FRIDAY COMMENTARY – RANDOM THOUGHTS: FOOL ME ONCE …

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

SOME RANDOM THOUGHTS AS WE CLOSE ANOTHER WEEK …

#1 – THE BIGGEST NEWS IN THE CFL THIS WEEK WAS THE ANNOUNCEMENT THAT TOUCHDOWN ATLANTIC WILL FEATURE THE ROUGHRIDERS AND ARGONAUTS ON JULY 16 IN NOVA SCOTIA. IT’S A BIG DEAL.

BUT WITH IT COMES THE ANNUAL TALK OF CFL EXPANSION TO ATLANTIC CANADA AND I’M HERE TO TELL YOU TODAY, THAT I’M OVER IT.

WE’VE BEEN KICKING THIS IDEA AROUND FOR 40 YEARS AND ALMOST NO PROGRESS HAS BEEN MADE ON IT.

FOOL ME ONCE, SHAME ON YOU. FOOL ME 40 TIMES, SHAME ON ME.

HERE’S A TIP: YOU CAN’T PAY ATTENTION TO THE MARITIMES ONE WEEK OUT OF THE YEAR AND EXPECT THAT TO MAKE A BIG ENOUGH IMPACT TO MAKE MARITIMERS WANT A CFL TEAM.

#2 – THE SJHL SEMIFINALS ARE SET, AND THEY ARE SIGNIFICANTLY REVVED UP IN THE FOUR REMAINING MARKETS: YORKTON, ESTEVAN, HUMBOLDT AND FLIN FLON.

THOSE ARE ALL ICONIC JUNIOR A TOWNS AND THIS IS THE TIME OF YEAR THEY LIVE FOR.

ALL ROADS LEAD TO ESTEVAN FOR THE CENTENNIAL CUP IN MAY AND THIS WEEK TSN’S CRAIG BUTTON CONFIRMED HE’LL BE JOINING ME FOR THE HOT STOVE PANEL IN ESTEVAN THE NIGHT BEFORE THE CUP FINAL.

I SO CAN’T WAIT!

AND LASTLY, #3 – THE NHL GM’S MEETINGS WRAPPED UP HERE IN SOUTH FLORIDA THIS WEEK AND MY TAKEAWAY WAS MAPLE LEAFS GM KYLE DUBAS COMPLAINING TO THE NHL ABOUT THE LACK OF CALLS AGAINST STAR FORWARD AUSTON MATTHEWS.

IT DID COME ACROSS AS A WHOLE LOT OF WHINING BUT MY HOCKEY GUYS SAY THAT’S JUST DUBAS PUTTING A BUG IN THE REFS’ EAR AS WE GET READY FOR THE STANLEY CUP PLAYOFFS.

BUT IN MY TIME, THAT NEVER WORKED. FOR YEARS AND YEARS CALLING HOCKEY AND FOOTBALL GAMES, I ROASTED THE REFS FOR PERCEIVED INJUSTICES AND IT NEVER, EVER RESULTED IN US GETTING THE CALLS.

ALL IT DID WAS TICK THEM OFF.

I HAVE A FEELING DUBAS HAS DONE THE SAME THING.

THAT’S TODAY’S ROD PEDERSEN COMMENTARY.

(The Rod Pedersen Show airs daily at 12 pm ET on Game+ TV across Canada and the USA. Call your cable provider for details. You can also watch on YouTube Live and listen 24/7 at RodPedersen.com/ListenLive)