Will Rams “all in” Super Bowl win set a trend in sports?

A miniature Los Angeles Rams helmet.

Will teams all over the sports world strive to be like the Los Angeles Rams?

The NFL’s Rams pushed all their chips to the centre of the table for the 2021 campaign. On Sunday, that move culminated in the Rams winning Super Bowl LVI in front of their hometown fans at SoFi Stadium 23-20 over the Cincinnati Bengals.

During the off-season leading up to the 2021 campaign, the Rams acquired star quarterback Matthew Stafford in a trade from the woeful Detroit Lions in exchange for standout signal caller Jared Goff, a third-round selection in the 2021 NFL Draft, a first round pick in the 2022 NFL Draft and a first round choice in the 2022 NFL Draft.

The Rams acquired Stafford with the promise that they now had the quarterback that could take them to the Promised Land.

Stafford delivered on Sunday. With the Rams trailing the Bengals 20-16 in the fourth quarter, Stafford led the Rams downfield on a touchdown drive that covered 79 yards on 15 plays and ate four minutes and 48 seconds off the clock.

The drive culminated with Stafford hitting star receiver Cooper Kupp with a one-yard touchdown toss with 1:25 remaining in the fourth quarter to put the Rams in front by the 23-20 final score.

The ensuing Bengals drive ended after Rams star defensive tackle Aaron Donald forced Cincinnati star quarterback Joe Burrow to throw and errant incomplete pass on a fourth down play. The Rams were able to run out the rest of the fourth quarter clock with Stafford taking a knee.

Stafford completed 26-of-40 passes for 283 yards and three touchdowns, while throwing two interceptions. He enjoyed a championship moment that seemed impossible to accomplish with the Lions.

Back in the 2009 NFL Draft, the Lions selected Stafford first overall. He played 12 seasons for the Lions making them look more respectable than they should have qualifying for the post-season three times.

Stafford put up passing numbers with the Lions that alone should get him elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame. He also took a physical beating with the Lions, who never had the supporting cast to help him win an NFL title.

The Rams gave up key draft picks to get Stafford along with a quarterback in Goff who they selected first overall in the 2016 NFL Draft. Goff guided them to the Super Bowl following the 2018 season.

The NFL could see team copy the Los Angeles Rams.

On February 3, 2019, the Goff led Rams fell 13-3 in Super Bowl LIII to the Tom Brady led New England Patriots in Atlanta, Georgia. Los Angeles wasn’t able to return to the Super Bowl following the 2019 and 2020 campaigns.

Stafford was viewed as the quarterback that could take the Rams that next step to being a Super Bowl winner.

Part way through the 2021 campaign, the Rams acquired star linebacker Von Miller via a trade with the Denver Broncos. Los Angeles further stacked its roster signing star receiver Odell Beckham Jr. after he was released by the Cleveland Browns.

While a lot of the Rams roster was built through the NFL Draft that included players like Kupp and Donald, lots of football followers will focus on the trade to bring in Stafford along with the acquisitions of Miller and Beckham. Those moves allowed the Rams to win a tough NFC West Division with a 12-5 regular season record and win four post-season games to capture the Super Bowl at home.

Traditionally, the NFL has been a copycat league, so you can expect there will be teams in the short term that will attempt to do what the Rams have done.

Since the NFL is the most popular sports league in North America, the Rams road to Super Bowl success will likely make teams across the rest of the world of sports try to emulate that road to success.

In North America’s four big professional leagues in the NFL, MLB, NBA and NHL, fans and speculative media will put pressure on the teams they follow to go “all in” and win right now like the Rams did. In those leagues, fans are paying hundreds of dollars in single game tickets, so if teams are viewed as not trying the utmost to win, the fans will be super mad.

For teams that do go “all in,” it seems worth it during the moment of a championship win.

If a championship isn’t won or a team has to suffer through five bad years thanks to going “all in,” fans and media will moan about the losing and criticize their teams for going “all in.”

Even in a circuit like the CFL there will be pressure to go “all in.” For most stadiums, about 70 per cent of the seats cost over $100, so fans expect a bang for their buck.

Back in 2013, the Saskatchewan Roughriders went “all in,” when they hosted the Grey Cup at their former legendary home park in Taylor Field. They didn’t need to find a star quarterback as Darian Durant was already there to fill that role.

Before the season began, they made a trade to acquire CFL all-time great receiver Geroy Simon from the British Columbia Lions. They signed defensive end Ricky Foley and defensive backs Dwight Anderson and Weldon Brown as free agents.

