THROWIN’ ELBOWS WITH BRENDAN MCGUIRE

1. RIDER RETURN WILL LEAD ALL OF CANADA: We’ve seen a return to play in front of audiences for the Montreal Canadiens and Toronto Blue Jays. But that was all in front of significantly reduced crowds. However, none of them will compare to what we’re about to see Friday night in Regina. A packed house will give the nation a true taste of what the return to normal looks like. It will be emotional. It will be exciting and it will be fantastic. An historical moment, bigger than any Grey Cup or playoff game, indeed.   

2. COVID EXPERIMENTS: I’m curious to see how everyone in the CFL bounces back after a year away. I suspect younger players will adjust well to the rest and older players will break down much easier. You cannot turn it on and off like a faucet, especially in your late 30’s. I suspect the Roughriders were wise to let Charleston Hughes walk. We’re about to find out.   

3. JWL MIGHT NOT BE SUCH A GREAT FIT, AFTER ALL: Rider offence was clicking all season long through 2019 until Jordan Williams-Lambert returned from the NFL to play in three of the team’s final five games and he was, effectively, ineffective. The Ball State product might be benched Friday for journeyman career practice roster guy Paul McRoberts. Something to keep an eye on for sure but it all leads to speculation that maybe, just maybe, the Roughriders are souring on the immensely talented Jordan Williams-Lambert.  

4. BEACH VOLLEYBALL HIGHLIGHT OF MY OLYMPICS: Along with my entire household, I’ve been glued to my TV set for the women’s beach volleyball tournament from TOKYO 2020. The Canadian duo of Heather Bansley and Brandie Wilkerson put up a scintillating fight to rally back from a 5-0 deficit while facing elimination to come back, beat and eliminate the United States. It’s been the best bit of television so far from Japan. Love how CBC makes it all available live. Someday our friends down in the States will demand the same great quality from their broadcasters that we get from our public broadcaster. I know our tax dollars give well over a billion dollars to the CBC every year and I’m all for it.  

5. CANADA’S OLYMPIC FOOTBALL ROSTER: Great piece by 3 Down Nation’s JC Abbott going into the Olympics about what Canada’s football roster would look like if there was such a thing. This much we know of: Winnipeg Blue Bomber running back Andrew Harris would be disqualified for his doping infraction, as he should be. If only the CFL had taken such a bold stance in 2019 instead of letting him participate in the Grey Cup that year and allowing him to be named the game’s top player and top Canadian. (He wasn’t actually the game’s top player. I was there and saw with my own eyes from the nosebleeds of McMahon Stadium that Willie Jefferson was superior, but I digress.) Will be curious to see what the CFL does if/when Harris gets nailed again. 

6. THIS WEEK I’M JEALOUS OF: Claire Hanna of CTV Regina. How could any of us not be jealous of someone doing Olympic play-by-play? Especially for what has been one of the most, if not THE most entertaining event of the games.   

7. ABOU-MECHREK THE NEW JOHN LYNCH: Mike might be my favourite person in the Regina media, and he’s quickly become a key part of the nationally-televised The Rod Pedersen Show (10 am MT daily on Game+ TV Network, Facebook & YouTube Live). Part of it stems from how quotable he was as a player when I covered the Rider beat fulltime in 2007. Part of it is from his hilarious commentary and licorice-stealing on our Regina Thunder broadcasts over the years. And part of it was the chicken wings he cooked for me, my wife, Andrew Greene and Wes Cates at his Super Bowl party the year Tom Brady and the Patriots beat the Rams in Tom’s final championship with New England. And the biggest part of it is from Mike’s eagerness to donate a kidney to his dad. I can think of no better status for Big Mike than to hereby anoint him THE NEW JOHN LYNCH. Now that Lynch’s retirement is official, the time is right for Mike to step in and take on that role on as the trusted old guy. He’s got Shaq-sized shoes to fill. Hope he’s up to the challenge.  

8. TREVOR BAUER: His lawyers argue the Dodger pitcher is guilty of nothing more than engaging in consensual sex. They have not argued the young lady’s assertion their client repeatedly punched and choked her and left her with bruises and unsightly marks. To date, they have only argued that it was all consensual (their words, not mine). Consensual or not, since when is it okay to punch a woman? This loser (Bauer) should be suspended for at least the rest of this year and all of next year, too. The Dodgers need to terminate this goofball’s contract and then after he serves his suspension, baseball commissioner Rob Manfred can consider Bauer’s application for reinstatement. I don’t like getting into name-calling but Major League Baseball should make an example of this fool. He deserves it.    

9. OLYMPIC BASKETBALL: Pounded this column out into wee hours of Tuesday morning as I watched the USA-Spain men’s basketball quarter-final match when something hit me like a ton of bricks: Ricky Rubio still plays hard for his own country of Spain at the Olympics. Rudy Gobert does the same for France and Leandro Barbosa did it for Brazil last time as well. Which begs the question, why don’t Canadian players do the same for our program? Remember when Canada was supposed to start dominating on the world scene and national team coach Jay Triano told us all he would need to cut an NBA player due to the embarrassment of riches the Canadian program now had? Well, then one by one, players, including 2014 NBA first-overall draft pick Andrew Wiggins, found excuses to ditch out on international competition. Then all these years later, when it’s time to qualify, Canada is not ready. Great how our hockey players always step up but I, as a fan, would appreciate it so much more if our basketball and baseball players stepped up for national programs that actually need it.     

10. KENOSEE SUPERSLIDES: Best outdoor water park in western Canada, bar none! Fingers crossed they can re-open for next year but if they can’t, how would people feel about the city of Regina building its own outdoor water slide park? I’m all for it even if some of my tax dollars are needed to make it happen. Nothing will ever top an outdoor water slide park. EVER.   

(Follow Brendan on Twitter at @brendanhowardmc)