THROWIN’ ELBOWS WITH BRENDAN MCGUIRE

1. NO NEED FOR HYSTERIA: Talks with the XFL will ultimately lead to a dead-end. That much is for certain. What happens between now and then remains to be seen. Like in the ill-fated U.S. expansion era of the early-to-mid 1990’s, the only useful purpose this flirtation with eccentric American millionaires will serve to the Canadian Football League is to meet people with cash who like shiny things and might be willing to fund money-losing franchises. This is a good exercise for Commissioner Randy Ambrosie to expand his rolodex so the next time he needs to find an owner to float the Argos, Lions or Alouettes, he’ll have more options than he has in the past. Even if we do get stuck with games against mickey-mouse franchises in random American cities on fields too small, what’s the worst that could happen? More great stories like we got from the wedding singer in Las Vegas singing our national anthem to the tune of O’Christmas Tree.

2. TSN SLACKING ON CFL FREE AGENCY: Bob Irving is right. If TSN cranked out the panel to discuss this stuff, mainstream public would care about it a little more. “When you treat it big league, it becomes big league.”—Bernie Eiswirth

3. FOOTBALL PEOPLE ARE NOT BUSINESS PEOPLE: The CFL isn’t going away. RELAX. Just because football coach June Jones says we’re all going to be playing 4-down football doesn’t make it so. Just because Tim Micallef thinks it might be too late to save the CFL doesn’t make it so. These are not business people. These are X’s and O’s people and talking heads. Nothing more. When COVID becomes a thing of the past, the CFL will come roaring back. What happens between now and then is the wild card. But let’s stop pretending this is the end. Such defeatist Henny Penny, The Sky is Falling attitudes everywhere. Uggh.

4. COVID HAS HELPED ARGOS PRESIDENT: Bill Manning has talked a good game since taking over the Argonauts prior to the 2018 season. So far, he hasn’t done anything to market the Argos better. He’s failed to boost attendance or interest in the Argonauts in any meaningful way. And the team he took over as defending Grey Cup Champions has now suffered through two miserable seasons and a lost year under his watch. And yet, there he was last week proudly accepting a 5-year contract extension from the Argonauts ownership group to remain as team president. We’ve all heard the jokes about the Maple Leafs and their perennial laughingstock ways. I’m wondering if it’s now the Argos turn to wear that badge in the big smoke. Next to the Marlies, they truly are becoming the ugly red-headed step-child of Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment.

5. CFL BUSINESS MODEL ISN’T BROKEN: John Hodge of 3 Down Nation nails it in his ‘The CFL’s business model isn’t broken, its leadership has failed’ piece posted over the weekend. Hodge very astutely points out the Riders, Blue Bombers and Edmonton Football Club generate a combined $100 million annually in a non-pandemic year. The amount right there is plenty enough to cover player costs over an entire season for the whole league. The CFL would only need to raise its annual revenues by 5-10% in order to achieve collective profitability. I can think of many NHL teams who wish they were that strong, economically. The XFL can only fantasize of such viability.

6. FEDERAL GOVERNMENT SHOULD STEP UP: Lots of industries who don’t need it have been getting help from Ottawa. Why should Canadian football fans be left out in the cold?  

7. MARV LEVY FOR CFL HOF: Online movement pushing for the Alouettes Head Coach from the 1970s to be nominated for the Canadian Football Hall of Fame. Left an unforgettable mark including two Grey Cup wins. The knock against Marv is that he ran the Alouettes for only five years. So what? Time served shouldn’t matter as much as impact made and legacy left behind. I would even put Rocket Ismail in the Hall of Fame. Let Marv in, I say.

8. MARCH MADNESS: I took Colorado so needless to say, my bracket is busted. Would love to see how all this curling on TV is stacking up against March Madness with the ratings. Once heard sports talk funny guy Mike Toth suggest junior hockey should generate their own March Madness style of format. It would be fun to give it a try at least once. This would’ve been the perfect year to do it, too. You could’ve at least pulled off a Round 32 for the entire CHL.

9. CC AND LORI: The dynamic duo of Z99 mornings is calling it quits in April. I crossed paths with them briefly in my time working down the hall at Rawlco Radio in the mid-to-late 2000s. Didn’t know Lorie well but she was always cheerful and friendly around the office just like she is on the radio. I would visit with CC, on the other hand, quite regularly. Wayne, as some of you might know is his real name, couldn’t remember who I was when I presented him with a cheque during the Z99 Radiothon a few years later but that’s understandable when you consider the revolving door of on-air talent he has seen churn through that place in his nearly 40 years with the radio station. He was always chatty, funny and light-hearted. Never seemed to take himself or anyone else too seriously. That’s what radio was and still is supposed to be. We always wondered what the impact of no CC and Lorie would be to Z99. We’re about to find out.  

10. MOVIE OF THE WEEK: THE BATTERED BASTARDS OF BASEBALL has been sitting on Netflix for many moons and I’ve always scrolled past it as the description never really piqued my interest. That is until recently, when my old pal and Estevan broadcast icon Rick Chapman pointed me toward it. I gave it a watch last week on my days off with my newborn daughter sleeping on my shoulder and was absolutely glued to it. I won’t spoil it for you but a famous actor thinks outside the box when pro baseball turns its back on Portland, Oregon. It turns out to be the best thing that ever happened to baseball in that city.  

(Follow Brendan on Twitter at @brendanhowardmc)