WEDNESDAY COMMENTARY – GOING FOR BROKE

(Listen daily for the Rod Pedersen Commentary on Cat Country 98, Rock 98.5 FM & LTD Radio)

There are a lot of different types of sports fans, and they all like sports in different ways.

Most fans, I think, have busy enough lives that they only have time to watch the games and that’s good enough for them. Others, like me, like to watch the games but also watch for the games-within-the-game and be somewhat analytical. And then there’s the real diehards; the ones who watch every game, break them all down, and then get deep into how the teams were built, the salaries, the scouting, and all of that.

Call them Armchair QBs, Coaches and GMs.

I’m not so much in the third group but I follow these things enough to be able to talk about it daily on a sports show.

So it’s fascinating to see how things are evolving before our eyes and the recent NHL Trade Deadline and this winter’s NFL and CFL Free Agency show just how.

Draft picks are nowhere near as important as they used to be in pro sports. Look no further than the Super Bowl Champion L.A. Rams who traded a whackload of first round picks to get quarterback Matthew Stafford, and then spent credit card money to acquire big names like Jalen Ramsay, Odell Beckham Jr. and Von Miller.

They won their Super Bowl two seasons ago, and then had to pay that whopping credit card bill. Their 12 losses this year were the most ever by a reigning NFL champion.

But nobody got fired because they won it all the year before.

See the point? Teams are willing to mortgage their future for a shot to “win now” and by the time they get fired, the mess will be up to the next regime to fix.

To me, it’s why the Tampa Bay Lightning was willing to give up so many draft picks for Tanner Jeannot from Nashville.

Plus, it only took decades to figure out but draft picks are risky. You never know how players are going to turn out but when you acquire veteran free agents, you know what you’re getting. Or at least you think you do.

There were over 60 trades made leading up to the NHL Trade Deadline and an all-time high in draft picks. Teams are going for broke.

The trouble is there are six teams in the NHL East and probably four in the NHL West who could legitimately win the Stanley Cup this spring.

The bigger trouble is there can only be one champion. That means there are going to be an awful lot of disappointed fans and fired coaches down the line.

But at least they can say they went for it.

That’s today’s Rod Pedersen Commentary

(The Rod Pedersen Show airs daily at 12 pm ET on Game+ TV, WQEE Radio, YouTube Live and iHeartRadio)