FRIDAY COMMENTARY – CLEARING HURDLES

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

THE CFL IS CLEARING MORE HURDLES THAN PERDITA FELICIEN. (A RETIRED CANADIAN OLYMPIAN)

BACK AT THE BEGINNING OF SPRING TIME, I IDENTIFIED FOUR HURDLES THE CFL NEEDED TO CLEAR TO GET BACK ONTO THE FIELD IN 2021. IT’S TAKEN AWHILE BUT EACH DAY THIS WEEK THE LEAGUE HAS ANNOUNCED POSITIVE STRIDES TO THAT END.

THE FIRST HURDLE WAS COVID, AND GETTING CASES UNDER CONTROL IN THIS COUNTRY AS WELL AS SMOOTHING OUT THE VACCINATION ROLLOUT. THAT APPEARS TO BE A “CHECK” AS WE ROLL TOWARDS THAT AUGUST 5 KICKOFF.

THE NEXT WAS MONEY. WHO WAS GOING TO PAY FOR A RETURN TO PLAY? WELL THE GOVERNMENT DONATING 60-THOUSAND RAPID TESTS TO THE CFL ON THURSDAY WILL EASE A MAJOR STRAIN ON THE OWNERS POCKETBOOK. AND THE COMMUNITY-OWNED TEAMS HAVE RECEIVED SOME ASSISTANCE FROM THE PRIVATE SECTOR, WHICH HAS SAVED THEIR BACON.

THE THIRD HURDLE WAS GETTING ALL TEAMS TO ACTUALLY WANT TO PLAY THIS YEAR. WELL, ON MONDAY THE LEAGUE GOVERNORS VOTED UNANIMOUSLY TO PLAY. THERE REPORTEDLY NEEDED TO BE SOME ARM-TWISTING OF THE ARGONAUTS, BUT THEY GOT IT DONE.

AND THE FOURTH HURDLE WAS TO GET FANS ENTICED TO ACTUALLY COME BACK TO THE GAMES. POLLS IN MAJOR CFL MARKETS SHOWED FANS WERE WEARY BUT AS TIME HAS GONE ON, AND CONSIDERING WHAT WE’VE SEEN IN THE U.S., IT SEEMS VERY EVIDENT THAT CFL FANS ARE VERY EAGER TO GET BACK INTO THE STADIUMS.

IT SURE SEEMS LIKE THEY ARE HERE ANYWAY.

IT’S NOT ENTIRELY SMOOTH SAILING YET. AS WE SIT HERE TODAY THE GOVERNMENT HASN’T APPROVED THE CFL’S RETURN TO PLAY BUT THERE’S STILL TIME FOR THAT TO HAPPEN, AND I EXPECT IT WILL.

WE HAVEN’T HEARD ANYTHING ABOUT CROWD CAPACITIES YET OTHER THAN CFL TEAMS SAYING THEY NEED AT LEAST 35% CAPACITY. THAT SEEMS TO BE A PIECE OF CAKE ON THE PRAIRIES, BUT WE HAVEN’T HEARD A PEEP ABOUT THE BIG ONES. STILL, THERE’S TIME.

GETTING PLAYERS INTO THE COUNTRY SEEMS LIKE NO EASY TASK AND EVEN THEN, IT SEEMS LIKE NOT A VERY HIGH NUMBER OF THEM HAVE HAD TWO VACCINATIONS, LET ALONE ONE. THAT’S A SITUATION THE LEAGUE, AND HEALTH AUTHORITIES, WILL BE WATCHING CLOSELY.

AND ONCE THEY KICKOFF, ENFORCING COVID PROTOCOLS IS GOING TO BE A VERY BIG DEAL. IN A LOT OF WAYS THE PLAYERS ARE GOING TO NEED TO POLICE THEMSELVES.

BUT THINGS ARE CERTAINLY MOVING IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION RATHER QUICKLY AND THESE DAYS, THAT’S THE MOST WE CAN ASK.

THAT’S TODAY’S ROD PEDERSEN COMMENTARY