THROWIN’ ELBOWS WITH BRENDAN MCGUIRE

1. BABCOCK BETTER THAN TORONTO MEDIA: The Toronto sports media stampeded all over each other to pile on Mike Babcock back when the Maple Leafs fired him during last season and there was no worse offender than TSN’s Jeff O’Neill. ‘O-Dog’, who was known more for his natural skill than his work ethic or conditioning back in his playing days, referred to Babs as a “terrible person”. Inflammatory comments aside, it was a joy to observe the Toronto media gasping for air over the weekend in trying to figure out how on earth Babcock could dare choose to move home to lowly Saskatchewan, rather than pursue another job in the media spotlight with all of them. It’s because Babcock isn’t full of himself the way they are and is proving his character by donating his time to developing people focused on bettering themselves through education and things other than just sports. Could you envision Jeff O’Neill ever doing that? Me, neither. 

2. ARGO FREE AGENT SPENDING TELLS US: Absolutely nothing about their ability to recruit young, affordable diamonds in the rough. I would never question John Murphy’s ability to find players after viewing his work with Chris Jones here in Saskatchewan. It remains to be seen if that recruitment effort can be repeated in Toronto but we’re probably about to learn how much of the nucleus built in Saskatchewan was actually John Murphy and how much of it was Chris Jones. If the Argos and their aging, high-priced defense sputters, then it will be an indictment of lazy recruiting and overall more sloppy management by the double-blue.

3. WHINEY CFL FANS STILL OFFERING NO SOLUTIONS: Fans from coast to coast are still ridiculing CFL Commissioner Randy Ambrosie for not getting a season going during this awful global pandemic. Well, considering most commissioners before him from the past 40 years struggled to get a season going without having to deal with the world’s biggest crisis since World War II, then I would submit to you all that Randy Ambrosie is the greatest commissioner of all commissioners if he pulls this off. Like usual, everybody loves to whine but just about nobody has any solutions.     

4. MY CFL SOLUTION: Schedule bubble training camps for August 1^st and the season to kick off on Labour Day. Announce it right now. There should be enough vaccinations by then that if people want to go the games this fall, and are willing to wear masks if they haven’t been vaccinated, then giddy-up, let’s go! I’m pretty sure if the NHL can get players into Canada, then so can the CFL. Y’er welcome.

5. COLTS COULD REVOLUTIONIZE CFL COACHING PROFILES: If the Indianapolis Colts manage to strike lightning in a bottle with Carson Wentz, it is likely that former CFL quarterbacks/assistant coaches Marcus Brady and Scott Milanovich will get much of the credit as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach, respectively. This could be big for all CFL coaches. I just cannot wait for Al Michaels, Cris Collinsworth and Joe Buck to rave about the great Canadian coaching connection. It could open doors for coaches up here to infiltrate not only the NFL but NCAA, too.

6. DT CORRECT ABOUT ANONYMOUS SOURCES: Rider broadcaster Derek Taylor says we need to be more careful about allowing reporters to quote ‘anonymous sources’ and he’s right. Any idiot can write in a column or go on air with “my sources tell me….” and they’re not accountable for anything they report. It’s garbage. The iconic hockey reporter Red Fisher, late of the Montreal Gazette, once said that anytime an anonymous source approached him with juicy quotes he would respond with “I’m either putting your name on the quote or I don’t want to hear it!” If only we had a few more Red Fishers around in 2021, the sports writing world would be a better place.    

7. PARTISAN COVID BICKERING: Premier Scott Moe has a great job in helping us all stickhandle through this mess. He knows what he doesn’t know and knows when to defer to Dr. Shahab to do his work to protect us all. Every time I hear his Health Minister Paul Merriman, however, I hear nothing but partisan nonsense and finger-pointing at Ottawa about how awful Trudeau is. CBC radio did a great job of picking apart his own contradicting explanations about two weeks ago. Canada’s vaccination rate is no doubt embarrassingly low but I have yet to hear Merriman ever offer any credible solution. This is the time for leadership and not partisanship. At least we’re getting it from our Premier, if not from some of his cabinet. How embarrassing.   

8. SCOTTIES: Saskatchewan’s Sherry Anderson reminds me of the Rider teams I grew up watching in the 90’s. They could beat the Stampeders led by Doug Flutie or Jeff Garcia in the same season they couldn’t beat hardly anyone else. Anderson blew a big lead to lowly little PEI Sunday only to jump up and redeem herself and her team by whacking Manitoba’s Jennifer Jones on Monday. Not sure they’ll get enough wins to make the playoffs but if they do, lookout! Could be a great weekend of curling for Saskatchewan to cap the most unusual of Scotties tournaments of all time.

9. WHL TEAM TO CHEER FOR IN THE REGINA BUBBLE: Prince Albert Raiders. Got screwed bigtime by losing the end of their championship-contending season last year. Mike Stackhouse, of all people, had a great idea in suggesting some junior leagues like the SJHL should’ve let these athletes have some closure by going straight to last year’s playoffs, once the chance to return to playing came along. The WHL should do exactly that. Heck, even give players who’ve lost a year of eligibility one more year to make it up. This isn’t rocket science, guys. Figure it out.  

10. GREAT PODCAST LISTEN: HEBSY ON SPORTS Mark Hebscher is a Toronto sports anchor legend from the 1980s and early 90s. Loves to run his mouth and hasn’t changed a bit over the past 30 years. Very Toronto-centric but still an entertaining listen, nonetheless.

(Follow Brendan on Twitter at @brendanhowardmc)