THE MONDAY MORNING GOALIE
RAPID FIRE
1 – WEEK 14 NFL TAKEAWAYS: There were some great games. … It’s a different offense in Philadelphia under QB Jalen Hurts. … Hurts reminds me a lot of Alouettes QB Vernon Adams. … Tom Brady’s an excellent downfield passer when his receivers do their jobs. … There’s a BIG drop-off from Drew Brees to Taysom Hill. … The Giants are who we thought they were. … Washington DE Chase Young should get some consideration for Rookie of the Year. … The NY Jets are proving to be the worst team in NFL history. … Somewhere fired Defensive Coordinator Gregg Williams is laughing. … If the woeful performance of Vikings kicker Dan Bailey (3 missed FGs and 1 missed convert at Tampa) doesn’t finally land Brett Lauther an opportunity, perhaps nothing will. … Whenever Lauther lands his NFL shot, it’ll be the story of the year. … Perhaps I’m the bad luck charm. I didn’t watch the Cowboys, and they won at Cincinnati. … Happy for Andy Dalton. … The Miami Dolphins gave the Kansas City Chiefs a scare. That means they’re on their way. … Tom Brady’s honesty is refreshing. After living in the tropical Florida climate for months, TB12 said he’ll never be “caught dead” living in the Northeast ever again. Now they’re howling about that in Boston, and trouncing Tom. Truth hurts? Deal with it. … Denver Broncos KR/PR Diontae Spencer is an alum the CFL should celebrate.
2 – NFL VS CFL: Some CFL people and CFL fans gave us heat last week for the amount of NFL we’re talking on the RP Show. I see where they’re coming from, and CFL talk is a pillar of our show. We’re grateful for the CFL teams and league office whom have put people on our show, and we’re eager to be part of the rebuilding effort. However we have a mandate and for now, we’ve gotta move. And when you’ve got the best NFL analyst in the country in Tori Gurley, you use him. He’s our bellcow. Hopefully the events of the past year have illustrated that sports and the media need each other.
3 – COMMISSIONER SPEAKS: Randy Ambrosie appeared on his hometown CJOB Winnipeg on Friday and was his usual positive, upbeat self. Regarding the league’s plans in 2021, Ambrosie said “We can all see light at the end of the tunnel now. There are some challenges, but there are good reasons to feel positive about 2021 for all of us on many fronts. We can use football as a launch pad for an OK ’21 but maybe a fantastic 2022.” What do you suppose that means? A shortened season? An 18-game season without fans? Please debate.
4 – CRACKING THE VAULT: We certainly got everyone’s attention with last weekend’s story of the infamous Duron Carter Practice Fight in October of 2017 in Riderville. It’s got people clamouring for more but let me be clear: the intention of these revelations isn’t to dig up old emotions or make anyone look bad. And I don’t think the Carter story did any of that. Rider fans have asked for my behind-the-scenes takes on the firing of Greg Marshall in 2011 or tales of embattled QB Reggie Slack. They’re not as salacious as you may think, but here goes …
5 – MARSHALL LAW: CFL mainstay Greg Marshall was hired as head coach of the Roughriders in 2011 and said at the time it was going to be a different challenge than most. Most times a new coach is hired to oversee a rebuild but in this case, the Riders had just appeared in back-to-back Grey Cups. His challenge was simply to maintain the success. I knew Marshall from his years as Riders DC in the 1990s and knew him to be an excellent guy and excellent coach. However the team stumbled to a 1-7 record and Greg was fired in mid-August. What happened? Marshall had a tough act to follow in the most popular Rider coach of all-time, Ken Miller, who stuck around as V.P. of Football. To my knowledge, it was simply very difficult for Marshall to operate in Miller’s shadow. Imagine your parents splitting, your Mom re-marrying, but your Dad still sitting at the supper table every night. How long is that going to work? The Marshall/Miller situation isn’t that different and by 2012, the Riders full-time GM was Brendan Taman and the Head Coach was Corey Chamblin. President Jim Hopson and everyone involved had the best intentions but sometimes things don’t work out. They’re all great people. Simple as that.
