MONDAY COMMENTARY – ARE WE ALLOWED TO SAY “FAT” LADY ANYMORE?

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

WE OPEN A NEW WEEK WITH A BUSHEL OF RANDOM THOUGHTS, BECAUSE EVERYBODY LIKES THOSE …

1 – FIRST, THE CFL’S SILLY SEASON IS BEHIND US (MY MOM ALWAYS HATED WHEN WE CALLED IT THAT) AND STARTING THIS WEEK, THE GAMES ARE FOR REAL.

YOUR BELOVED ROUGHRIDERS WERE 0-2 IN EXHIBITION GAMES THIS YEAR BUT HEAD COACH CRAIG DICKENSON WILL SAY THEY WERE WINNERS BECAUSE THEY SUFFERED NO MAJOR INJURIES.

A TEAM’S PRESEASON RECORD MATTERS SO LITTLE THAT WE CAN’T EVEN REMEMBER WHAT IT WAS FOR THE TEAM’S LAST TWO GREY CUP-WINNING SEASONS IN 2007 AND 2013. NO CLUE.

2 – CAN WE PENCIL IN THE 2022 ROUGHRIDERS AS GREY CUP FAVOURITES? NOT ON YOUR LIFE. BUT WITH EVERYONE TIED WITH THE SAME RECORD RIGHT NOW AT 0-0, I’M NOT PREPARED TO WRITE ANYONE OFF EITHER.

3 – SO THE REAL SEASON KICKS OFF THIS WEEK WITH MONTREAL AT CALGARY ON THURSDAY. ON FRIDAY IT’S OTTAWA AT WINNIPEG AND THEN THERE’S A SATURDAY DOUBLEHEADER HEADER BEGINNING WITH HAMILTON AT SASK FOLLOWED BY EDMONTON AT BC.

IT’S THE TORONTO ARGONAUTS WHO DREW THE SHORT STRAW, GETTING A BYE IN WEEK 1.

4 – AS FAR AS THE STANLEY CUP PLAYOFFS GO, REMEMBER WHO SAID THE NEW YORK RANGERS WERE THE DARKHORSE OF THE EASTERN CONFERENCE? IT WAS ME.

BUT I SAY THAT WITH TONGUE PLANTED FIRMLY IN CHEEK. I ALSO PREDICTED A CALGARY-FLORIDA STANLEY CUP FINAL BUT THOSE TWO TEAMS NEVER EVEN MADE IT OUT OF ROUND 2.

I SUCK AT GAMBLING.

5 – NOT SURE WHY I WASN’T MORE BULLISH ON THE COLORADO AVALANCHE. JUST LIKE HOW BEAUTIFUL BABIES GROW UP TO BE BEAUTIFUL ADULTS, THE AVS HAVE PRETTY MUCH POSTED A WIRE-TO-WIRE DOMINANT PERFORMANCE ALL SEASON LONG AND NOW THEY’RE JUST ONE WIN AWAY FROM THE STANLEY CUP FINAL.

(I MIGHT ADD THEY’RE DOING IT WITH THEIR BACK-UP GOALIE)

6 – AS FOR THE EDMONTON OILERS, IF YOU DON’T TRUST YOUR STARTING GOALTENDER, YOU’RE GOING NOWHERE. MIKE SMITH HAS REALLY GIVEN THE OIL NO CHANCE IN THIS SERIES AND THAT’S A CRYING SHAME BECAUSE THEY’RE A BETTER TEAM THAN THIS, AND CONNOR MCDAVID ISN’T GETTING ANY YOUNGER.

BUT WE DON’T DO A POST-MORTEM ON TEAMS UNTIL THEY’RE OFFICIALLY DONE SO WE’LL SEE IF EDMONTON CAN PULL THEMSELVES OUT OF THIS 0-3 HOLE.

BUT MAKE NO MISTAKE; THE BIG-BONED LADY IS WARMING UP HER VOCAL CORDS …

7 – THE WHL FINAL IS LOOKING TO BE A LONG ONE. THE HOST EDMONTON OIL KINGS KNOCKED OFF THE SEATTLE THUNDERBIRDS 5-4 ON SUNDAY TO TIE THE AFFAIR UP AT 1-1 HEADING TO WASHINGTON STATE FOR GAME 3 ON TUESDAY. YOU CAN WATCH THE REST OF THE SERIES ON TSN, WITH THE WINNER HEADING TO THE MEMORIAL CUP.

8 – MEANWHILE OIL KINGS DEFENCEMAN LUKE PROKOP HAD TWO GOALS AND FOUR POINTS IN SUNDAY’S WIN. LUKE IS THE FACE OF THE PRIDE MOVEMENT IN HOCKEY, AND MAYBE EVEN FOR THE MOVEMENT IN WESTERN CANADA. ON THE OTHER HAND, SOME MEMBERS OF THE TAMPA BAY RAYS ARE REFUSING TO WEAR THE TEAM’S PRIDE-INSPIRED UNIFORMS.

IT SEEMS WE HAVEN’T COME VERY FAR AS A HUMAN RACE.

9 – REMNANTS OF THE CENTENNIAL CUP LINGER. CONTACTS AND NEW FRIENDS WE MADE IN ESTEVAN FROM ACROSS THE CONTINENT ARE BECOMING FACEBOOK FRIENDS AND WE’RE KEEPING IN TOUCH REGULARLY. #HOCKEYISFAMILY. I WONDER HOW LONG IT’LL CONTINUE FOR, OF IF IT’LL DWINDLE OFF OVER THE YEARS LIKE THE FRIENDS WE MADE AT 4H SUMMER CAMP AS KIDS?

I GET THE SENSE THESE FRIENDSHIPS ARE HERE TO STAY.

10  – WE DIDN’T MAKE A BIG DEAL OF IT HERE, BUT THE ROD PEDERSEN SHOW CELEBRATED ITS 3RD BIRTHDAY ON FRIDAY, WITH ITS 771ST EPISODE. IT’S BEEN ONE HECKUVA JOURNEY AND PERHAPS WHAT I’M MOST PROUD OF IS THAT JULY 2ND WILL MARK TWO YEARS ON NATIONAL TELEVISION (GAME+ TV) WITH THE SHOW. AS WE MOVE INTO YEAR 4, WE’VE GOT SOME INCREDIBLY EXCITING THINGS UNFOLDING. THE BIGGEST YET! WHAT’S REMARKABLE IS IT ALL STARTED AS “AN IDEA”, IN THE NOGGIN OF DARREN DUPONT AND BEGAN AS A SHOW BROADCAST ONLY ON FACEBOOK.

IT SEEMS TOO LIKE IT’S TAKEN OVER THREE YEARS FOR PEOPLE TO FINALLY GET THROUGH THEIR HEADS THAT THE RP SHOW IS WHAT I WANT TO DO AT THIS POINT IN MY CAREER. WE CAN HOST IT FROM ANYWHERE, I GET TO ASSOCIATE WITH ALL LEAGUES AND TEAMS AND NOT BE PINNED DOWN TO ONE, NO ONE CAN TELL US WHAT TO DO BECAUSE NOBODY’S EVER DONE IT BEFORE, AND ABOVE ALL ELSE, I CAN FINALLY BE ME.

ME ISN’T SO BAD.

HONESTLY, WHAT COULD BE BETTER?

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) (Photo: CFL)