FOOTBALL THURSDAY RUNDOWN: JABARI ARTHUR, AJ JAKUBEC AND MORE

It was our final show of the week as we get set for Canada Day festivities but we had a blast on Thursday’s Episode #790 of The RP Show – Daytime Sports & Entertainment Talk – live from Grey Eagle Resort & Casino! Here’s the rundown:

• RP and Moose Dupont opened with The Warmup covering these Quick Six show topics: 1) The Saint John Sea Dogs win the Memorial Cup 6-3 in the final over the Hamilton Bulldogs, 2) Week 4 in the CFL kicks off Thursday night with BC at Ottawa. Is the Nathan Rourke hype putting too much pressure on the kid?, 3) The Blue Jays fall 6-5 to the Red Sox in the series finale, 4) Where did the NFL go?, 5) Summer sports – the CFL is centre stage in Canadian sports (plus Blue Jays and soccer), and 6) Wimbledon.
• RP Show CFL analyst Jeff Reinebold had to step down from his weekly appearance schedule due to taking a job in the brand new Major League Football. Jeff’s contract stipulates he’s not allowed to discuss/promote the CFL. So RP and Moose hosted all of Hour 1 and went deep on the Nathan Rourke phenomenon plus other Week 4 CFL match-ups.
• In Hour 2 we were joined by former Kansas City Chiefs, Calgary Stampeders and Winnipeg Blue Bombers WR Jabari Arthur who’s now the Offensive Coordinator with the Calgary Dinos. Jabari feels the Rourke hype is fantastic for the CFL and feels the kid seems to have a demeanour suited for handling the pressure. Arthur also discussed the CFL debuts of Dinos grads Tyson and Jalen Philpott last week. News broke during the show that the Edmonton Elks plan to start rookie Canadian QB Tre Ford in Hamilton in Friday night and Jabari explained the explosion of Canadian talent at skill positions on both sides of the border.
• Ottawa RedBlacks & Ottawa 67’s play-by-play voice A.J. Jakubec joined the show from the nation’s capital to preview tonight’s game and expects a near sellout. A.J. said the RedBlacks have been plagued by bad weather for home games the past few years but said tonight’s forecast is excellent. He expects a close game. As a longtime junior hockey broadcaster, A.J. said it’s a joke that another host team has won the Memorial Cup. He feels a format change is in order for the tournament. Rod vehemently disagreed and asked Jakubec for a better alternative, which he couldn’t provide.
• The daily Capital Auto Mall/Universal Collision Centre poll question was: Is Nathan Rourke the real deal? At press time, 85% of respondents said yes.
• Wednesday’s Rockstar of the Day for RoxDar Supply Chain Solutions was Jeff Fairholm. Thursday’s was Jabari Arthur.
• NEW: If you missed the show, you can catch the replay at 10 pm PT/11 pm MT on Game+ TV or on our YouTube channel.
• Enjoy Canada Day and we’ll see you Monday at 12 pm ET on Game+ TV and YouTube Live from Grey Eagle!