THURSDAY SHOW RECAP, RIDER UPDATE
Thursday’s show was Episode #48 of The Rod Pedersen Show. Here are the highlights:
- Rod was joined in the bunker by Riders/Bombers/Renegades alum Mike Abou-Mechrek for The Warmup. They discussed the “retirement” of Rider great Weston Dressler, Canada’s Game of the Week in the CFL – Calgary at Winnipeg on Thursday Night Football – and Game 1 of the WMBL playoff series between the Moose Jaw Miller Express and Regina Red Sox at Currie Field.
- The Riders announced their roster for Friday’s game at Montreal. Not playing is 3/4 of the defensive line, with AC Leonard, Micah Johnson and Zack Evans all on the injured list. The panel still thinks the Riders can pull off the victory.
- That brought up the daily Capital Auto Mall/Universal Collision Centre poll question of: Can Charleston Hughes carry the load on the depleted Riders D-Line? 74% said yes.
- Rod mentioned that he heard there will be NFL scouts in attendance at McGill Stadium in Montreal Friday night to watch rising Rider star QB Cody Fajardo. The panel debated whether the NFL would be an option for the Nevada product, who had a cup of coffee with the NFL’s Oakland Raiders before he came to Canada.
- Stampeders blogger/podcaster Ryan Ballantine joined the show from Winnipeg to preview Thursday Night Football. He said there’s a huge buzz in the Manitoba capital ahead of the game, but is predicting that Nick Arbuckle will be able to pull off another Stamps victory.
- NFL/CFL Insider Tori Gurley joined the show from Miami, FL where he’s attending the National Black Journalists conference. He spent last week at Cleveland Browns training camp and said his former team has a lot more holes on their roster than pundits have noticed. Tori also talked about the Browns trade of RB Duke Johnson Thursday morning, and also said sources tell him the Dallas Cowboys and holdout RB Ezekiel Elliott are FAR apart on contract talks. He also said he took a lot of heat regarding his comments on the woeful Toronto Argonauts (given their win over Winnipeg last week) but said he’s still not sold on the Boatmen.
- Winnipeg Jets broadcaster Brian Munz joined the show via video chat to discuss the off-season of his team. The Jets lost a lot this summer via free agency and trade, and said the roles will be filled “by committee”. He brushed on the Bombers/Stamps game and said despite the Bombers’ 2-game slide, their fans still believe in the club. Munzie also discussed this past weekend’s SJHL Hall of Fame induction ceremonies (which he MC’ed), and the inaugural season of the WHL’s Winnipeg Ice.
Moose Jaw Warriors broadcaster and Miller Express board member James Gallo appeared in the bunker to discuss those two teams. He also brought a Brayden Point bobblehead doll for Rod’s desk. James said the Warriors will be in the thick of the WHL East Division race this season, and that this first round WMBL series will be intense since it’s only a Best-of-3. First pitch at Currie Field on Thursday evening is 7:05 pm.- Regarding show #48 and past sports figures who’ve worn that number, the panel and viewers brought up Rey Williams, Nascar’s Jimmie Johnson, MLB’s Torii Hunter and the NHL’s Daniel Briere and Scott Young.
- Today’s show is available for viewing on our Facebook page and the podcast is available now on this website.
- On Friday, the crew will look back at the Bombers-Ticats clash and preview the Riders-Alouettes. They’ll also look at other Week 9 CFL games between Ottawa-Edmonton and BC-Hamilton with Rider great Andrew Greene, 3DownNation.com’s Justin Dunk and Hall of Fame Rider broadcaster John Lynch.
- See you at 10 am MT Friday on Facebook Live!