Will QB Cody Fajardo (#7) and the Roughriders go “all in” for 2022?

After defensive end John Chick was released by the NFL’s Jacksonville Jaguars, the Roughriders were able to bring him in before the start of the regular season. Chick was a key member of the Roughriders 2007 Grey Cup winning team.

The Roughriders proceeded to post an 11-7 regular season record and win all three of their post-season games including a 45-23 romp over the Hamilton Tiger-Cats in the Grey Cup played on November 24, 2013 to cash in on their “all in” move.

Saskatchewan hosts the Grey Cup in 2022 at their new home park in Mosaic Stadium. After what the Rams did in the Super Bowl along with the precedent the Roughriders set in 2013, current Roughriders management will be under a lot of pressure to go “all in” this season.

Unfortunately, that strategy doesn’t work the majority of the time as only one team in each sports league can win a championship.

In the 2012-13 season, the Saskatoon Blades went “all in” with a number of trades to win the WHL championship and the CHL’s championship tournament – the Memorial Cup. The Blades were the Memorial Cup hosts that season.

The Blades finished first in the WHL’s East Division. They were swept out of the first round of the WHL playoffs by the Medicine Hat Tigers and won one game at the Memorial Cup tournament.

The Blades proceed to miss the post-season for the next five straight years going through a rebuild after going “all in.”

The WHL’s Swift Current Broncos and Regina Pats did the same thing in the 2017-18 season. The Pats were the Memorial Cup hosts in that campaign.

The Broncos won the WHL championship that season, but went winless in the Memorial Cup tournament.

The Pats were eliminated in the first round of the WHL playoffs by the Broncos, but did make the championship game of the Memorial Cup tournament. Regina was blanked 3-0 in that championship game by the QMJHL champion Acadie-Bathurst Titan.

It took the Broncos four seasons to reach the form to be a contender for a lower seed WHL playoff berth and Pats returned to that spot slightly quicker in three seasons.

The 2017-18 Pats went “all in” and didn’t win any championships.

Still, going “all in” will likely be a short-term fad due to the fact the Rams won the Super Bowl. While the Rams had success with their “all in” venture, the risk is often way greater than the reward.

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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Sports, live event industry in uphill COVID-19 world battle

The Rush celebrate a goal in the NLL playoffs in 2018.

There are some business executives in Saskatoon who will likely be brought to tears when you mention the Junos.

The tears will continue to fall when you mention Saskatchewan Rush and Saskatoon Blades games knowing there were going to be playoff dates for both at the SaskTel Centre. The Blades could have potentially played their archrivals, the Prince Albert Raiders, in the WHL postseason which would have given those playoff home dates a huge attendance boost.

The business executives who would likely be shedding the tears are anyone who had a connection with the live event industry during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. The live event industry has pretty much been hammered like the Death Star blowing up a planet in the fiction Star Wars movies.

As a result, there has been a campaign going where buildings used in the live event industry have been lighting themselves up in red lights to raise awareness of the plight of those that work the live event industry. It is a noble showing that should be applauded.

Just thinking about the Juno Awards themselves, business executives in Saskatoon have to envision the millions of dollars that were not spent in hotels, restaurants, transportation and people venturing out into retail spaces in “The Bridge City.”

When you think about 14,000 would have packed into the SaskTel Centre for the Junos on March 15 and most of those people were traveling in from out of town, you have a lot of outside money right there coming into the city.

Plus, you can’t forget the caterers and all those employed building the sets and various temporary structures that are used for an awards show like the Junos.

At the moment, the last two events held at the SaskTel Centre that drew big crowds were a Blades game on March 6 and a Rush game on March 7.

View this post on Instagram

#LightUpLive We are red tonight to raise awareness for our industry and support Canadian live event workers who’ve yet to be able to return to work. There are over a million Canadians employed directly in events, entertainment and professional sports. #WeMakeEvents #redalertrestart

A post shared by SaskTel Centre (@sasktelctr) on Sep 22, 2020 at 7:35pm PDT

On March 6, 4,478 spectators turned out to see the Blades down the Regina Pats 2-1 in overtime and officially lock up a WHL playoff berth. On March 7, 11,632 spectators saw the Rush bomb the Vancouver Warriors 17-7.

Unfortunately, it could still be a lengthy stretch of time before gatherings like this happen again in Saskatchewan unless credible vaccine is produced for COVID-19.

In the reality of the current day, sports in Canada are actually a business, and that business relies on gate driven revenue.

In another reality, the sports world in Canada is largely perceived as a pastime. That comes from the fact that sports aren’t a big enough business in Canada.

