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PKP’s tribute to Gino Chouinard on the Alouettes field is “cringeworthy”.

The Alouettes have been too strong for the league ever since Pierre-Karl Péladeau saved the franchise.

In fact, to be factually true, you’d have to say they’ve been too strong for the league since September 23, 2023, a few months after PKP bought the franchise. I stand corrected…

That night in Calgary, the Alouettes won their game against the Stampeders 26-11… and they haven’t lost a game since. If you add up the end of last regular season, the playoffs and the start of this season, the Alouettes are on an 11-game winning streak. Wow!

Yes, right now, they’re too good for the league. How long will it last? We’ll see.

Damn, some English-speaking Western Canadians must be digesting this one wrong: a French-speaking Quebec separatist rescuing one of the Canadian Football League’s most moribund franchises and, in no time, turning it into a powerhouse/model. You can’t make this stuff up…

Last night, I was invited to the Mise-o-jeu box for the game, and since someone had cancelled their presence, I was even able to bring my daughter with me. Thanks to the folks at Loto-Québec for a great evening.

If the Ministère des Transports hadn’t closed Highway 40 from Boulevard St-Laurent to Boulevard Lacordaire and it hadn’t taken us 1.5 hours to get back to Repentigny, it would have been a no-brainer.

Back to the evening at the Stade…

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The Alouettes brought back the pre-game jets, which – even if it burns a bit of kerosene – still makes for a good show… the Stade was packed… and Cody Fajardo thought he was Tom Brady.

There was only one moment that reminded me just how much we live in our own little bubble in Quebec: during the first quarter, Pierre-Karl Péladeau himself invited Gino Chouinard onto the field during a commercial break (I presume) to pay tribute to his excellent work at the helm of Salut Bonjour. It was definitely the cringe moment of the evening… although yes, Gino Chouinard has done a superb job during his career. But that’s not the point.

All this between a Videotron ad, a Journal de Montréal ad and a Fizz ad…

Convergence has always been part of Quebecor’s business model, and just because Pierre-Karl Péladeau bought the Alouettes on his own, and not with Quebecor, doesn’t mean it’s going to stop. Remember Patrick Lalime and his outbursts about “La Voix”…

The factremains that using the property of the Alouettes, a professional sports team, to plogue one of your TV shows is a little populist. It doesn’t add anything to the show; in fact, it’s just a pretext to talk about the Alouettes on the big TVA network… and to talk about Salut Bonjour in the Montreal football community.

Spoiler alert: it’s working, since all Quebecor media properties were talking about Gino at the Alouettes this morning. And that’s where it bothers me a little. We should be able to talk about the Alouettes and their superb performances, without having to talk about Gino Chouinard.

Like me and my gang of girlfriends, we’re used to calling certain “moves” made in Quebec: it’s such a “The Simpsons” scenario…

That, and having Kaïn perform at half-time, whereas in Vancouver, they have 50 Cent!

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Whatever. I spent a great evening in good company, and judging by the reaction of the people around me, this won’t be the only time the Alouettes declare a sold-out crowd in 2023.

It’s worth noting that we’re also expecting more or less 300,000 people to have watched yesterday’s game on RDS television. We’ll have the exact figure later today.

While we’re on the subject of Alouettes TV rights, you should know that there are still a few years left in the CFL-RDS deal, and that no, Alouettes games are not about to be broadcast on TVA Sports.

The rights are sold by the CFL, not by the Alouettes themselves… and the CFL has a long-standing relationship with Bell(TSN/RDS). I don’t see that changing.

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It’s worth noting that PKP must still be happy, since he enjoys good visibility on the TVA network, as well as on RDS.

The Alouettes’ next game is next Friday night in Toronto. Can the Als continue their incredible winning streak?

The Sparrows will then return to Percival-Molson Stadium on July 6 to welcome the Stampeders. I’m told we’re still debating who to pay tribute to during the game: Mario Dumont or Pierre-Olivier Zappa?

I’m also told that the Canadiens are thinking of doing an Occupation Double special to launch their 2024-25 season, that if Cogeco had had shares in the Alliance, Paul Arcand would have been honoured in Verdun last week, and that the Montreal CF will be firing bricks of Mozzarella cheese at their next home game.

“It’s nonsense!”

Yeah, like the tribute to Gino Chouinard at Le Stade last night!

Overtime

– I ‘m so tired. For real? In 2024?

– Nilton is right.

– Stéphane Laporte is right.

– This is going to be a good show!