THURSDAY COMMENTARY – WHAT YOU’RE MISSING
(Listen daily for the Rod Pedersen Commentary on Cat Country 98 FM & Rock 98.5 FM)
I UNDERSTAND IT’S NOT FOR EVERYONE, BUT I DON’T REALLY KNOW WHY.
MY WEEK HAS BEEN FILLED WITH JUNIOR HOCKEY – BOTH MAJOR JUNIOR AND JUNIOR A – AND AS THEY SAY, “MY HEART IS FULL”.
I’VE CAUGHT TWO PATS GAMES IN REGINA, A WARRIORS GAME IN MOOSE JAW, AND TWO GAMES IN NOTRE DAME FEATURING THE BATTLEFORDS AND MELFORT AS THE VISITORS.
IN EVERY CASE, THERE HAVE BEEN FAR MORE EMPTY SEATS THAN OCCUPIED ONES. IT CONTINUES TO BE THE TALK OF THE INDUSTRY, AND DON’T EVEN GET ME STARTED ON THE CFL.
I DON’T WANT TO TURN THIS COMMENTARY INTO WHINING ABOUT ATTENDANCE. LET ME JUST SAY THAT EACH GAME I’VE WITNESSED HAS BEEN TREMENDOUS AND WE’VE LITERALLY BEEN TREATED TO THE NHL STARS OF TOMORROW.
FOR INSTANCE IN WEDNESDAY NIGHT’S PATS GAME VERSUS THE WARRIORS, THERE WERE FUTURE NHL’ERS ON THE ICE IN THE FORM OF CONNOR BEDARD AND RYKER EVANS FOR REGINA AND BRADEN YAGER AND DENTON MATEYCHUK FOR MOOSE JAW. THERE MAY EVEN BE MORE.
THERE USED TO BE A TIME WHEN WE BRAGGED, “I SAW HIM PLAY WAY BACK WHEN …”
WHAT I KEEP HEARING AROUND REGINA IS THAT PATS TICKETS ARE TOO EXPENSIVE AND THE FIGURE “38 DOLLARS” KEEPS GETTING THROWN AROUND. WELL I WENT TO TICKETMASTER AND TICKETS FOR SATURDAY NIGHT’S GAME VERSUS BRANDON CAN BE HAD FOR $19 PLUS FEES SO I THINK THE PATS ARE VICTIMS OF BAD RUMOURS.
OH AND BY THE WAY, WHAT’S SO WRONG WITH $38 ANYWAY? THE PATS RUN AN NHL-STYLE GAME NIGHT PRODUCTION AND YOU’VE GOTTA PAY FOR THE ENTERTAINMENT. THE WARRIORS ARE THE SAME.
(AND BEFORE YOU EVEN START, I’VE GOT PATS SEASON TICKETS WHICH RUN $1000 A POP).
SOME FEEL PEOPLE ARE STAYING AWAY DUE TO MASK MANDATES AND VACCINE PROOFS. BUT THAT’S NOT KEEPING PEOPLE AWAY FROM THE SHOPPING MALLS AND FOOD COURTS.
MY LONGTIME FRIEND KELLY REMPLE AND I WERE RECOUNTING FAMOUS PATS-WARRIORS TALES WEDNESDAY NIGHT LIKE THE SEAN O’CONNOR INCIDENT, KEVIN GALLANT’S MICKEY MOUSE ADVENTURE, FABLES OF THEOREN FLEURY, STU GRIMSON AND EVEN DUSTIN SLADE, AND THE NIGHT PATS MASCOT K-9 WAS SCRATCHED DUE TO A DEATH THREAT FROM A WARRIOR FAN.
REMPS SAID, “IF WE HADN’T BEEN THERE, WE’D NEVER HAVE BELIEVED THIS STUFF HAPPENED.”
SO THE GAMES ARE GREAT BUT MAYBE THEY’RE LACKING A LITTLE SIZZLE.
THE TOP ISSUE IN THESE LEAGUES IS HOW TO GET PEOPLE THROUGH THE DOORS AND RIGHT NOW THE TEAMS HAVE GOT ONE, MAYBE TWO, ARMS TIED BEHIND THEIR BACK.
I’M SO GLAD IT’S NOT MY JOB TO FIGURE IT OUT.
THAT’S TODAY’S ROD PEDERSEN COMMENTARY
I appreciate your passion rod but with all that is going on in the world junior hockey is the least of my worries…why not ask scott moe to lift the mask mandate and vax mandate and get justin to stop taxing us to death then I will go to a rider game a pats game a rush game or any other game you want… until that changes enjoy the space at all the games cause WE are not coming till then
Thanks and I definitely am!!
Do you want me to write a 10 Thoughts on this? Lol
Sure, always appreciate your thoughts. Honestly, you are one of the few people who aren’t scared to stick your neck out there and say your opinion against the narrative. It’s refreshing.
Agreed Justin, sports are the least of my concerns right now. I used to be a big fan of the pats, riders, etc, but since the world has gone crazy, I’m just trying to survive. Plus, I’m not allowed into the games 🙂
We have been socialized to stay home for nearly two years, and for good reason. That can’t be undone instantly. It will take some time for comfort levels to return. And that is a tall task given that people have become pretty good at entertaining themselves at home.
The idea that everything will be fixed by lifting vax/mask mandates is laughable, I would not be setting foot in a NHL/AHL/WHL game this season if those things weren’t in place and I know many people in the same boat.
I guarantee part of the problem is the pussyfication of the game. Hitting and fighting has been taken away.
I am going to write my own column on this….but I don’t want to get Rod in trouble LOL however it’s worthy of a deeper discussion. You bring up an excellent point. Hockey and football have both brought in rules to make the games ‘safer’ … you’ve used a different word for it. But it does bring up a different talking point that nobody discusses – Who was it that asked for these rules to make the games safer? Was it participants or was it people who just like to stick their nose into sports for the sake of being… Read more »
My thoughts on not going:
Why would I shell out $30 to go to a game where they prohibit fun? I feel like I’m in a prison attending a Pats game.
I went to one Pats game this year and was constantly harassed by Evraz staff. Can’t stand while eating or drinking you need to go to your seat, pull up your mask in between sips of a drink etc… these rules have taken the enjoyment out of attending games and therefore I will save the $30 and stay at home.
Great commentary Rod. Myself and a fellow Pats fan were discussing this exact same thing at the game last night. I agree it was one of the most exciting games of the year, and there is a tremendous amount of young talent on the ice every night. There’s no one answer as to why attendance is down (in many sports) in my opinion. It’s quite evident that the pandemic has caused a rift in many areas (unfortunately within some families), and some people don’t want to give in (whether it be feeling of an unsafe vaccine, not able to be… Read more »
The acolytes from the cult of the perpetually allarmed have hunkered down and dug in. Armed with a vaccine that works…. kind of , and impenetrable fabric muzzles , they’re ready ride out the inevitable Gama , Theta, Omega variants that crash ashore on the 5th,6th,7th…. 19th waves. A line from shawshank, get busy living or get busy dying.
Ive been at home for nearly 2 years. I havent been able to get back to work as my company shut down because of Covid and it is not coming back. At 56 trying to find another job has been a nightmare. I have 4 kids and a mortgage. My priorities have changed. My habits have changed. My sports dollars (what little I have) goes to my kids playing soccer and streaming sports games not on the tele. I wont be going back to live games till I have built my savings back up. It might be never again if… Read more »
Makes me sad to hear your story but I KNOW there are a lot of people in a similar situation as yourself. Be well, send me a private message on Twitter if I can be of any help at all in looking around for a potential job for you. You are in my thoughts.