The Blades and Portland Winterhawks go at it in 2019.

In the United States, US$5 billion was spent to build SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles, Calif., to house the NFL’s Los Angeles Rams and Chargers. That is more money than the entire sports industry in Canada is worth.

From what I understand, the sports industry in Canada is likely worth 60 per cent of what it cost to build the new NFL stadium in Los Angeles.

We haven’t even got into the tens of billions of United States dollars the NFL, NBA, MLB, NASCAR Cup Series and NCAA football brings in on an annual basis.

There are a handful of fans in Canada that have argued sports are an essential service.

The COVID-19 pandemic has underlined how different the sports industry is in the United States compared to Canada. They aren’t even in the same realm, as the United States sports industry is way bigger than that of Canada.

With that noted, I have had the opportunity to work on a contract basis for a handful of companies that aren’t connected to the sports industry over the last six years. I’ve run into a lot of people that would laugh at the notion that sports in an essential service.

I have encountered my share of non-sports people who think sports people are crazy to be involved in sports.

In my estimate, I believe about 60 per cent of people in Canada have no connection to the sports world, and I suspect I am low balling that number. Governments see those types of things, and they are taken account when making decisions.

Fans pack Mosaic Stadium for a CFL game in August of 2019.

Governments are also tasked with the difficult job of protecting all people, and if they believe in the bigger picture it is better to not play, that is the way they will lean.

In listing to member of the Canada’s federal government over the last few days, it sounds like it will be a long time before the sports and live event are able to hold events like normal. Watching the broadcast news on Canadian mainstream networks in recent days has been more downright depressing than normal over the past six months.

There are constant hints of a second shutdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Wednesday it is too likely Canadian families won’t be able to gather for Thanksgiving, but we have a shot at Christmas.

Those words don’t inspire confidence in life changing to be more normal any time soon.

In Saskatchewan, we did get a small taste of how quickly COVID-19 can spread. The Saskatchewan Health Ministry linked 21 cases of COVID-19 to a recent large social gathering of 47 people at a Saskatoon home.

Under provincial rules, the limit for private gatherings is 30 people provided there is enough space to maintain a two-metre separation between individuals who are not in the same household.

On Sept. 17, a fine of $2,000 was issued to the organizer of that social gathering.

With all that noted, I believe Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe and Dr. Saqib Shahab, who is Saskatchewan’s Chief Medical Health Officer, have been reasonable and outstanding in attempting to navigate a path through the pandemic.

Fans pack a U Sports hockey game at Merlis Belsher Place in Feb.

They have allowed some of the sports in the province to return with a cautious little by little approach. Minor baseball, softball and football along with auto racing have been able to hold games and events.

The sport of golf was able to crown provincial champions. Success on those fronts does great some optimism other sports might be able to come into the mix.

With the Saskatchewan provincial election set for Oct. 26, it is realistic to believe you won’t see games in minor hockey before that date just to ensure that doesn’t become an election issue over any potential COVID-19 outbreaks.

There does seem to be bigger fears around indoor events.

Still, leagues like the WHL that cross over multiple regions will have the toughest task in coming back. It will take a lot of work to get the governments and healthy authorities in four provinces and two states to agree on a return to play.

That actually feels like an extremely enormous task, especially when it doesn’t seem likely the border between Canada and the United States will be opened for non-essential for many more months.

U Sports and the CJFL also face that tough task along with a professional circuit like the National Lacrosse League. While the NHL is back, there is no guarantee that circuit will get going with a 2020-21 campaign.

The U of Saskatchewan Huskies return to play is uncertain.

In the Canadian sports world, there will be similar stories to the one that broke this week of the Edmonton Football Club of the CFL permanently letting go of equipment manager Dwayne Mandrusiak, who spent 49 years with the team. The news of Mandrusiak being let go wasn’t taken well in the Alberta capital.

It would be great if the sports world and the live event industry in Canada could return to normal right now.

Unfortunately, the realist can the road for the sports world and the live event industry in Canada will be a long hard one to recovery, and the countless good people that work in those setting should get as much sympathy as possible.

The future path for those people is likely more out of their control than any other walk of life in Canada at the moment.

Notre Dame football paused due to COVID-19, other notes

The iconic football institution known as the University of Notre Dame Fighting Irish is not immune to the realities of the current COVID-19 pandemic world.

On Tuesday, the University of Notre Dame announced seven student athletes for the Fighting Irish football team tested positive for COVID-19 on Monday out of a total of 94 players that were tested. The school has paused all football related activities and the Fighting Irish’s game this coming Saturday against the Wake Forest University Deacon Demons at Truist Field in Charlotte, North Carolina, has been postponed.