6 – SLACK REGGIE: Reggie’s story is a tough one but easily summed up. The Milton, FL product was an original draft pick of Houston and spent three seasons with the NFL’s Oilers before emigrating to the CFL. He found prominence with the Argos, Ticats and Blue Bombers before finding his way to Saskatchewan in 1997. He led the Riders to the 1997 Grey Cup but it’s no secret that he battled off-field demons. He went MIA on multiple occasions including Grey Cup Week in Edmonton. In my first season with the club, Reggie famously missed a team flight to Hamilton in August of 1999. Then-GM Alan Ford has told this story on multiple occasions on my various shows so it’s no secret. Steve Sarkisian (now Alabama’s Offensive Coordinator) started that August game for Saskatchewan and threw four interceptions as the Ticats sacked the Roughriders 63-17 in the worst loss the team absorbed in my time. The Riders sought help for Reggie and he went on an extended absence from the club. Ford told a news conference that Reggie was suffering from a “medical addiction”. All these years later, I’ve gotta ask Al what he meant by that. Perhaps it was an opioid addiction which, in retrospect, means Ford wasn’t lying. But it doesn’t really matter anyway. By 2000, an entirely new crew was in charge in Riderville. By name, they were Roy Shivers, Danny Barrett and Henry Burris.
7 – HOCKEY BUZZ: There’s el zippo to discuss on the hockey front other than nations arriving in Edmonton on Sunday to begin preparations for the 2021 World Junior Hockey Championship. My Edmonton source said so far, the arrivals and check-ins have been smooth. As for junior hockey across the country, everyone’s still “sitting around” as Regina Pats GM John Paddock put it. That three-week hiatus imposed in this province is supposed to end on Thursday, isn’t it? Meanwhile the ECHL faced off their 2020-21 season on the weekend without a hitch. I think we can respectfully ask why they can play hockey, and most other sports, in the USA but not in Canada. Is the science different?
8 – HOLTBY: Ya. Vancouver Canucks goalie Braden Holtby of Lloydminster, SK is a racist! /sarcasm off. Holtby found himself back-pedalling on the weekend after his new Canucks goalie mask – which features the Pacific Northwest’s mythical Thunderbird – was deemed racially insensitive by some Indigenous leaders. Braden wound up apologizing and ditched the mask while First Nations folk around here are calling the leaders’ remarks “BS”. (At least the ones I’ve heard from.) People have been sending me photos and newspaper stories from Braden’s time spent with Native youth at the White Buffalo Youth Lodge in Saskatoon. NEWSFLASH: Some of us white people have a great deal of respect and admiration for Indigenous culture and like to honour that in our works. Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery! I don’t expect this nonsense to end when the calendar flips from 2020 to 2021.
9 – BACK TO THE RIDERS: It annoys me that football fans and personnel across this country think the Saskatchewan Roughriders are so popular in this province simply because “it’s all they have”. WRONG. In 1999 we were $3-million in debt, averaged 16,000 fans per game and had the worst team in football at 3-15. We cringed when we saw the /=S=/ logo coming up on Sportscentre because we knew they were going to say something bad. An airline pilot once said on a team flight “You’ve reached touchdown in Montreal, and that’s the only touchdown you’re going to get here.” It was bad. We were a joke. And I saw firsthand how a group of really smart, creative and HARD-WORKING people built this franchise into the Mecca that it became with a peak in the early-2010’s. Now you hear people say, “The Riders sell themselves” or “They’re lucky in Saskatchewan”. WRONG! It took a helluva lot of hard work and that’s what it’s going to take again to rebuild the CFL to prominence. /rant off
10 – RANDOMS TO END: Rest In Piece to Charlie Pride. I met Charlie at Craven Country Jamboree when I was working as a country music deejay. He even read a liner on tape that said, “This is Charlie Pride and you’re listening to Rod Pete-UH-son on Country Favourites, CFSL”. Great guy, and he was a soundtrack of our childhoods. … Great to see the Raptors broadcast celebrating the CEBL on Saturday night’s preseason broadcast at Charlotte. The crew pointed out the hiring of Andy Rautins as Assistant GM of the Ottawa Blackjacks. Andy, of course, is the son of Raptors colour commentator Leo Rautins. If only we had that kind of cooperation between the NFL and CFL. … I have nowhere to wear my ugly Regina Pats Christmas sweater. Ugh. You can get yours in the Pats Store at Cornwall Centre. … “Like your job, love your wife” – Del Griffiths. … Remember John Vanbiesbrouck? The Beezer was one of my Top 3 favourite goalies in the 1980s along with Kelly Hrudey and Grant Fuhr. These days he’s the GM of the USA’s team at the World Juniors. … Merry Christmas!
Y’er welcome,
RP
@rodpedersen
