MONDAY SHOW RECAP: SOLOMON ELIMIMIAN JOINS!

Monday’s Episode 203 of The Rod Pedersen Show could’ve been mistaken for a Football Monday! Here are the highlights:

• Rod opened the show with Monday morning’s news that CFL Commissioner Randy Ambrosie announced the postponement of 2020 CFL Training Camps. He applauded the announcement as the “responsible and prudent thing” for the CFL to do, and advised fans that this isn’t a reason to panic, and explained the reasons why. There’s no reason why this decision couldn’t be subject to change if the pandemic situation changes prior to May 17 (the originally date scheduled for camps to begin).
• Dupes joined for The Rollout for Flooring Superstore covering these Elite Eight show topics: 1) A recap of everybody’s weekends, 2) The NBA’s reported idea of creating “Bubble Cities” with which to organize NBA teams and resume their schedule (Could the NHL and CFL follow?), 3) Lebron James’ objection to this idea, and whether or not he has a responsibility – as the league’s most recognizable player – to go along with whatever the NBA decides?, 4) Who’s the #1 CFL Draft prospect?, 5) Drug-testing has been put on hold by the CFL and U-Sports, and whether Blue Bombers RB Andrew Harris has served his sentence in the court of public opinion (Rod feels he has), 6) Bo Levi Mitchell telling Farhan Lalji that he has a chip on his shoulder going into the 2020 season, 7) Are we optimistic about CFL training camps?, and 8) The Athletic column on the importance of the NBA and NHL getting back to games as it relates to TV revenue.
• 10-year CFL veteran Mike Abou-Mechrek joined the show from his home office and gave viewers a tour of his lavish backyard and pool area (Rod compared it to Joe Exotic’s compound on Netflix’s Tiger King). Abou – who works in the financial services field – spoke of the global economic impact of Coronavirus, and what people in major centres are going through with Social Distancing. (Born and raised in downtown Toronto, Abou said prairie people have no idea what life is like in major urban centres). It was a fun chat.
• Rod posed the question from NBC Sports about which arena/stadium had them most in awe when they went in? Abou answered Hamilton’s Ivor Wynne Stadium and Calgary’s McMahon Stadium. Rod said, for him, it’s new Mosaic Stadium in Regina. Dupes said his was the Humboldt Uniplex, as he grew up in rural Saskatchewan in Wynard. Viewers and listeners chimed in with dozens of answers from all over the continent. Popular answers were Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, and Azteca Stadium in Mexico City.
• CFLPA President and Roughriders LB Solomon Elimimian joined the show from Vancouver, where he recently arrived from his off-season locale of Arizona. He gave an update on the players’ perspective of the pandemic, and said he’s been in daily communication with the CFL. (Sol knew about the CFL’s training camp announcement ahead of time). Regarding the current status of CFL players, he said the majority are getting their workouts in at home gyms and are using video services for guided workouts. The Hawaii product advised fans to stay optimistic, and said he doesn’t regret running for the Presidency of the CFLPA even though the association has been hit with perhaps its biggest spate of crisis in league history.
• 3DownNation’s Justin Dunk joined the show from his Southern Ontario home saying he’s hearing that CFL players are preparing for a 9-game season, kicking off at Labour Day. He advised that this is pure speculation given the uncertainty at this time. He suggested East Carolina linebacker Jordan Williams is the #1 CFL Draft prospect. J-D also offered his take on Canada’s decision to pull out of the Tokyo Olympics, as he’s been covering it closely for Hamilton’s CHCH-TV.
• And finally, a very interesting guest was XFL reporter Konnor Fulk who joined the show from Virginia. He talked about the reincarnation of the XFL in 2020 and how the league was just taking off before the season was cancelled. He discussed how open and accommodating XFL executives were to the media, and how the level of play was much stronger than anticipated. (14 players have signed in the NFL, Fulk reported, led by Houston QB P.J. Walker with the Carolina Panthers). Fulk suggested that the XFL will be back in 2021, far stronger than it was this season. He also sees no reason why the XFL should be considered a threat by the CFL.
• Regarding self-isolation, the daily Capital Auto Mall/Universal Collision Centre poll question was: How’s your waistline during the pandemic? 44% said their weight is the same, 29% said they’ve gained weight and 27% reported they’ve lost weight!
• Monday’s show is available for viewing now on our Facebook page, you can listen to the podcast by clicking on the PODCAST tab at the top of this page, you can listen anytime to our 24-hour live audio feed at RodPedersen.com/ListenLive presented by SUDS Full Service Car Wash in Regina.
• See you at 10 am MT on Tuesday on Facebook Live and RodPedersen.com/ListenLive!