THURSDAY RUNDOWN: XFL NEWS, JAYS WRAP AND CFL SIM GAME DAY!

Lots was going on on Thursday and we covered it all on Episode #330 of The RP Show – Canada’s Daytime Sports Talk Show! Here’s the rundown:

• Rod and Dupes opened with The Warmup discussing these Quick Six show topics: 1) The XFL announces it won’t return until 2022, 2) The Blue Jays get swept, 3) Wednesday’s MLB playoff winners were the Rays, Braves, Astros, Marlins, A’s, Cards, Yankees and Dodgers, 4) The Lakers take Game 1 of the NBA Finals 116-98 over the Heat, 5) Thursday Night Football features the Broncos and Jets, and 6) It’s CFL SIM Game Day with 9-5 Saskatchewan at 6-7 Edmonton! The Riders are trying to snap a 3-game slide.
• Sportsnet’s Arash Madani joined the show from downtown Toronto for a Jays wrap and CFL update. He said the sweep by Tampa was no surprise since it was the #1 seed versus the #8 seed. However he agrees with everyone that the Jays’ future is bright. Regarding the CFL, Arash said Commissioner Randy Ambrosie has the support of the league’s owners and governors at the moment, but not the GMs who voted 7-2 against the CFL 2.0 initiative. He feels it’s already October and not much progress appears to have been made on a new CFL business plan. He reported that what’s been proposed isn’t much different from the past. Madani also said the outcome of Game 1 of the NBA Finals (a lopsided L.A. win) is not indicative of how the series will unfold. The big storyline in the series is Lebron against his old team, and Heat boss Pat Riley.
• On the XFL return, RP stated that the announcement has huge ramifications on the CFL and right now it’s a battle for credibility between the two leagues. The XFL at least has a plan while the CFL is still working on theirs.
• The daily Capital Auto Mall/Universal Collision Centre poll question was: Will you still watch the MLB playoffs even though the Blue Jays are out? Over 60% of respondents said no.
• Hour 2 was broadcast on Facebook Live only and we were joined by NY Giants Super Bowl champion, Montreal Alouettes alum and TV personality Brandon London from East Rutherford, NJ. He said the XFL’s announcement is tremendous news for pro football, and opportunities for pro players. He also explained why the CFL is a tremendous product but admitted it continues to struggle for respect. He feels it doesn’t matter how Americans view the CFL, but Canadians should continue to love it. The TV host admitted however that American football fans don’t have much respect for either the XFL’s or CFL’s level of play. Regarding where New York’s NFL teams went wrong (the Jets and Giants are both winless and the prospects are dim), he said both teams have a lot of problems.
• Be sure to join us at 7:00 pm MT on the RP Show Facebook channel for Canada’s Game of the Week in CFL SIM between Saskatchewan and Edmonton!
• Thursday’s show is available for viewing now on our Facebook page, you can catch the replay at 4:00 pm ET on Game+, listen to the podcast by clicking on the CONTENT tab at the top of this page, or listen anytime to our 24-hour live audio feed at RodPedersen.com/ListenLive.
• See you at 10 am MT on Friday for a Flame Tech Football Friday!