THROWIN’ ELBOWS WITH BRENDAN MCGUIRE

1. CHRIS JONES GOING BACK TO SCHOOL, MAYBE: The architect of the Saskatchewan Roughrider defence has applied for the head coaching job at the high school in his hometown of South Pittsburg, Tennessee. Chris Jones says he’s been waiting his entire life for this opportunity. Now many of you will laugh at the man who ditched the ‘306’ along with the league’s highest coaching salary just weeks after announcing a contract extension to stay. But I view it a bit differently. The market for CFL coaching salaries has plummeted in the pandemic and if Jones is going to do spend some time at home with his family, this would be the year to do it. It’s kind of like Mike Babcock returning home to the U of S Huskies while he waits it out.

2. THE BEST BRIER EVER: Wild Card skip Mike McEwen said it best when he pointed out this is the best Brier, not because of Covid, but because of the amazing field. The three wild card teams, because of covid, have beefed up the lineup into one we’ve never seen before. It was a joy to watch 58-year-old Glenn Howard skip his Wild Card team with 53-year-old Wayne Middaugh coming back from the dead to play in his first Brier since 2013. That’s what makes the Brier great. A collection of well past middle-aged grey hairs, not in the best shape but lots of personality, can show up and legitimately fight for the prize. That’s what all sports are supposed to be. Not just about athleticism like hockey has become. It’s supposed to be a little of athleticism, but also, a bit of strategy, a bit of artistry and a bit of laughter. Pro hockey has very little of that these days. Curling is packed full of it. A nice reminder of what all sport, not just curling, is supposed to be.   

3. TSN NEGLECTS WADENA: The town put Matt Dunstone and his rink up this winter so they could train for this tournament and so Wadena could grab some well-earned PR for something other than Pamela Wallin’s senate expenses. So far, we’ve heard very little mention of Wadena in TSN’s coverage of Team Saskatchewan. That could change over the next five days or so but I’m hoping Wadena’s goodwill gesture to raise our Brier hopes doesn’t go unnoticed.

4. ALL-SASKATCHEWAN O-LINE FOR THE RIDERS: We’re seeing a lot of online chatter about the possibility of all five Roughrider starting offensive linemen coming from Saskatchewan. Glen Suitor loves the idea and I’m okay with it, too. When Vegas Golden Knights GM Kelly McCrimmon was still running the Brandon Wheat Kings, he had a self-imposed quota to use 50% of all of his draft picks to select players born and raised in Manitoba because he thought he always got a little extra from players who grew up with dreams of wearing the Wheat King jersey. The same is true with the Riders. Call it the Kelly McCrimmon rule, the Chris Getzlaf rule, the Gene Makowsky, Roder Aldag or Bob Poley rule. It’s always worked and as long as the athletes are good enough to play, you want as many of them to be home-grown as possible.

5. BERNIE LYNCH SCANDAL: Like many of you, until the last five days or so I had never heard of Bernie Lynch. When news arose late last week of the scandal involving the longtime junior hockey coach inappropriately messaging and harassing one of his own players, sometimes in the middle of the night, I quickly scurried to find out more information on this guy. I was stunned to learn he had, for a short time, coached the Regina Pats in the late 80’s and before that, the Humboldt Broncos. If we find out there is fire with this smoke, and I suspect there may be, it will raise the question: How did this guy go undetected for so long? Lynch’s alleged victim in this story is a 20-year-old adult but still in a vulnerable position to be manipulated by the man who controlled much of his hockey future. Just imagine how hard it would’ve been for this kid to come forward had he been a few years younger. More proof that Hockey Canada needs to force the CHL and WHL to push its age-range of eligible players from 16-20 to more like 18-21. Kids who haven’t finished high school yet shouldn’t be moving away to live with strangers or be at risk of falling under the thumb of predatory manipulators pretending to be hockey coaches.  

