Rod Pederson Goes Off the Rails

[CardiacKid]

I don't read or follow Rod Pederson but I have been aware of his reputation as a complete Rider homer who doesn't exactly offer a critical eye of their organization. Recently he just went off on Kirk Penton, a reporter with The Winnipeg Sun who wrote that Chamblin will be gone by Labour Day and replaced by Paul LaPolice.

A few of his choice words directed at Penton's article were: garbage, infuriating, preposterous, nonsensical, stink bomb, scandalous, etc. Here is Pederson's response in it's entirety....

"GARBAGE REPORTING: The report by Kirk Penton of the Winnipeg Sun that Paul Lapolice will be the head coach of the Saskatchewan Roughriders by Labour Day is as infuriating as it is preposterous. Absolutely nonsensical. And Kirk should know better.

Penton - a Moosomim, SK product - writes a national column every week in which he quotes a collection of "insiders" across the CFL. He led off this week's edition with the speculation about Lapolice. Well, I spoke to someone "in the know", someone intimately involved in this particular situation, who referred to Penton's report as "brutal" and "bulls--t for Corey".
Who knows who Penton's "insider" is in this instance but the comment is garbage. The comment was meant to be a stinkbomb lobbed at Mosaic Stadium just to see what kind of furor is created.

The guy should be ashamed of himself more making such an outlandish comment and he knows he made it up (whomever he is because he wants to stay anonymous). A lot of courage there.

And this report is such a slap in the face to Chamblin, who deserves better.

If anything this incident - and the scandalous atmosphere around it - is serving to galvanize this football organization. The attempts by Winnipeg reporters to pick this franchise apart may backfire. The Monday report by TSN's Gary Lawless that Jeremy O'Day could soon replace Brendan Taman wasn't much better.

However can we stop with the #ChamblinStrong movement on Twitter and Facebook? It's about the Saskatchewan Roughriders and nothing else. But it's nice so many have come out in support of our head coach."

I almost hate to admit it but I got a warm, fuzzy feeling deep inside when I read his item and thought of Rider Nation being in a tizzy. No word if Kirk Penton has fired back.

[TheLionKing]

Rider Nation is slowly imploding and I'm loving it.

[Sir Purrcival]

Off the rails, a bit of a dramatic description but then maybe reporters of all stripes should start calling the BS reporting that many of their ilk do on a regular basis. Little in the way of substantiation. Attention Grabbing headlines not borne out by actual events, reporting that lacks fact checking and is often a half step away from character assassination that is legal because it is "reporting".
If reporters devoted themselves to just outing bad reporting, there would be no time left in the day to do anything else. Don't know, don't really care what the facts may be in this case. It is still a person who is being talked about and their livelihood. Who would like it if others around them started widely discussing your probability of getting fired?

[Rammer]

Off the rails, a bit of a dramatic description but then maybe reporters of all stripes should start calling the BS reporting that many of their ilk do on a regular basis. Little in the way of substantiation. Attention Grabbing headlines not borne out by actual events, reporting that lacks fact checking and is often a half step away from character assassination that is legal because it is "reporting".
If reporters devoted themselves to just outing bad reporting, there would be no time left in the day to do anything else. Don't know, don't really care what the facts may be in this case. It is still a person who is being talked about and their livelihood. Who would like it if others around them started widely discussing your probability of getting fired?

I do agree that it wouldn't be great if others discussed the firing of anybody in our work environment, however as a HC that is part and part of the parcel that they sign on for. Coaches are hired to be fired. That the Winnipeg writer found an anonymous source to confirm Chamblin would be replaced isn't new, just that a real timeline and a name to be the new HC.

IIRC Pederson is also the guy who enjoys the spotlight. He tried to expose the Lions for using piped in crowd noise, only to be thwarted by Ackles as Pederson was headed to the audio room at BC Place during a WDF game. He likes the limelight, and he is Rider green through and through.