On Wednesday, that contest was rescheduled for Dec. 12.

This past Saturday, the Fighting Irish bombed the University of South Florida Bulls 52-0 at Notre Dame Stadium in South Bend, Indiana in an AAC regular season game in the top tier of NCAA football. That contest was played with limited in-person attendance.

Notre Dame at the moment won’t see action until Oct. 10, when they host the Florida State University Seminoles at Notre Dame Stadium.

Overall, Notre Dame said on Tuesday that 13 players were in isolation and 10 were in quarantine with last’s weeks testing results combined with those of this week.

On Wednesday, the Bulls paused football activities due to the positive test on the Fighting Irish team. The Bulls were to travel to Boca Raton, Florida, this coming Saturday for a regular season against Florida Atlantic University Owls of Conference USA, but that contest has been postponed.

As of Thursday, 21 NCAA top tier football games have been either postponed or cancelled.

The Fighting Irish have a national television contract that has seen all of their home games televised on NBC dating back to 1991. Notre Dame is the only school that has such a contract.

Even with a storied history that is hard to match anywhere else in the sports world, the Fighting Irish couldn’t prevent their season from experiencing disruptions due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

• Last Sunday, TSN’s John Lu announced on Twitter he had been battling COVID-19 since being diagnosed on Sept. 6. Traderumours.com did a story listing the majority of Lu’s tweets regarding his COVID-19 diagnosis, and it can be round right here.
• On Tuesday, the 2021 National Aboriginal Hockey Championships slated for May 1 to 9, 2021 have been cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
• On Tuesday, organizers of the prestigious Mac’s AAA Hockey Tournament announced this year’s event has been cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Mac’s takes place annually from Dec. 26 to Jan. 1 in Calgary.
• On Tuesday, the NCAA announced Division I athletes who normally play sports in the fall will get to compete for a championship in spring of 2021. The fall sports that get to play in the spring of 2021 include men’s and women’s cross-country running, men’s and women’s soccer, field hockey, women’s volleyball, men’s water polo and the Football Championship Subdivision. The Football Championship Subdivision is the second highest tier of NCAA football.
• On Wednesday, U Sports’ Canada West Conference announced football receiver Don Blair as the first inductee for the Canada West Hall of Fame’s class of 2020-21. Blair played for the University of Calgary Dinos from 1992 to 1995 and helped them win the Vanier Cup as U Sports champions in 1995. In 1995, Blair had 1,112 yards receiving and caught 15 touchdown passes in the Dinos eight regular season games. Both totals are still Canada West Conference regular season records. Blair played eight seasons in the CFL from 1996 to 2003 with the Edmonton Football Club, the British Columbia Lions and the Calgary Stampeders. He was a member of the Lions Grey Cup championship team in 2000. Before joining the Dinos, Blair played one season in 1991 with the Regina Rams, when they were still members of the CJFL.
• On Thursday, the Pac-12 Conference voted to hold an abbreviated fall football season beginning on Nov. 6. The conference had voted last month to not play due to the COVID-19 pandemic. All teams are slated to play six regular season games, and they are all slated to finish the season playing on a championship weekend. The Pac-12 plays in the top tier of NCAA football.
• On Thursday, the Mountain West Conference announced it will play an abbreviated football season beginning on Oct. 24. The intent is hoped each team will play eight games. The decision is subject to approval from state, county and local officials. Back on August 10, the Mountain West Conference had indefinitely postponed all fall sports. The Mountain West Conference plays out of the top tier of NCAA football.
• On Thursday, the Regina Community Basketball League announced its fall programming had been cancelled due to time constraints created by difficulties in renting facilities.
• On Thursday, the Regina High School Athletic Association announced there will be no games played between schools this fall due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This decision effects the sports of cross-country running, football, soccer and volleyball. All RHSAA schools will be allowed to coordinate extra-curricular athletics, practices or intramurals within their own respective institutions.
• On Thursday, Rod Pedersen, who hosts The Rod Pedersen Show naturally, dropped a truth bomb. For some it will sting, but it is the truth. Check out the tweet below.

Think you’re irreplaceable? 🤔 Unfortunately, think again ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/uwDQrv7roS

— The Rod Pedersen Show (@RodPedersenShow) September 24, 2020

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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If you like what you see here, you might want to donate to the cause to keep independent media like this blog going. Should you choose to help out, feel free to click on the DONATE button in the upper right corner. Thank you for stopping in.