THROWIN’ ELBOWS WITH BRENDAN MCGUIRE
1. CFL WILL PLAY THIS YEAR: The Government of Saskatchewan says anyone who wants a COVID vaccine shot will be able to get one by the end of May. That’s enough to tell me that we’ll be living relatively normal by Canada Day and there’s no reason the Riders can’t fire it up by Labour Day weekend as we might even have most people vaccinated with their 2nd shot by then. And if the rest of Canada isn’t ready to play, that’s cool. Bring all the games to Regina and fill our beautiful world class park that way. The CFL does NOT need to play this year in order to survive. But if these vaccinations go according to schedule, the league has no excuse not to. Count on it.
2. XFL SCHEDULE WON’T WORK FOR CANADA: The XFL can’t compete head to head with the NFL in the fall. The CFL can and does. The XFL needs a shortened schedule from what we have in the CFL. I give that two thumbs down. The XFL wants to play in the late winter/early spring. That doesn’t work in a country where we get blizzards in April. There is absolutely zero compatibility between these two leagues. Never has that been more abundantly clear than during this latest comparison.
3. FEDS SHOULD OFFER SUPPORT WITH CONDITIONS: Stop this dalliance with “The Rock”. End formal discussions with the XFL if you want federal government funds to put on a season in 2021. It’s the least the league could do to make us all cough up with some of our hard-earned cash to make it happen.
4. THREE DOWN RULES ARE A BETTER GAME BECAUSE: On 2nd and 5 in the NFL, there’s a pretty good chance the offence is going to run the ball. On 2nd and 5 in the CFL, nobody knows what you’re going to try. That’s the whole point: Unpredictability. There is absolutely nothing about American rules that are superior to the Canadian rules. Never has that been more abundantly clear than during this latest comparison.
5. REGINA RED SOX NEW DOWNTOWN BALLPARK: Never in my affiliation with the Regina Red Sox have I been hounded with so many inquiries by text as I was in the last week about the drawings for the Regina Red Sox new park proposal for the railyards. I’m a little bit biased but forgive me for wanting something nice for baseball fans around here. Sharing the spotlight with the Riders in the summer, it’s pretty easy for us baseball-goers to be ignored. If the Pats are going to get money to fix up the Brandt Centre or build a new barn of their own, then this Sox park should be a slam dunk. The 20 million or so from taxpayers is a drop in the bucket compared to the money our governments blow on other passion projects. And it’s about the only family-affordable summertime sports entertainment for Regina’s inner city. We’re either serious about baseball in this town and cleaning up our downtown or we’re not.
6. CFHOF CLASS: Excited for Marv Levy and especially excited for ex-Stampeder Will Johnson whose achievements up until now have been widely ignored. As a chubby little fat kid in the 90s, I grew up falling in love with the CFL in an era our league had plenty of superstar power. Doug Flutie, Kent Austin, Tracy Ham, Matt Dunigan, Damon Allen and Rocket Ismail kept all the attention away from sound, smart defensive performers like Johnson.
7. BEDARD HEADED FOR PATS MPP EVER: These are lofty expectations to throw upon someone who’s not even old enough to legally drive, yet, I know. But after seeing the numbers this kid put up at the Brandt Centre in the Regina hub tournament, it’s easy to see how Connor Bedard could torpedo past Doug Wickenheiser, Dale Derkatch and Jordan Eberle to become the Most Popular Pat of all-time. Barring injury, it’s unlikely we’ll get to see him for long, though. If he’s really this good consistently and keeps improving, Bedard will play 2 more years in the Queen City and then he’ll be gone to the show. Enjoy him while you can.
8. WORLD CURLING CHAMPIONSHIP: Seems like Canada’s Brendan Bottcher is having real trouble winning the big one. It took him three straight losses in the final to finally get over the hump and win the Brier. He didn’t even make it that far in the worlds. The players, by and large, seemed a bit disinterested in the whole thing. The Brier and Scotties has always meant more to the players than the worlds has. That hasn’t changed.
9. IS IT JUST ME OR: Are the fans at these Major League Baseball games pretending like COVID is fake news? Many of them don’t even wear a mask and those who do don’t seem to know how to wear one properly, including Phillies manager Joe Girardi. Apparently, someone needs to show Girardi that Government of Canada commercial of the girl pointing at the goof for leaving his nose exposed above his mask.
10. FILM OF THE WEEK: Hunt around on YouTube if you’d like to check out MLB The Dynasty That Almost Was (1990’s Indians). Boy, what a great piece on those teams that re-energized Cleveland and all of Major League Baseball after the players strike of ’94. Really is quite remarkable they didn’t win a single World Series, especially when you consider that stacked outfield of Albert Belle, Manny Ramirez and Kenny Lofton. There were a lot of teams damaged by that players strike, the Montreal Expos chief among them. But aside from the ‘Spos, pretty hard to imagine any fanbase punished more than Cleveland’s. This lookback was so good on my I-phone, I watched it a 2nd time on my big-screen.
(Follow Brendan on Twitter at @brendanhowardmc)
I think it is important to note. It does not matter the compatibility of the two leagues. There will be one league going forward. What will happen is a hybrid of rules played on an nfl size field. I agree with Dwayne Johnson. The man wrestled 280 nights a year and made movies. Certainly we can run a schedule and prepare for something different and to a workable scale. 3) The federal government should absolutely not give the CFL a loan. Here is why. If I am a private owner who lost money for years and there is no future… Read more »
After reading this post, it sounds like there is a reason why you lost money as a private owner. Just sayin
That is a very good point. Minor Point about Dwayne Johnon. He comes from a long line of island boys in the wrestling business. They all know how to grind and how to work. From his Dad to his Uncles. His one Uncle is actually 1980s/90s WWF/WCW guy Haku/Meng. – To say how legit tough Haku was. When Andre The Giant went out on the towns drinking – he took Haku with him to watch his back. Macho Man Randy Savage would take Dynamite Kid with him. I can not understand for the life of me how these CFL teams… Read more »
love the comments about the CFL and the XFL. You are correct on all accounts in my opinion. Its nice to see someone like the writer of this article stand up strong for our CFL game and throw out his opinions. Can you say B. McGuire for CFL commissioner!!!!!!!