THROWIN’ ELBOWS WITH BRENDAN MCGUIRE

1. MOST IMPORTANT ROUGHRIDER FREE AGENTS: I’m picking three. One of them won’t surprise you and the other two might. Duke Williams is more important to the Riders than anyone else for his ability to kick start an offence that, like most CFL offences this year, lacked sizzle. Jamal Morrow is a stud kick return man in a league badly lacking kick returns. And Brett Boyko is crucial, too. Not because the offensive line had a great year but more because the line has a foundation of four Saskatchewan guys to build off of. They are an expensive left tackle away from becoming one of the best in the league and if they can keep Boyko in that other tackle spot, they should be ready to roll.    

2. THE NEW CFL SCHEDULE: I’m hearing a lot of whining about not playing each team in the league at home and away. For example, the Riders haven’t visited Ottawa since 2019 and it will remain that way for at least another year. Just the one home game against the REDBLACKS but yet the Roughriders play Edmonton, BC and Winnipeg three times each. Add me in as one of the complainers here. This is one of those things that makes the league seem kind of bush-league. Does anyone in the world honestly think a third match with the Lions will get fans more interested than a trip to Ottawa? Does the league not see value in helping the Ottawa franchise with a trip from the Riders which might be their biggest draw of the season? For a league lacking teams and variety, does this make any sense at all? 

3. GREY CUP IN REGINA NEEDS TO BE OPEN, NORMAL: Unless things take a crazy turn for the worse, the Grey Cup events around Regina in November should be a return to Grey Cups in the past. I’m all for keeping the double-vax requirements but don’t tell me we can’t have concerts or we have to force everyone to wear a mask, forever. The world desperately needs a return to normal and unless ICU’s are still being jammed, our Grey Cup in November should be it. 

4. LEAGUE SHOULD CONSIDER NEUTRAL SITE GREY CUPS: Some of us have kicked around the idea of an Orlando Grey Cup and I still think the league should think outside the box and consider sunny travel destinations for the Grey Cup. Market it as a vacation/celebration of American players and coaches. We over-talk this Canadian thing so much that it wouldn’t hurt to, once in a while, tip our hats to our American friends who have contributed so much to our league. You won’t convince me that each franchise couldn’t find 3,000 season ticket holders to buy tickets to this thing as part of a travel package. It would be a smash hit in late November. The league could even look at staging the game somewhere else in Canada like Halifax, Quebec City or London, Ontario.  

5. RULE CHANGE CFL SHOULD CONSIDER: The 20 second play-clock isn’t actually twenty seconds. It starts when the ref whistles time in. Switch it to a THIRTY-SECOND play-clock and keep it running from the end of the previous play but don’t start the game-clock or allow a new play until ten seconds in. This would ensure consistency and make sure the game keeps moving. Small thing, I know, but there really isn’t much wrong with our game. It truly is magnificent. 

6. THIS WEEK I’M JEALOUS OF: Michael O’Shea. Guy is a proven star player at a rugged position and now a proven star head coach, too. The biggest problem with the sport is that so many coaches who have so much influence have never had to work in the trenches of being a linebacker the way O’Shea did for 16 seasons. And he was a damn-good linebacker, too. Credit to the Blue Bombers for sticking with O’Shea after his team struggled and missed the playoffs for his first two seasons. Look at them now. 

7. CHRIS JONES TAKES OVER THE ELKS: This made too much sense not to happen.    

8. FREE AGENCY PROBLEM CHRIS JONES CREATED: Not happy to see so many free agents? You can thank Chris Jones for that. Once upon a time, players were required to give a minimum two-year commitment to our league. Then Chris Jones started releasing players to go and try the NFL. This put pressure on other teams to do the same. Let this be a lesson learned.  

9. OMICRON: Sounds to me like everyone is testing positive and just about no one is getting sick. I’m no doctor and I’m not a conspiracy theorist. In fact, I find it repulsive how some of the anti-vaxxers are trying to enforce their own beliefs against the majority of us who want this thing eradicated from our lives. Let’s get our booster shots, maybe scale down our Christmas parties for one more year but we can’t keep living like this forever. I am prepared to boldly predict this will be the end of the pandemic. We’ll see. 

10. TIGER KING PART II: It’s a money grab but they all are. Not nearly as fascinating as the first go-round but it’s still pretty good. Changed my opinion about nothing. Joe Exotic doesn’t need a pardon and neither does anyone else in that film. In fact, they should probably all be in jail. Have a look see and decide for yourself if you haven’t already.

(Follow Brendan on Twitter at @brendanhowardmc)