THURSDAY RUNDOWN: ZAUNIE LETS IT RIP, AND MORE!

We went off the beaten path with Episode #320 of the RP Show, Canada’s Daytime Sports Talk Show on Thursday! Here’s the recap:

• Rod and Dupes opened with The Warmup covering these Quick Six show topics: 1) RP signed the petition to the Government of Saskatchewan to allow all levels of hockey to play during the pandemic, and explained why, 2) The NFL Week 2 opener is Thursday Night Football’s Battle of Ohio: Cincinnati at Cleveland, 3) Analytics say NFL teams who start 0-2 will make the playoffs only 7.2% of the time, 4) Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Eastern Conference Final is Thursday night: Tampa Bay versus NY Islanders (Lightning lead the series 3-1), 5) Lots of reaction to Wednesday’s segment on who should be a celebrity ambassador for the CFL? (Drake, Mike Myers, Brock Lesnar, The Rock, Justin Bieber, Don Cherry, etc. all came up), and 6) Week 15 CFL SIM betting lines (10-3 Calgary at 9-3 Sask will be broadcast Friday at 7:00 pm MT on the RP Show Facebook Live channel).
• TSN Montreal’s Joey Alfieri joined the show to discuss all the above topics, and more. Regarding the cancellation of university football in Quebec on Thursday, Joey shrugged “nothing surprises me in football right now”. He explained the NFL’s popularity in Quebec compared to the CFL’s and said it all relates to Fantasy Football. Alfieri also discussed the Montreal Canadiens’ playoff ouster courtesy Philadelphia and said the series opened Habs fans eyes to the great young talent on the roster. He also talked about Montreal’s crowded crease with Carey Price, Jake Allen and Cayden Primeau.
• The daily Capital Auto Mall/Universal Collision Centre poll question was: Is it bad luck to touch the conference championship trophy? Over 80% of respondents said no.
• RP Show hockey analyst Jared Dumba joined the bunker to discuss all things hockey. Regarding the recent lawsuit from Lloydminster’s Kobe Mohr towards Hockey Canada and virtually every league, Jared said it’s time to grow up. He asked, “What’s next? If you don’t get the job after an interview, you’re going to sue the employer?” The 10-year pro and former Saskatoon Blade also discussed the Stanley Cup Playoffs, Return To Play in hockey, and much, much more.
• Sportsnet’s Gene Principe joined the show from Edmonton to discuss the Stanley Cup Playoffs and how the Dallas have been filling their time and dealing with so much time away from their families. He also feels the Oilers will take a goalie in Round 1 of the Draft and examined post-playoff transactions ahead of the Seattle expansion draft.
• Blue Jays great and World Series champ Gregg Zaun joined the show from Southern Ontario to talk about the Jays and much more. He said the club has performed better than he thought this season but if they miss the playoffs, they can look to this week’s series at the New York Yankees as to why. As an L.A. kid, he hopes this is the Dodgers’ year. They currently have the longest playoff streak in the majors. He also went deep into stories of the 1997 Florida Marlins World Series run and said despite all the big names like Edgar Renteria, Al Leiter, etc., the key was a pre-playoff speech from Darren Daulton. Zaunie said Daulton got the team together and screamed, “I can’t believe I waived my no-trade clause to come play with you bunch of pussies!” He said that opened everybody’s eyes and they rolled to the league championship. However Zaun said they barely were able to celebrate it because the team was dismantled within months.
• See you at 10 am MT Friday for Football Friday on Game+ TV, Facebook Live and RodPedersen.com/ListenLive! Guests are John Frenzy, John Chick, Tori Gurley and Willie Jefferson!