNow TV! Rod and Darren will have the call.
• See you at 10 am MT/12 pm ET on Game+ TV and YouTube/Facebook Live!