MONDAY COMMENTARY – IT’S A BUSINESS
(Listen daily for the Rod Pedersen Commentary on Cat Country 98 & Rock 98.5 FM)
IF THERE WAS EVER A CASE OF “ONE DAY AT A TIME”, IT APPEARS TO BE THAT OF THE SASKATCHEWAN ROUGHRIDERS.
THEY HELD THEIR ANNUAL GREEN & WHITE SCRIMMAGE ON SATURDAY AT MOSAIC STADIUM AND IF ANYTHING WAS CLEAR OUT OF IT, THERE’S PLENTY OF WORK TO BE DONE.
CAPACITY WAS SET AT 5,000 BUT 2,882 SHOWED UP. PERHAPS PEOPLE THOUGHT THEY WOULDN’T GET IN, PERHAPS THEY DIDN’T WANT TO WASTE A BEAUTIFUL SUMMER DAY, OR PERHAPS THEY WERE LIKE ME; I WAS WARNED IT WAS TO BE NOTHING MORE THAN A PRACTICE SO I ENJOYED DOING SOMETHING ELSE.
WHO WON THE GAME BY THE WAY? SOUNDS LIKE THE DEFENSE, WHICH IS GOOD NEWS FOR THE DEFENSE. I LIKED IT BETTER WHEN THEY USED TO SPLIT THE TEAM IN TWO AND HAVE AN ACTUAL GAME.
ANYWAY, WHEN IT WAS OVER RIDER COACH CRAIG DICKENSON TOLD THE MEDIA THE PLAYERS WEREN’T READY TO PLAY. WHEN I SAW THE HEADLINE, I IMMEDIATELY FELT I MADE THE RIGHT DECISION ABOUT NOT ATTENDING BUT ONCE I READ A LITTLE MORE, IT GOT A LOT MORE INTERESTING.
DICKIE SAID THE PLAYERS WEREN’T IN GAME SHAPE AND IF THEY HAD TO DO THIS CAMP ALL OVER AGAIN, THEY’D HAVE SPENT THE FIRST WEEK GETTING IN BETTER SHAPE, RATHER THAN INSTALLING THE PLAYBOOK.
HE SAID THEY WEREN’T PHYSICALLY READY TO PLAY WHICH IS RARE, BUT UNDERSTANDABLE IN THIS INSTANCE.
LIVE AND LEARN I GUESS. DICKENSON IS AS GOOD A COACH AS THERE IS – A FINALIST FOR CFL COACH OF THE YEAR LAST SEASON – SO HE WILL FIGURE THIS OUT.
BUT THERE ARE ISSUES THAT NEED TO BE ADDRESSED. ARE THE OTHER TEAMS IN BETTER SHAPE, OR ARE THEY GOING THROUGH THE SAME THING? (I’M GUESSING THE LATTER). WHAT ABOUT THE FACT THEY SCORED NO TOUCHDOWNS IN THE SCRIMMAGE? WHAT ABOUT THE MASSIVE HOLES ON THE OFFENSIVE LINE?
WEEK THREE OF TRAINING CAMP BEGINS TODAY AND THE GOOD NEWS FOR THE GREEN GUYS IS THAT THEY DO HAVE THE LUXURY OF TIME.
THEY DON’T OPEN THE SEASON UNTIL FRIDAY AUGUST 6 WHEN THE BC LIONS COME TO TOWN AND THE REPORTS ARE THAT THE LIONS ARE GOING THROUGH SIMILAR DISTRESSES IN BC.
BUT AS WE’VE SEEN IN OTHER LEAGUES, COACHES DON’T GET A PASS FOR SHODDY PLAY EVEN IF IT’S CAUSED BY THE PANDEMIC. ASK THE CLIPPERS DOC RIVERS OR THE CAPITALS TODD REARDON.
IT IS AFTER ALL, A BUSINESS.
THAT’S TODAY’S ROD PEDERSEN COMMENTARY
(Photo: Steve Johnson)
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