WEDNESDAY COMMENTARY – TEMPERS ARE FLARING
(Listen daily for the Rod Pedersen Commentary at 9:50 am and 5:20 pm on Cat Country 98 FM)
TEMPERS ARE STARTING TO FLARE ACROSS THE CFL.
THE CLOCK KEEPS TICKING TOWARDS THE START OF THE SEASON BUT IT FEELS LIKE WE’RE NO FURTHER AHEAD WHEN IT COMES TO ACTUALLY HITTING THE FIELD.
THE LEAGUE’S REIGNING MVP – HAMILTON TICATS RETURNER BRANDON BANKS – THREATENED TO RETIRE IF THERE’S NO SEASON IN 2021, AND TAKE HIS TALENTS ELSEWHERE.
OTTAWA KICKER RICHIE LEONE PIGGYBACKED ON THAT, SAYING THE LEAGUE WILL LOSE UPWARDS OF 80 PERCENT OF ITS PLAYERS IF WE GO TWO YEARS WITHOUT PLAYING.
BUT THESE THREATS AREN’T GOING TO GET THE OWNERS TO DO SOMETHING. AND I’M CERTAIN, AT LEAST I’D HOPE, THAT THEY’RE MOVING MOUNTAINS IN ORDER TO FIND A WAY TO PLAY COME JUNE.
BUT AS USUAL, THEIR SILENCE IS DEAFENING.
ONE DAY I’LL DO A COMMENTARY ON ALL WE’VE LEARNED DURING THIS PANDEMIC BUT ONE OF THE MOST NOTABLE IS THAT THE PLAYERS ARE AT THE VERY BOTTOM OF THE CFL HIERARCHY.
THEIR THREATS WILL BE IGNORED.
BUT REALLY ALL THEY’RE BEGGING FOR IS AN ANSWER BECAUSE IF YOU HAVEN’T NOTICED, WE’RE HALFWAY THROUGH FEBRUARY. CAMP IS SUPPOSED TO OPEN IN JUST A FEW MONTHS.
WHAT IT’S GOING TO TAKE TO PLAY IS A CASH INJECTION. THE NHL GOT A BILLION DOLLAR LOAN FOR ITS TEAMS IN NEED. THE GOVERNMENT HAS FORKED OVER SOME DOUGH TO OTHER LEAGUES. WHO’S GOING TO STEP UP HERE?
THE CEBL AND CANADIAN PREMIER LEAGUE FOUND A WAY TO GET A SEASON IN IN A BUBBLE.
TEMPERS ARE FLARING IN THE CFL RIGHT NOW BECAUSE PEOPLE RELUCTANTLY GAVE THEM A PASS FOR NOT PLAYING LAST YEAR.
BUT IF THE LEAGUE LEADERS CAN’T GET IT DONE THIS YEAR, THEN IT’S “ALL SHE WROTE”.
AND THEY’LL HAVE NO ONE TO BLAME BUT THEMSELVES.
THAT’S TODAY’S ROD PEDERSEN COMMENTARY ON CAT COUNTRY 98.
This Blog since 2007 is incredibly important. There is so much credibility behind this I do believe that in the future it will stand as the record for what happened during these times. The suggestion I would give in terms of what we learned during the Pandemic would be as follows: Never let a good crisis go to waste. We’ve seen groups with agendas stamp their collective feet and create adjustments. Now because these groups have no backbone/foundation it’ll all fade away, but in the moment they had a voice. For a brief period we got to witness how manipulative… Read more »
Rod, who do you think is going to step up and cover the 130 million dollars required just to get CFL teams to the break even point? I can’t see anyone in the private sector doing it, they’ll never get their money back. And the tax payers in Canada don’t fund pro sports
Who said they need to break even? All teams are operating on a loss in 2020/2021. Even the ask of the Feds last year was $30M just to play. No one’s going to break even.
The Toronto Argonauts are owned by MLSE. They may be an option to pony up. Businesses on a year to year basis can make/lose money it’s all in terms of financing and how you report on the balance sheets. If revenues are down then expenses better follow suit and you can put a product on the field provided you’re watching the $ coming in and out.
Tax Payers better think about funding sports as they’ve lost their NBA team and most likely their MLB team.
Is this what happens when a team is a toy to the ownership? A hobby that loses money, but is fun to do?
That’s a dumb comment as these teams have not been a “toy” for about 2 generations now. The Roughriders operating budget pre-2007 was well under $10M and they were selling merchandise off the side of the building in a tent. Fast forward they are a major economic machine, and significant employer, and vendor within the City. These are major businesses that are visible. You might want to understand that a visible business going under is a microcosm for about 10 business nobody sees that will go under. Think about a game day and how many businesses are impacted before and… Read more »