[DanoT]

Off the rails, a bit of a dramatic description but then maybe reporters of all stripes should start calling the BS reporting that many of their ilk do on a regular basis. Little in the way of substantiation. Attention Grabbing headlines not borne out by actual events, reporting that lacks fact checking and is often a half step away from character assassination that is legal because it is "reporting".
If reporters devoted themselves to just outing bad reporting, there would be no time left in the day to do anything else. Don't know, don't really care what the facts may be in this case. It is still a person who is being talked about and their livelihood. Who would like it if others around them started widely discussing your probability of getting fired?

There is a probability the Kirk Penton could get fired if he didn't write stuff that stirred things up and created controversy and interest that sells newspapers. It is a cruel world and coaches and players need to develop a thick skin because not everyone in the media is a straight shooter.

[peeby]

The Kirk Penton article IS absolute nonsense!! It'll be Jacques. Didn't he see the other thread??

[Qman]

They whole point of that section of his weekly column is to stir things up with rumours and remarks

[B.C.FAN]

Kirk Penton is one of the best football reporters in the country. His insider quotes are fascinating, and a breath of fresh air in addition to his regular reporting. He publishes candid comments of coaches, GMs and other club officials as anonymous perspectives of people involved in football, and lets people take them for what they're worth. We as fans give our opinions on message boards, call-in shows, Twitter and other social-media platforms. He gets insiders to voice opinions that they would never be able to give on the record. I didn't interpret his quote about Chamblin to be from someone in the Rider organization; more likely it was from someone in another organization who knows people in Riderville and is speculating on what might happen.

(Full disclosure: I once worked with his dad but I've never met Kirk.)

Here's the full insider section of Penton's weekly CFL Blitz column. The controversial Rider quote is the first item but there there are many other fascinating comments.

CFL coaches and managers give their anonymous thoughts on what they’re talking about behind closed doors:

Paul LaPolice will be the Riders coach before Labour Day ... Montreal's rookie quarterback (Rakeem Cato) is better than Ottawa's veteran (Henry Burris). What does that say? It sucks, but Ottawa is (bad) again ... I'm a young coach, and I told my wife we have to get out of this league. The Canadian game is great, but the officiating is pure crap. I can't have my coaching career – my livelihood – in jeopardy based on what these refs call or don't call. There's no consistency. No common sense. High school refs are way better in the U.S. than what we get up here at the pro level ... Saskatchewan's players need to make plays in the big situations. But it makes you wonder if the room is locked into the message when the staff is pointing fingers at the players for not performing well enough ... (Rakeem) Cato looks like an early lock for rookie of the year, but (Michael) Brooks out in B.C. is a pretty damn good defensive tackle ... Matt Nichols is good enough to beat a team other than Ottawa. He's a good quarterback. Don't forget he was a starter before he got injured ... B.C. made more plays than the Roughriders, but the big thing is they only had one turnover in the two games ... In a three hour rain storm, Ottawa passed the ball 39 times. That doesn't count the times they got sacked. Someone needs to tell (Jason Maas) running the football more than 14 or 15 snaps isn't against the rules. As a defensive coach, I just laugh my ass off when young co-ordinators screw themselves and their teams by passing almost every down – especially in bad weather ... Calgary keeps finding ways to win, because they have that winning mindset ... The penalties are too inconsistent from game to game. Certain crews are calling games much different than others ... Both of those guys in Saskatchewan (Brendan Taman and Corey Chamblin) are taking a lot of heat, but they've done more good than bad out there. They won a Grey Cup together, and Taman signed Jerome Messam off the street for nothing. (Ed) Hervey gave Messam away and then (Jim) Popp cut him. Other than Ted Laurent over in Hamilton, who we couldn't block, is there any Canadian in our league playing as good as Messam right now? ... Why does TSN keep defending the refs? We all need to listen to the fans. I hear it everywhere I go. (The fans) are sick of the refs getting more TV time than my starting quarterback does ... The feeling around our office when it comes to all the penalties is they are what they are ... Can someone explain to me why some kickers are having trouble with convert kicks? I can't figure it out. It's very strange ... Sam Hurl is an OK football player, but he's just not a play maker in that middle linebacker role with the Bombers ... Hamilton has better players than most teams, but they don't run the ball enough ... Shakir Bell showed well. He was tougher between the tackles than you expect for someone his size. He gave them a solid effort ... Winnipeg's showing against Calgary might be the worst special teams performance I've ever seen. Two missed field goals, a missed extra point, giving up a couple of two point conversions, a blocked punt for a touchdown, a fumbled punt deep in their territory that turned into another touchdown, and a stupid clock burning return at the end. What makes it really bad is (Mike) O'Shea was a special teams coach before the Bombers hired him as head coach.

