THROWIN’ ELBOWS WITH BRENDAN MCGUIRE

1.R-KAL TRULUCK: Stunned to hear the news about the death of the man who replaced Bobby Jurasin. Apparently, it was Lou Gehrig’s disease and/or cancer (nobody seems certain). Seems like just yesterday it was opening day ’98 as Bobby J came into Taylor Field with the Argos, got a standing ovation, and then proceeded to be an over-the-hill non-factor in watching R-Kal Truluck pile up 3 sacks en route to a 19-10 Roughrider win. I remember R-Kal getting a concussion early that season and missing most of the year before being medically cleared to play again with 2 games left. Not much was understood about concussions in those days but then-Rider coach Jim Daley, who had stuck his neck out by cutting the legendary Jurasin for such an untested rookie, chose to keep Truluck out of the lineup those final 2 weeks so he (Truluck) could have another 6 months to recuperate. It seemed to work as we never really heard of any problems creeping up again through the defensive player’s 10-year career. And now at age 45 – just a few months after gaining NFL pension eligibility – it’s all over. For real. Boy if this doesn’t scare the crap out of football people, I don’t know what will.

2.JASON MAAS: He’s not grown up enough to be a head coach but is ideally suited to run an offence. It’s a perfect fit. Maybe the missing piece to this Grey Cup puzzle.  

3.PAUL LaPOLICE: He’s plenty grown up enough to be a head coach and ideally suited to run an offence. There’s no Grey Cup in the cards for Ottawa yet but I’ll bet anyone dollars to doughnuts that he figures out their quarterbacking mess and returns Ottawa back to the Grey Cup within 3 years, max.

4.RICHIE HALL: If Edmonton doesn’t hire him again, and they probably won’t, I would love to see Richie get his 2^nd head coaching gig with the Argos. How ironic would it be to see Hall replace Corey Chamblin and lead the Argonauts back to prominence? Especially after it was Chamblin who made that really dumb decision to strip Richie of his defensive play-calling authority in that 2014 playoff loss disaster in Edmonton (the Kerry Joseph out-of-retirement year) and then proceeded to dump Richie and guide the Riders to an 0-9 start the following year. Richie is ready and his time has come.

5.MIKE BABCOCK: I can’t ever recall an episode with so much piling on from all sides. If telling Mitch Marner to give him a list of laziest teammates and not being liked by Johan Franzen or Mike Commodore are the worst things Mike Babcock has done in his 17 years as an NHL Head Coach, then he’s still going to the hall of fame in my books. I do put a bigger premium on good people over good coaches but the reality is they aren’t always one and the same. We can continue to demand that our professional coaches push people to get results or we can accept mediocrity. But we can’t have it both ways. Or at least very rarely, anyways.

6.SEAN AVERY: Marc Crawford is being sat out because Sean Avery says he was kicked by Crawford on the bench in a game more than 10 years ago? Pllllease! Aren’t the cameras on these head coaches all game long? How can we not have footage of this?

7.ANDREW HARRIS STILL BEING PUNISHED: I’ve been taking some flak from Winnipeg fans for picking on him too much and now it sounds like he’s been excluded from the Lou Marsh Award, given annually to the country’s top athlete. Good for the voters for choosing principle over on-field stats. Andrew Harris and his positive doping test did NOT stain the Blue Bombers championship but he didn’t paint himself in glory, either. Again, the whole Grey Cup MVP and Grey Cup Most Oustanding Canadian thing was NOT redemption for Harris, but rather embarrassment for the CFL. The voters got it wrong that November night in Calgary but they got it right in Toronto in December. Lou Marsh would be proud.

8.JAMES WILDER JR: Sure seems to enjoy a high profile for a CFL running back who had one good year.

9.MOVING THE GOALPOSTS: NFL players come just as close to running into the post at the back of the end zone as CFL players come to running into the post at the front of the end zone. Changing it would drastically alter a team’s ability to score field goals with a 20-yard end zone. Bad idea. Don’t do it, CFL.

10.VIDEO OF THE WEEK: Paul Harvey’s address to North America just hours after the Kennedy Assassination in 1963. I always took ‘The Rest of The Story’ for granted while riding the school bus and doing the news on CJSL radio in Estevan. What I wouldn’t give to hear Paul Harvey’s take on what’s happening today. You can find that video on YouTube.

(Follow Brendan on Twitter at @brendanhowardmc)