6. DARRYL SUTTER BACK WITH THE FLAMES: Like many Calgarians, my first reaction to this was an eye-roll. The Sutter Way ran its course over many years in Cowtown. However, I can get behind this for a few reasons. For starters, his winning record with all four NHL teams he has coached has solidified Darryl Sutter’s legacy as not only the best coach of the Sutters, but one of the best coaches of all time. His downfall in Calgary the last time around had nothing to do with his coaching ability and more to do with the failure of other coaches to do anything with the rosters he assembled. I also watched his interview with Ron McLean Saturday night in which the age thing didn’t scare me at all. The 63-year-old seemed alert, sharp and ready to roll. This is a good hire by the Flames and they needed to do something to avoid wasting this great roster they have and their window to win now that won’t last long.

7. SECOND COVID SHOTS: I get we’re in a rush to jam these needles into as many arms as quickly as possible so we can all be done with this nightmare and finally get on with our lives. But cutting corners seems reckless and downright foolish. Could we not just setup drive-thru vaccination centres and let people get their 2^nd shot while their window is open? Sure, it’ll take a bit longer for the rest of us in the lower risk population to get our first shot, but wouldn’t we rather do this right than do this fast? And how much would it really slow us down to do it the right way instead of delaying the 2^nd shot for months?

8. BLUE JAY RADIO BROADCASTS SCRAPPED: I don’t blame Rogers Media for simulcasting the TV broadcasts for Blue Jay games this summer onto the radio feed as well. This year is an anomaly and any precautions that can be taken to minimize person-to-person contact should be taken. However, it does feel like the live radio broadcast of a sporting event is quickly becoming a lost art. I had this conversation with Chris Cuthbert in the smelly old media room at Taylor Field the day before the 2008 Western Semi-Final. Television broadcasting is great but radio broadcasting is a rush unto itself. The listener depends on the narrator for absolutely everything and it is up to the broadcaster to paint a picture. My love of live sports play-by-play at a young age was germinated by the efforts of Geoff Currier and Carm Carteri on Rider Radio, then-980 CKRM, and of Rob Carnie on Moose Jaw Warrior radio, 800 CHAB. Their ability to create something with nothing more than a microphone has always stuck with me. There’s just something special about sound. 

9. MEMORIES OF CHRIS SCHULTZ: The CFL on TSN never generated any real money until they brought in Schultzie, James Duthie and Matt Dunigan for its Friday Night Football panel. So, I guess in an exaggerated sort of way, it could be argued that Chris Schultz helped save the Canadian Football League. The magic of Chris Schultz was that he was a football lifer to his bones. His constant on-air smile and the way his face lit up when walking into pro football stadiums is something that will never be forgotten. It is clear as day that he loved what he did. His reduced role at TSN and passing away at the young age of 61 is also something that has raised plenty of questions over the past few years. I’ve been asked if it’s not another case of someone playing football leading to their demise later in life. I don’t know, though can’t help but wonder.

10. MEMORIES OF WALTER GRETZKY: Met him once the year I broadcast games for the Windsor Spitfires in 2005-06. Walter came into our studio early one morning and was cheery as cheery gets. I tried getting stories out of him about Wayne, the Wally Coliseum in the backyard and trips to LA, etc. But all Walter wanted to talk about was the Windsor Spitfires and one of his other sons, Keith Gretzky, and his time playing in Windsor. Walter gave me the impression that he was more interested in what was happening in our world than his own and that maybe, just maybe, Walter was just as proud of his other sons as he was of Wayne. I used to scoff at Walter Gretzky for riding Wayne’s coattails to the celebrity stardom he enjoyed but eventually realized that Walter had a hand in creating Wayne and was special in his own right. Walter hit the jackpot in getting his star hockey player for a son but yet stayed in the same house he and Phyllis raised their kids in Brantford, Ontario until the very end. Now if that isn’t down-to-earth, I don’t know what down-to-earth is.   

(Follow Brendan on Twitter at @brendanhowardmc)