Saturday 20 June 2020

The Rod Pedersen Show has hit with #CFLsim

Virtual Cameron Judge does a sack dance on a big TV screen.
    The crew with The Rod Pedersen Show appears to have hammered a home run with a CFL simulation broadcast.
    On Friday night, The Rod Pedersen Show ran a Facebook Live broadcast of a virtual clash between the host Saskatchewan Roughriders and the visiting Montreal Alouettes. The virtual showdown played out on a Doug Flutie’s Maximum Football video game, and it occurred when the regularly schedule regular season game was supposed to happen between both sides.
    At the moment, real life CFL action has been sidelined due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but the pandemic has no bearing on simulation games.
    Actually, #CFLsim games have been shown for a least a couple of weeks now on Twitch.tv.
    The Rod Pedersen Show elected to broadcast Friday’s game featuring the virtual Roughriders and reported picking up over 9,000 views are Facebook Live.
    Rod Pedersen provided the play-by-play of the broadcast, and Darren Dupont took on colour commentator duties.
    The action was swift and very enjoyable thanks to the outstanding efforts by Pedersen and Dupont. 
Virtual Nick Marshall makes an interception on my TV screen.
    Their commentary kept you glued to the broadcast that ran about 94 minutes in length.
    Pedersen was the Roughriders play-by-play voice for 20 years before Derek Taylor took on that role before the start of last season.
    With all due respect to Taylor who is a good and talented guy, it was refreshing to hear Pedersen doing a call of a Roughriders game, even a virtual one. For people in Saskatchewan, Pedersen’s call provided a feeling of normalcy.
    Dupont was ace on colour thanks to his knowledge of Canadian players, who played at the U Sports level.
    The broadcast began with the real Teagan Littlechief singing the Canadian national anthem. Littlechief is a regular anthem singer for real Roughriders games along with a number of other teams in Saskatchewan.
    She has developed a healthy fan following due to her spectacular rendition of O Canada.
    The virtual Roughriders came away with an 8-3 victory.
    The fans a virtual Mosaic Stadium cranked up the noise, when the Alouettes had the ball.
    After watching the game, one had to wonder if Roughriders receiver Mitchell Picton is the toughest player in the virtual CFL.
Friday’s #CFLsim game brought fun to this big TV screen.
    He handled most of the Roughriders punt return duties on Friday and was viciously erased on every return.
    Every time he touched the ball, Picton took the equivalent of a Ray Lewis hit or worse. Picton, who is an alumnus of the University of Regina Rams, got up each time and kept playing hard.
    Honestly, half the shots Picton absorbed on Friday would have eliminated fellow Rams alum in the ultra-tough Jason Clermont from the contest.
    Virtual defensive back Nick Marshall was a stud for the Roughriders and made as many big plays as the real life Marshall does.
    Viewers also learned virtual Roughriders linebacker Cameron Judge has an interesting sack celebration.
    The Rod Pedersen Show also showed comments from viewers who would make criticisms that are as colourful that occur during real life Roughriders post-game phone in shows.
    During the shutdowns that have occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic, virtual simulations of sporting events have proved to be popular.
    The Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League developed a healthy following showing its junior A league playoffs via a virtual format. It is also a great way for these leagues to keep themselves on the forefront of people’s minds.
Darren Dupont, left, and Rod Pedersen commentate on a big TV screen.
    There have been virtual showings of NASCAR races from various NASCAR circuits too during the pandemic.
    For those that turned into Friday’s #CFLsim broadcast from The Rod Pedersen Show, they would have been very entertained. Checking out future broadcasts is a definite recommendation.
    During a time when it seems like there is so much bad in the world, The Rod Pedersen show gets huge kudos for Friday night’s fun viewing.
    If you have any comments you would like to pass along about this post, feel free to email them to stankssports@gmail.com.
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