Oh boy Saskatchewan Roughriders fans, you are in luck! I’m sure that 99 per cent of you already know that come this season you will have a new radio voice calling your games. Though I am biased on this, I don’t think you could have found a better choice than Derek Taylor.

Before we go any further it should be noted that my excitement has nothing to do with Rod Pedersen, who is leaving his post after 20 distinguished seasons as the Riders’ play-by-play man. Rod is a legend in this business and I’m wildly curious to see what he does next. It was the highest honour to have appeared on his show a couple times over the years. I’m not ashamed to admit that whenever I spoke with Rod on radio I would spend close to an hour going over all the top CFL stories to make sure I didn’t come off as ill-informed.

I got to know Derek in 2015 when he would come on my show on TSN 1050 Radio for either a guest hit or later to co-host. The first thing you are struck by is his boundless energy. The guy is a live wire who loves talking sports, especially football. Now, I know there are some people who can be turned off by analytics in sports. I can understand that. In some corners you can get bogged down with far too many numbers that get in the way of the morality play that is a professional football game.

Let me put your mind at ease. Yes, Derek is about as fluent in football analytics as anyone in this country — he made a cottage industry out of it with his ‘Details’ segment on TSN — but he also brings a true joy and excitement for the CFL game. What Derek does better than most is he can use these crazy statistics to tell interesting stories. I guarantee that in the middle of a broadcast he will weave in who really is the league’s best pass rusher based on compelling data seamlessly on a second and long situation.

Read the rest of the story HERE at the CFL Website