THURSDAY COMMENTARY – HISTORY REPEATS ITSELF

(Listen daily for the Rod Pedersen Commentary at 9:50 am and 5:20 pm on Cat Country 98 FM)

WEDNESDAY WILL FOREVER GO DOWN IN RIDER HISTORY AS A WATERMARK DAY.

THE ROUGHRIDERS RELEASED STAR DEFENSIVE END CHARLESTON HUGHES AFTER THE TWO SIDES COULDN’T REACH A NEW DEAL AHEAD OF NEXT WEEK’S FREE AGENCY.

BUT THERE’S PLENTY MORE TO IT THAN THAT. THERE ALWAYS IS!

A LOT OF RIDER FANS HAVE BROUGHT UP THAT IT’S A VERY SIMILAR SITUATION TO WHEN SASKATCHEWAN RELEASED THE POPULAR JOHN CHICK FIVE YEARS AGO LAST MONTH.

RIDER FANS STILL HAVEN’T FORGOTTEN THAT ONE.

WHAT’S ODD IS I SPOKE TO CHRIS JONES ABOUT THIS LAST WEEK AND HE’S ADAMANT THAT HE WAS DOING WHAT WAS BEST FOR THE TEAM.

HE DETAILED THAT DARIAN DURANT, JOHN CHICK, WESTON DRESSLER AND CHRIS GETZLAF HAD SALARIES TOTALLING OVER A MILLION DOLLARS WHILE THE SALARY CAP WAS JUST OVER 5-MILLION.

WHY CAN’T FANS SEE – FIVE YEARS LATER – THAT JONES WAS JUST DOING WHAT WAS BEST FOR THE TEAM? AND AS HE POINTED OUT TO ME FROM TENNESSEE, CHICK’S SACK TOTALS WEREN’T ANYWHERE NEAR CHARLESTON HUGHES’. AND CHUCKY WASN’T MAKING ANYWHERE NEAR CHICK’S QUARTER MILLION DOLLARS A YEAR.

SO HERE WE SIT AS HISTORY REPEATS ITSELF AND RIDER NATION SEEMS MOSTLY DIVIDED TODAY. IT APPEARS TO BE A LITTLE MORE 50/50 REGARDING WHO SUPPORTS THE TEAM VERSUS THE PLAYER BUT AS ALWAYS, WE CAN NEVER TOTALLY AGREE ON ANYTHING.

IN THE END, AND IS ALWAYS THE CASE, THE ROUGHRIDERS HAVE THE RIGHT TO SPEND THEIR MONEY HOWEVER THEY CHOOSE. THEY’LL ALWAYS BE IN CONTROL.

BUT THEY CAN NEVER CONTROL HOW THEY’RE VIEWED BY THE FANS.

THAT’S TODAY’S ROD PEDERSEN COMMENTARY ON CAT COUNTRY 98.