THROWIN’ ELBOWS WITH BRENDAN MCGUIRE

1. WHAT’S NEXT FOR CHRIS JONES?: Hearing conflicting stories about what will happen with the Riders former Mr. Everything. On one hand, a breakup after the 2020 season appeared inevitable based on the fact he had a dramatically reduced role under rookie head coach, Kevin Stefanski. The Browns had to pay him for one more season after the last coach, Freddie Kitchens, was fired a year ago. Jones is a Kitchens hire and not a Stefanski hire. On the other hand, getting a foot in the NFL door is really tough and the CFL isn’t exactly a booming marketplace for a highly paid General Manager these days. The smart money is probably on Jones sniffing around the National Football League for another year and unless he strikes lightning in a bottle, there’s a pretty good chance some under-achieving team in Canada will sign him to re-build their roster by 2022. The BC Lions would probably be as good a fit as anyone but a lot can change over the next 12 months.   

2. SILVERNAGLE A CLASS ACT: In a universe where complaining runs rampant, Robyn Silvernagle was all class last week when CurlSask chose someone else to represent Saskatchewan at the 2021 Scotties. She could have complained about not being chosen, despite winning the last two provincial championships but instead acknowledged “That’s a really difficult decision. I do not envy them at all, I have no idea how they’re going to decide it.” How much better of a world would we live in if we had a little more of that?

3. CHARLESTON HUGHES FREE AGENCY: He still had it in 2019. But at age 37, and a year off from working out every day with the team, how much could he possibly have left in the tank? He deserves a nice payday. But pro sports has very little to do with what anyone deserves and more to do with what a player is projected to do. I expect a market of bidders will be interested but not a big one.

4. PAT McAFEE MOCKS THE CFL: The retired Indianapolis Colts punter/bigmouth called the CFL ‘State Fair Football’ on his podcast recently and referred to the CFL as ‘dead’. Sometimes I think guys like him and Boomer Esiason do the CFL some good by bashing it. It raises the profile for our league down south. Can’t hurt TV ratings. Just like how comedians used to rile up CFL fans by making jokes about the two “Rough Riders”. I miss that. It made the Canadian Football League quaint.

5. RIDERS NEXT GUEST COACH: What about retired NFL quarterback Gus Frerotte? The Pro Bowler has become a regular on the RP Show lately, and has lots of family in Saskatoon. Sounds like he respects the CFL game and having someone with experience working with a brain clinic as an instructor would be good for the sport as Gus could be the ideal mentor to learn how to not only quarterback the game successfully but how to quarterback the game safely, too.

6. JUNIOR HOCKEY BAILOUT: Doesn’t bother me at all. Long overdue. People running these organizations are still working and coping with situations changing by the minute. They still deserve to be paid and the organization for which they work deserves to be stabilized. It’s a small price to pay to keep our junior leagues alive long enough to come back in the fall.

7. OILERS REACH THE MOON: The Edmonton Oilers hire of former SJHL goalie Cam Moon to broadcast their games on radio put a smile on my face. The guy has spent more than twenty years paying his dues with the Red Deer Rebels and treats his work like any professional should. Brent Sutter raves about his outlook on things and from my few interactions with Cam in the early-to-mid-2000’s, I would have to agree. Visiting with Mooner about the Rebels made me interested in the Rebels. Maybe hearing him talk about the Oilers might even make me interested in the Oilers. Former Estevan Bruin and current Calgary Hitmen broadcaster Brad Curle should also be working in the NHL. The SJ has produced some great broadcasters.   

8. KIDS BREAKING COVID RULES: I’m newly married, have a house and a child on the way. It’s easy for me and the rest of you in those family settings to follow the COVID rules and stick to your bubble. Rewind back six years to when I was single and living alone in a small condo. I didn’t have much going on back then and having to give up my social life would have been a devastating blow. Being a kid or young adult or even just someone living by themselves is really tough these days. So, let’s cut them some slack. Let’s support the government rules and understand they are in place for a reason. But if we see a few 20-somethings break out into a two-minute dance party on a Friday night at their favourite pub, maybe we don’t need to make a big deal out of it on social media, either.  

9. LOU SAID IT: “Let’s have a little patience and let’s applaud people for trying to do the best with circumstances that change every five minutes.” Peter Loubardias said it on the RP Show last week about the people trying to get a WHL season going. The same is true for people trying to get a CFL season going. If the NHL can’t even make money playing with huge TV contracts, what on earth makes you think the CHL or CFL ever had a chance?

10. TIGER WOODS DOC: Caught the two-part HBO special already and must say, it really makes Tiger look kind of … soul-less. Yet another example of what elite athletes and professionals give up to be the best at their craft and sometimes miss out on the basics in life the rest of us take for granted. A great reminder of how lucky the rest of us are to be regular Joe’s and Jane’s.

(Follow Brendan on Twitter at @brendanhowardmc)