THROWIN’ ELBOWS WITH BRENDAN MCGUIRE
1. ROUGHRIDERS BIGGEST WEAKNESS: Most penalized team in the league, and they know it. Teams who lead the league in this stat almost never do well, except Dave Ritchie’s teams some two decades ago. The Riders need to clean this up and they need to do it in a hurry. Penalties are usually a reflection of coaching. And this is one of the few glaring weaknesses of the Craig Dickenson era in Riderville.
2. ROUGHRIDERS BIGGEST STRENGTH: Jason Shivers defence. All around, they kept Saskatchewan in it, their last game and will be heavily relied upon again Saturday night. If Duke Williams or Shaq Evans can’t play or don’t have an impact, the defence had better shut Bo Levi Mitchell down in a big way or else the Green & White can all but kiss their chances of a home playoff game good-bye.
3. ROD BLACK LEAVES TSN: I only met him once and it came just last month in the Mosaic Stadium press box before the Rider-Argo game. He stopped me to give kudos for my Montreal Expo face mask. The man has good taste. The CFL has been lucky to have Rod for all these years. His resume is unmatched and he even got a name drop from Charles Barkley on a U.S. national broadcast, once. You know you’ve made it, when. The chauchy macho crowd around here was rough on Rod, largely because they were too dumb to figure out why a figure skating announcer could do football. He probably didn’t care and he shouldn’t. A great broadcaster and an even better person. TSN doesn’t want to pay for good talent anymore and that’s a shame.
4. THE TSN GREY CUP BROADCAST DUO SHOULD BE: I vote for Rod Smith and Glen Suitor to do the broadcast. Smitty has been around forever and is a natural fit. Dustin Nielsen needs to grow some grey hair before he’s ready for something like this.
5. DID YOU KNOW?: Edmonton Elks-turned-Montreal Alouettes quarterback Trevor Harris continues to dodge questions about whether or not he’s been COVID-vaccinated or if he had anything to do with the postponement of an Elks game earlier this season. He’s being reunited with former teammate Almondo Sewell who trash-talked Harris earlier this season. Will be fascinating to see how the Alouette locker room responds. For a guy whose put up some good numbers in this league, Harris sure is making a habit of wearing out his welcome everywhere he goes.
6. THIS WEEK I’M JEALOUS OF: The Las Vegas Raiders. They didn’t let the stupidity of their idiot ex-coach ruin their weekend or their season. They beat up my Broncos, which I’m not happy about, but it was nicely done.
7. HAMILTON GETS 2023 CREY CUP: I totally get it. But doesn’t a Grey Cup kind of lose its luster when you host too many times too close together? I thought they could’ve spaced it out a bit more. But the CFL owes them a debt of gratitude for putting this on for us at a team we could use an event to bring Canadians together again.
8. SMALL CFL CROWDS: I’m really not worried about it. Edmonton had an atrocious crowd Friday night but they are the worst team in the league that was going up against the CFL’s best. Four days earlier, what looked like a full house at Tim Hortons Field in Hamilton took in the Ticat-Argo Thanksgiving day match. But in Rod’s commentary about this on Sunday, he made an excellent point: The deterioration of local media is squeezing out leagues like the CFL in a big way. This industry needs to bounce back in a big way for the good of all of us and especially for the Canadian Football League.
9. BEST REGINA THUNDER TEAM EVER: Rallied back from down 24 points on Sunday to beat the Edmonton Huskies 45-42 to improve to 7-0 with one game left. The Thunder will unquestionably smash the Calgary Colts next weekend and finish with their first first-place finish and first undefeated regular season finish ever. Head coach Scott MacAulay even told Rob Vanstone of the Regina Leader Post “This is probably the most special moment of my tenure as the head coach of the Regina Thunder.” That’s a big deal coming from someone who’s been coaching the Thunder for 8 seasons, including a national title in 2013. Plus the atmosphere at Leibel Field, where they play most of their games now, has been off the charts.
10. TV PICK THIS WEEK: Go to CBC GEM again this week. THE RELAY details how four sprinters won Canada’s 4-by-100-meter relay team an olympic gold medal in Atlanta and an unforgettable TV moment for us all back in 1996. Bruny Surin, Glenroy Gilbert and Robert Esmie tell it all so perfectly.
(Follow Brendan on Twitter at @brendanhowardmc)
You come up with really good stuff on here and it’s a intriguing to get your take on some hot button issues. 3) Rod Black. This man took way to much hate from people who had no clue. I can’t recall one time he ever sounded inconsistent, blew a call, or didn’t seem like he was just enjoying a ride that could end at any minute. A true professional. In the USA they have Bob Costas who could call anything and make it believable. How many Broadcasters can go from Professional Football to Figure Skating and have the same enthusiasm… Read more »
those anti vaxxers are just getting driven down into their basement, no job and no where to go because no one will accept them in. I hope more businesses and places ban non vaccinated people. Do it fast though. They will only get food from delivery and get it dropped off on their front step. Drive them into submission and then lets move on to a normal world.
Good points, as usual. Re: Trevor Harris, good ask. A lot of criticism has been heaped on Elks brass, & deservedly so. But the Harris decision isn’t one that rates highly. The stark reality going into their bye week is their season is done. Is Harris the guy to deliver 5 wins with a Rider doubleheader in play & 3 road games in 7 days to close out? No. Should Hamilton beat Ottawa the Elks are 3 games behind & a loss to the TiCats in their next game eliminates them from the crossover. The only way to the playoffs… Read more »
Penalties, especially the after whistle ones are a joke on this team. Marshall gets one a game because he is undisciplined. So does a couple guys on the D line. The defense in general is good but they are terrible against the run, the RB from Calgary owned our front 7 the last 2 games. He bulldozed them. Last thing to mention, without a better pass protection from the Oline and overall better receivers, there is no way they will beat the stamps again. We need Williams in the line up this week and whatever it takes to get Evans… Read more »
If Trevor Harris is dodging covid questions about his vaccination, it means he doesnt have the vaccine. What a doufus if that is true.
It’s reasonable and believable to say the Edmonton Elks, BC Lions will overtake the Saskatchewan Roughriders for 3rd place in the CFL West Division standings. Then what?
Bonjour!
Le Saskatchewan Roughriders in le dumpster searching for answers. Monsieur Evans, Williams wont matter. Le Saskatchewan Roughriders stink to high hell.
(PS, I got scolded yesterday in Kamloops)
Riders D line is strong but the db’s are not good . interceptions aside, they are frequently way out of position on coverage, too many yards after catch and have taken dumb PI penalties in the endzone . O-line is not good either . It will tough to get a win in Calgary this week unless these deficiencies are corrected .