FRIDAY COMMENTARY – BE THE JOCKEY

(Listen daily for the Rod Pedersen Commentary on Cat Country 98 & Rock 98.5 FM)

As I’ve said many times, you never know who you’re going to run into at the good ol’ hockey game.

I continually thank God for putting these people in my path.

At Thursday night’s Flames/Predators game in the Saddledome, I found myself with Nashville Predators owner Brett Wilson, the pride of North Battleford, SK.

The Oil & Gas magnate and Dragon’s Den star was hosting some of the Predators parents and other owners in a luxury suite and as luck would have it, we bumped into each other.

He waved his hand in disgust when I introduced myself. He’s a lifelong Rider fan, and we’ve done events together in the past. But I never assume.

Brett shared the funny story that Predators forward Tanner Jeannot of Oxbow, SK had no idea who he was when they met, but Tanner’s parents knew of Brett.

Kids these days.

Tanner’s carving out a nice career for himself in the NHL but it wouldn’t hurt for him to look up the history of his boss.

Brett Wilson’s story is one of success but also of perseverance and overcoming a ton of adversity.

Now he’s living as his authentic self – from what I can tell he always has – and enjoying the best side of life.

I’ll never forget at the Estevan Bruins sports banquet years ago Wilson told the crowd that in life and business, he always bets on the jockey, not the horse. He also told me to pay no mind to the critics and haters. All that shows is that they’re listening to our every word!

But I spent a good deal of time afterwards getting my mind around that jockey quote but then made it a mantra for my life.

Thanks to Brett Wilson, I discovered that in life you’d rather be the jockey than the horse.

That’s today’s Rod Pedersen Commentary

(The Rod Pedersen Show airs daily at 12 pm ET on Game+ TV and WQEE Radio. Call your cable provider to subscribe. You can also watch on YouTube Live or listen 24/7 at RodPedersen.com/ListenLive)