THROWIN’ ELBOWS WITH BRENDAN MCGUIRE

1. HARRIS NON-EJECTION BANJO BOWL TURNING POINT: The game was close (12-9 WPG at that point) and the Riders were hanging with ‘em. Then the ejections for AJ Hendy and Garrett Marino of Saskatchewan and the non-ejection for Andrew Harris, despite ripping off the helmet of Rider defensive back Christian Campbell. Harris will surely be rewarded with a one-game suspension from the league office. But an in-game ejection would have hurt so much more. The Bombers would not have been able to juggle their roster for the rest of the game just like the Riders couldn’t replace two of their starters on defence. The Bombers proved they were a better team on labour day weekend. Not so sure they proved it in the banjo bowl. 

2. RIDERS ARE MOJO-LESS WITHOUT FAJARDO: He’s the straw that stirs the drink. Not just on offence, but for the entire squad. The defence and special teams play with just a little less jam when quarterback Cody isn’t in the game. More proof the Rider QB is the undisputed leader of that roster. The quarterback isn’t always the leader, either. Eddie Davis was much more of a leader on the 2007 Grey Cup champs then Kerry Joseph was. But Fajardo is the leader in Saskatchewan and they’ve got no shot without him. 

3. DON’T FEEL SORRY FOR AC LEONARD: Says he didn’t wait around to provide a urine sample after the labour day game because he struggles to do that kind of thing. Yeah, right. Apparently, we’re all supposed to believe that AC Leonard has one of those special, magical bladders that comes from happy land and doesn’t produce urine after a football game no matter what. Dehydrated or not, AC Leonard could have chosen to drink copious amounts of water until his supposed substance-less urine proved his innocence and saved him a reported $11,000 in game cheques he has now lost due to his two-game suspension. Sorry, AC, but you’re not fooling anybody and you’re sure as heck not fooling me.  

4. CHRIS JONES PROVES HE’S DON MATTHEWS JR, AGAIN: The Don was a renegade for moving wherever, whenever. Just like Chris Jones. But Matthews never ditched out on a high school team, mid-season. We should hardly be surprised by any of this. Just like we won’t be surprised at the end of the season when Jones ditches the Argos for something better. Or in a year or two after that when he’ll be on the move, again. It hasn’t happened, yet but if Chris Jones keeps living out of a suitcase, his credibility will begin to erode. The act will get old, eventually. 

5. ARGO ASSISTANT COACHES: I don’t feel sorry for the Argo assistant coaches heading home now that the team’s parent company, Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment, has a vaccination requirement policy in place for its staff. Those same staff members, defensive co-ordinator Glen Young and defensive backs coach Josh Bell, have been able to build careers by doing jobs they love to do and most of us only dream about. And they’ve been able to do so this year because of everyone else’s efforts who have been getting vaccinated. Good riddance.  

6. THIS WEEK I’M JEALOUS OF: Winnipeg running back Andrew Harris. Guy fails a drug test, only to be named Grey Cup Most Outstanding Player and Most Outstanding Canadian that same season. Then he violently rips off another man’s helmet only to be not ejected and then come away with a victory. Guy gets away with everything, it seems. What’s the point of anyone playing by the rules if this is the guy who CFL keeps rewarding and embracing? 

7. REDBLACKS SHOULD FIRE GM: Marcel Desjardins was a flop in his first go-round as a CFL GM with the Hamilton Ticats. And his track record with Ottawa doesn’t look so sweet, either. Two winning seasons over the first six that he’s been in charge of the Redblack roster and this year is off to a rocky start, also, at 1-4. Not to mention the fumbling away of quarterback Trevor Harris prior to last season. There are many talented scouts and talent evaluators, young and old, working in pro football all over North America. The Redblacks just might wanna look around and see who’s out there. Can anyone say ‘Chris Jones’?  

8. JAYS PLAYOFF PUSH: Feels like this will be the tightest playoff push since the year the Jays opened the Skydome in 1989. Long overdue. Anyone care to guess who won the Grey Cup game played in southern Ontario that year? Come to think of it, isn’t big game in that area this year, too?  

9. VACCINE PASSPORTS: Manitoba’s been doing it for a while and I’m hearing nothing but rave reviews. If it’s a choice to between masks and a life less-normal and this, than I’m all in for this. Enough of the idiots protesting outside the hospital.    

10. WHERE WERE YOU ON 9/11?: I was cleaning out the back shop of Supreme Oilfield Construction in Kipling, Saskatchewan. Fresh out of high school, wobbling through my first real job. I heard the others talk about an airplane hitting the World Trade Center in New York. My co-worker that day, and now the head of the RCMP in Red Deer, Dwayne Hanusich said, “This is going to launch World War Three!” Being a punk teenager not fully grasping what was happening, I replied “Let’s just cool our jets here and not overreact.” I went home early that day and turned on the TV to see a replay of one of the towers crumbling and my jaw hit the floor. Dwayne was right, the world would be at war for the next 20 years and never be the same. I appreciate the stories of the victims families and friends and the survivors. They deserve the glory. Bin Laden, Bush and Obama have had enough of our attention over this.  

(Follow Brendan on Twitter at @brendanhowardmc)