THROWIN’ ELBOWS WITH BRENDAN MCGUIRE

1. CHRIS JONES vs CODY FAJARDO: A recent interview with legendary Edmonton Sun scribe Terry Jones has left little doubt there is bad blood between the old/new head coach of the Edmonton Elks and the Saskatchewan Roughriders poster boy. It should be recalled that Cody sassed the old coach first during the 2020 non-season when the quarterback told the CKRM Sportscage, “I don’t think I could ever see myself playing for Chris Jones.” That surely wasn’t going to sit right with Jones himself and when Cody’s play trended downward in 2021 with a different offensive coordinator from the one Jones had hired, it was sure to spark a response. Jones has had quite a bit of success in a world of professional football packed full of big egos. If it wasn’t game-on again for the Saskatchewan/Edmonton rivalry once Chris Jones landed in Edmonton just before Christmas, it most certainly is now. 

2. JONES RAMPING UP PRESSURE ON HIMSELF, ELKS: He deserves credit for the success he’s had in turning not one, but TWO, programs around but it should be pointed out that Chris Jones’ ability to find the right quarterback has been spotty at best. He was correct in determining Darian Durant’s best years were behind him in deciding to find someone else to lead the Roughriders into new Mosaic Stadium before 2017, but other than that Chris Jones’ success rate in this arena has been shoddy. He had the already well-established Michael Reilly to work with in Edmonton, moved to journeyman Kevin Glenn here and then rolled the dice on Zach Collaros and Brandon Bridge the rest of the way. That’s not even including his hilarious pursuit of an out-of-shape and over-the-hill Vince Young. The addition of Jones in Edmonton cranks up the heat on the Rider regime to get it done but the Elks coach is putting himself in the crosshairs, too. The great Geoff Currier once said, “If you’re going to talk loud Jack, you’d better deliver results.” The same applies to Chris Jones in his latest go-round with the Edmonton franchise. 

3. STEPHEN McADOO vs JASON MAAS: The microscope on this comparison just got ramped up a little more. The man Chris Jones likes against the man Cody Fajardo likes. It will also have ramifications for we judge the performance of current Rider general manager Jeremy O’Day and head coach Craig Dickenson. I think the CFL just got a bit of its sizzle back and that’s a good thing.   

4. COVID ROBS REGINA OF BEDARD: The fear of God has been put in us all and it’s unfortunate that this era of Pats hockey is being largely missed out on because of it. I have a young daughter at home who can’t get vaccinated and so I’m going to take it cool and not be out when I don’t need to be. However, if that wasn’t the case I’d be at every Pat game I can make. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to see a sure-fire future NHL first overall pick in our own backyard all winter long. Don’t miss out because someone else says you should.  

5. CREAT CFL MARKETING GIMMICK: The Canadian Football League does a very poor job of marketing its glorious history. How come they don’t do t-shirt giveaways when you walk in the front gate on certain games the way they do in Major League Baseball? For example, the cost of mass-producing Doug Flutie 1991 BC Lion jersey t-shirts would be minimal. Invite Flutie and other BC legends along with Rocket Ismail and other Argo legends to celebrate ‘the greatest game ever’, a shootout that went to overtime and rocked BC Place with more than 50,000 fans that summer. In addition to engaging the immigrant population of the west coast, a certain way to re-engage Vancouver with the BC Lions.  

6. THIS WEEK I’M JEALOUS OF: John Paddock. The Pats backed up the money truck to his front door and gave him the keys to the franchise of which he used to do a masterful job of building the 2017 WHL finalists and a strong contender for the 2018 Memorial Cup. Then when a rebuild needed to happen, steps aside and lets someone else take the losses. Now that the team is through its re-build, Paddock gets to fire someone else to take over the reins and enjoy the fruits of their labour. How do the rest of us get a gig like that? 

7. CKRM GOSSIP: Reliable sources tell me News Director Mitchell Blair is out. I’ve known Mitchell for almost 20 years including my freelance work at ‘RM in addition to sharing a corner office with him before that at CJME radio where he and I, along with Wray Morrison and Ted Farr, started THE GREEN ZONE. Back then, it was nothing more than a fledgling website dedicated to coverage of the Riders and where we broke the story that Kent Austin was coming home to coach the Riders. Whether you agree with Mitchell or not, nobody can argue his passion or personality. Although at times I’ve found Mitch a bit over-protective of his air time (aren’t we all), I also appreciated sharing a workspace with someone who’s a character. We don’t have nearly enough of those in today’s sports world.   

8. HOW TO TREAT THIS OMICRON THING: Get vaccinated and if you’re comfy going out to events and gatherings, then just do it. Nobody is telling us about heavy sickness or death because of Omicron for those of us who are vaxxed. I think BC’s provincial health officer is right when she suggests this stage will turn the pandemic into an ‘endemic’ stage, suggesting life can go back to normal this spring. I’m an eternal optimist and choose to believe that to be true. By the way, enough of this ‘freedom’ garbage from the anti-vaxxers. Freedom is the right to live and do what we want to do, unaffected by other people’s choices. The anti-vax idiots take more of that ‘freedom’ away from all of us than the public health officer or any government. I’m just sayin.  

9. JOHN MADDEN: Felt like a legit normal human being talking to all of us who was true to himself and his audience. His best quality was how he managed to not change who he was even with all the success and stardom he enjoyed. We could learn a few things from that.  

10. PEYTON AND ELI: As much as I hate to admit this, I was wrong to be so critical of ESPN’s idea to have these two host their own Monday Night Football Manning cast. Watched their visits with Bill Cowher and Roger Goodell during the Browns-Ravens game and have to say I do respect ESPN for trying something different and the Mannings for having the guts to relax, have some fun and branch out. TSN should try something like this with some of the CFL broadcasts. Why wouldn’t they?