MONDAY COMMENTARY – WE NEED THIS
(Listen daily for the Rod Pedersen Commentary on Cat Country 98 FM & Rock 98.5 FM)
THERE’S A FIRST TIME FOR EVERYTHING AND SUNDAY PRESENTED JUST THAT OPPORTUNITY.
TRUST ME, THERE’S A SASKATCHEWAN ANGLE ON THIS.
I’D NEVER ATTENDED A SOCCER GAME IN MY LIFE – WHETHER IT BE PRO OR 8-YEAR OLDS – BUT THERE I WAS ON SUNDAY AT CALGARY’S ATCO FIELD AT SPRUCE MEADOWS WHERE THE CALVARY FC WAS HOSTING PACIFIC FC (VICTORIA) IN CANADIAN PREMIER LEAGUE SOCCER ACTION.
THE ROD PEDERSEN SHOW WAS THERE AS GUESTS OF THE CAVALRY AND MY JAW WAS ON THE GROUND PRETTY MUCH FROM THE ENORMOUS LINEUP TO GET IN, TO THE FINAL GUN.
I’D BEEN TO SPRUCE MEADOWS BEFORE, 30 YEARS AGO FOR HORSE STUFF, BUT I WAS UNAWARE CALGARY’S SOUTHERN FAMILY HAD ERECTED A SIX THOUSAND-SEAT STADIUM ON THEIR GROUNDS AND STARTED THIS PRO SOCCER TEAM.
JUST WALKING UP TO THE FACILITY HAD A “EUROPEAN FEEL” (ALTHOUGH I’VE NEVER BEEN TO EUROPE AND HAVE NO DESIRE TO GO). THE MUSIC WAS PUMPING, THE BOOZE WAS FLOWING, PEOPLE WERE ARM-IN-ARM BEFORE, DURING, AND AFTER THE GAME. THEY DIDN’T STOP SINGING AND DANCING ALL AFTERNOON.
CALGARY WON 2-0. I CAN VOUCH FOR THE FACT THAT PRO SOCCER IS LIKE THE NBA; IT’S BETTER LIVE THAN ON TV. THE ATHLETICISM OF THE PLAYERS IS UNREAL.
THE GUY I WAS WITH TURNED TO ME AND SAID, “NOW IMAGINE BEING IN A EUROPEAN STADIUM WITH 100,000 OF THESE CRAZIES.”
I CAN’T. SOMEDAY MAYBE.
SO REGINA’S AL SIMPSON IS THE MAN BEHIND GETTING A CPL FRANCHISE FOR SASKATOON, AND BUILDING A STADIUM AT THE PRAIRIELAND PARK RACETRACK.
FORGET ABOUT GETTING A TEAM IN REGINA. ALL THE PRO LEAGUES, IF YOU NOTICE, HAVE BYPASSED REGINA DUE TO THE IMMENSE POPULARITY OF THE ROUGHRIDERS.
SO SASKATCHEWAN, WE GOTTA GET ON IT. PRONTO.
TIME’S A’ WASTIN’.
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)
Hey Rod: back in 2014, my nephew and I got into the World Cup as our U.S. men’s team advanced out of the group stage. I promised I would take him to his first MLS game down in New Jersey and a month later, we sat in the nosebleeds at Red Bull Arena. We watched as the Red Bulls downed the Seattle Sounders. I didn’t know what to expect, but my nephew and I became instant fans, to the point where I became a season supporter two seasons later! My first experience at an MLS soccer match was about EVERYTHING… Read more »
100% agree it is time for Sask to join the CPL. New news will be coming out shortly in May/June with the final rendering of the stadium proposal. Time to get it done.
Immense popularity of the Roughriders? Not! That’s not the reason and everyone knows it. It’s because the Roughriders don’t want anyone else to invade their so called revenue generating territory. Take for instance when the Roughriders put a stop to a NFL game in Regina, (other Major League Sports attractions). The Roughriders act like they own the stadium in Regina and that they are the exclusive rights holder to any events held at that venue.
Not only is there a local soccer-playing population that would embrace a CPL club in Saskatoon, but also there’s tons of immigrant ethnic groups that come from countries where soccer’s the #1 sport/religion. Besides the CEBL, there’s no other pro sport that a CPL club would have to compete with in the summer months. With the Canadian Men’s team making the World Cup, soccer’s popularity will rise to an all-time high, and we need to take advantage of that moment. Hockey, Basketball, Baseball all have pathways to pro in this province. Let’s add soccer to that mix. Don’t soccer playing… Read more »
Yes Jeff, soccer playing kids in Saskatchewan absolutely deserve a local pathway to the pro game. Couldn’t agree more.
I couldn’t agree more!!! City of Saskatoon jump on board!
The time has now come for Saskatoon to join the CPL family. Let’s get the stadium deal done. This will undoubtedly benefit Saskatoon.
100 percent we need a pro stadium and team. We have pro teams in virtually every province besides Saskatchewan and places like BMO Field and Stade Saputo have become fortresses for their clubs. In the Maritimes they only have a Halifax team for obvious demographic reasons, but even there they hosted games during the Women’s World Cup. During this last World Cup window our Men’s team beat every other sport in the TV ratings department. Our country unified and watched our Men qualify for their first World Cup since 1986, the biggest sporting event on the planet. Canada is becoming… Read more »