THROWIN’ ELBOWS WITH BRENDAN MCGUIRE

1. RIDERS RELIEVED: Don Matthews once said he hated the losses more than he enjoyed the wins. I thought about that after listening to Cody Fajardo and Craig Dickenson after Sunday night’s win. Not saying they didn’t enjoy the victory. I’m sure they did. But there was a sense in the air those two felt most of the pressure staring down a 2^ndstraight playoff loss at home. Now with their first playoff win under their belts, they can play with house money next week in ‘The Peg’. Sunday’s win leaves the green and white with still a steep mountain to climb in order to win their 5^thGrey Cup in franchise history. But Sunday’s win meant a mountain to the team’s quarterback and its head coach in solidifying the long-term future for both of them in green and white.       

2. SUPERIOR FINISH TO ANY NFL GAME: I must confess that between chasing around an 8-month-old and two CFL playoff games, I did not catch any of the NFL games all day Sunday. I did, however, scroll through the scores, the game summaries and even the end of the Sunday nighter between the Ravens and Browns. I can confidently declare the greatest finish in the 13 games played on either side of the border Sunday was in Regina. It wasn’t a thing of beauty from either quarterback but how come the CFL gets laughed at when Cody Fajardo wins a playoff game with four interceptions and Lamar Jackson doesn’t for winning the Sunday nightery with four picks of his own? If you didn’t enjoy that 2^ndhalf at Mosaic, then you probably don’t like football all that much, anyway.    

3. WHAT WON THE RIDERS THE GAME: Duke Williams getting in the heads of the Calgary players and the Riders solving how to defend Stamps running back Ka’Deem Carey. Those were my keys to the win last week and it happened. Ed Gainey was the true star with his two interceptions but we’ve somehow learned to take Ed and his fellow defensive back/special teams titan Loucheiz Purifoy for granted because they do their thing every week, without fail and without a whole lot of fanfare. 

4. PLAYOFF TV RATINGS ENCOURAGING: Both semi-final games on TSN drew better than 2019 and the Rider game cracked one million average viewers. It’s a great sign for a league that many are declaring is in decline. Not true at all. Edmonton Elks chairman Ian Murray recently took some flak for suggesting the Elks fan base is ‘disproportionately old, male and white’ and not representative of their community. He’s not telling us anything we haven’t known or been talking about in this space for years. The CFL badly needs to crack that under-30, female and non-white demographic. I’m glad somebody in power is noticing this. The team president who ‘leads’ the Toronto Argonauts (and I do use the term ‘leadership’ loosely) has yet to even so much as acknowledge this problem in his own backyard.  

5. RIDER STORYLINES GALORE AT GREY CUP: My goodness, it will be a Grey Cup for the ages, should the Roughriders pull off a miracle in Winnipeg and get there. A Saskatchewan-Hamilton Grey Cup in steel town nearly a half-century after the Ticats beat the Riders on an Ian Sunter field goal at old Ivor Wynne Stadium in Hamilton’s finest football memory ever with Angelo Mosca holding up the Grey Cup with blood pouring down his face in his final game ever would be a wicked sequel just a month after big Ang’s death. On the other hand, a Rider-Argo Grey Cup would be even more of a blockbuster finish. Chris Jones against all of his old buddies and the quarterback who sassed him. How could that not be a Grey Cup TV bonanza? 

6. THIS WEEK I’M JEALOUS OF: Still Winnipeg Blue Bomber running back Andrew Harris. The guy won the Most Valuable Player and Most Valuable Canadian of Grey Cup 2019 in Calgary despite failing a drug test earlier that season. Rider sack-star AC Leonard was left off the all-star nominations despite leading the league in sacks, probably due to his own misdeeds involving a drug test. I’m not feeling any sympathy for AC as it would set a dangerous precedent to ever reward any player who fails a drug test in that same season. But why the double-standard?

7. THE GRITTY SWEEPS NFL SUNDAY COUNTDOWN: Nary a month after Duke Williams began delighting Rider nation with his ‘Gritty’ of New Orleans dance after each onside kick recovery and touchdown, the NFL has begun to take notice. Even Rex Ryan and his rather round frame danced the gritty on the ESPN Sunday morning pregame show. Duke (D’haquille is his actual name) could make a few extra bucks in the offseason staying in Regina teaching dance lessons. He’s got some slick moves. 

8. CFL WEST AND EAST FINAL PREDICTIONS: He/she who has finished first and hosted the west final has failed to advance to the Grey Cup 58% of the time since 1987. But again, most of those teams failed, especially Calgary, because they were constructed on offence. Not a great fit for November ball on the prairies. The Blue Bombers this year are different. With that dominant defence led by Willie Jefferson, Jackson Jeffcoat and Adam Bighill I see a mountain too steep to climb. The minus-7 high forecast for Sunday doesn’t change that at all, either. But ya never know. William Powell and that ground game might have something to say about that. Argos-Ticats should be a beauty. Chris Jones’s defence wins out, I think. But we’ll see. It could be me just showing my bias for a Saskatchewan-Toronto Grey Cup.   

9. THE CURLING TRIALS: Was kind of hoping for some new faces and younger blood but Brad Gushue and Jennifer Jones it is. Seeing a 41 and 47-year-old competing in the Olympics is a pretty cool thing. Whoever said curling was becoming a young man’s game? We don’t quit playing because we get old. We get old because we quit playing.  

10. ON THE AIR THIS WEEK: Hosting IN THE HUDDLE with Marshall Hamilton this week. Had a blast with Dan Rashovich, undoubtedly the CFLs all-time special teams tackle leader, last week. This week it is one Wes Cates. Watch us Tuesday night at 7 and reruns after on Access Now TV or the Access Now App.

(Follow Brendan on Twitter at @brendanhowardmc)