WEDNESDAY COMMENTARY – REMEMBER WHEN

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

THESE ARE THE MOMENTS YOU REMEMBER. FOR YEARS TO COME.

HISTORY WILL SHOW THAT ON SEPTEMBER 6, 2022 – ON JOHN LYNCH’S BIRTHDAY – THE SASKATCHEWAN ROUGHRIDERS RELEASED CONTROVERSIAL DEFENSIVE LINEMAN GARRETT MARINO.

WHO KNOWS WHAT ALL WENT INTO THE DECISION, BESIDES THE OBVIOUS; MARINO HAD BECOME A MAJOR DISTRACTION FOR THE TEAM, INCLUDING SERVING THE LONGEST SUSPENSION IN CFL HISTORY – FOUR GAMES – EARLIER THIS SEASON.

DID SASKATCHEWAN BOW TO PUBLIC PRESSURE? (I DOUBT IT) OR DID THE CLUB DECIDE THE CONS SIMPLY OUTWEIGHED THE PROS? AND WHO MADE THE FINAL CALL? I DOUBT IT WAS UNANIMOUS.

ADD IT UP FOR YOURSELF … MARINO APPEARED IN EIGHT GAMES, REGISTERING NINE TACKLES AND ONE SACKS. HARDLY ALL STAR NUMBERS.

THESE TYPES OF INCIDENTS MAKE FOR SEMINAL MOMENTS FOR A FRANCHISE.

LET’S GO BACK. AUGUST 18, 2013, THREE MEMBERS OF THE ROUGHRIDERS WERE CHARGED WITH ASSAULT OUTSIDE A DEWDNEY AVENUE NIGHTCLUB.

THE MOST NOTABLE AMONG THEM WAS STAR DEFENSIVE BACK DWIGHT ANDERSON. DESPITE THE CHARGE, D.A. STARTED ON DEFENSE THE VERY NEXT WEEK.

DON’T THINK THAT CRISIS WASN’T HOTLY-DEBATED BEHIND THE SCENES BUT IN THE END, THE FOOTBALL GUYS WON.

BACK THEN IT THREATENED TO FRACTURE THE CLUB BUT HEAD COACH COREY CHAMBLIN DID A DEFT JOB OF GALVANIZING THE TEAM – LEANING ON HIS VETERAN LEADERS INCLUDING GEROY SIMON – AND IT SERVED AS SOMETHING OF A RALLYING CRY.

JIM HOPSON WAS THE PRESIDENT OF THE TEAM BACK THEN, AND LET HIS FOOTBALL PEOPLE MAKE THE ULTIMATE CALL. IN THE CASE OF MARINO, HOPSON DEFENDED HIM A MONTH AGO ON THE RP SHOW AND THIS WEEK, STANDS BY HIS COMMENTS SAYING YOU NEED PLAYERS WHO PLAY ON THE EDGE, BUT ADMITTED MARINO’S LIKELY GONE TOO FAR.

THE RIDERS REMAIN A GOOD ENOUGH TEAM TO CONTEND FOR THE GREY CUP, BUT HAVE A LITANY OF ISSUES THAT NEED TO BE ADDRESSED BEFORE IT’S TOO LATE.

RELEASING MARINO WAS A STEP IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION. WILL THIS SERVE AS A RALLYING POINT LIKE WE SAW NINE YEARS AGO?

THE ANSWER TO THAT WILL UNFOLD OVER THE NEXT FEW MONTHS.

THAT’S TODAY’S ROD PEDERSEN COMMENTARY

(The Rod Pedersen Show airs daily on Game+ TV across Canada and the USA and on WQEE 99.1 Metro Atlanta. Call your cable provider to subscribe. You can also watch on YouTube Live or listen 24/7 at RodPedersen.com/ListenLive)

(Photo: TSN)