[CardiacKid]

IIRC Pederson is also the guy who enjoys the spotlight. He tried to expose the Lions for using piped in crowd noise, only to be thwarted by Ackles as Pederson was headed to the audio room at BC Place during a WDF game. He likes the limelight, and he is Rider green through and through.

Yes, I don't think he can suddenly come over all pious and virtuous. If the shoe was on the other foot and he had the opportunity to sow some seeds of discontent with another team, he likely would not stifle himself.

[kenny]

Reminds me a lot of Marty York.

[Toppy Vann]

This guy is a clown and if this statement was said by a coach well don't let the door hit on the way to the USA.

The USA invented homer refereeing while other parts of the world invented refs on the take.

I'm a young coach, and I told my wife we have to get out of this league. The Canadian game is great, but the officiating is pure crap. I can't have my coaching career – my livelihood – in jeopardy based on what these refs call or don't call. There's no consistency. No common sense. High school refs are way better in the U.S. than what we get up here at the pro level .

The whole column is gibberish.

LaPolice must have a contract too that he'd need to get out of.

[Belize City Lion]

LaPolice likely has a handshake agreement with TSN that he is free to leave if he gets a coaching gig mid-season. The only legally binding contract would be that he could not take another media job. So even if TSN didn't want him to leave the broadcast team I doubt there is little they could do to stop him. It's funny how a TV gig can make a failed former coach appear to be the future saviour.

[David]

(Rakeem) Cato looks like an early lock for rookie of the year, but (Michael) Brooks out in B.C. is a pretty damn good defensive tackle

Funny, Brooks' play this year is divisive - it depends on who you talk to. Penton calls him 'pretty damn good,' and he drew similar praise from Giulio Caravatta and Coach Tedford after the last game, and raves for his late game tackles from D-line coach Robin Ross after the first Rider game. However, Chris Burns and Farhan Lalji weren't nearly as complimentary of his play.


DH

[Hambone]

(Rakeem) Cato looks like an early lock for rookie of the year, but (Michael) Brooks out in B.C. is a pretty damn good defensive tackle

Funny, Brooks' play this year is divisive - it depends on who you talk to. Penton calls him 'pretty damn good,' and he drew similar praise from Giulio Caravatta and Coach Tedford after the last game, and raves for his late game tackles from D-line coach Robin Ross after the first Rider game. However, Chris Burns and Farhan Lalji weren't nearly as complimentary of his play.


DH

It's early but Brooks is on pace for 90 tackles. That's a monster number an interior lineman.

[DanoT]

(Rakeem) Cato looks like an early lock for rookie of the year, but (Michael) Brooks out in B.C. is a pretty damn good defensive tackle

Funny, Brooks' play this year is divisive - it depends on who you talk to. Penton calls him 'pretty damn good,' and he drew similar praise from Giulio Caravatta and Coach Tedford after the last game, and raves for his late game tackles from D-line coach Robin Ross after the first Rider game. However, Chris Burns and Farhan Lalji weren't nearly as complimentary of his play.


DH

It's early but Brooks is on pace for 90 tackles. That's a monster number an interior lineman.

The important stat is how many of those tackles stopped a first down?