THROWIN’ ELBOWS WITH BRENDAN MCGUIRE

1. DT EXITS RIDER BROADCAST BOOTH: So, Derek Taylor is leaving the Rider radio play-by-play job after three years. Now that it’s over, how can we assess his performance? When it came to the game calls and Rider/CFL coverage in general, he knocked it out of the park. When it came to interacting with others and staff around him, he hit a home run there, too. When it comes to exciting the locals through the sportscage, his successor will have room to improve. That’s the risk you run of hiring someone to host a daily talk show who is just passing through town. WFAN radio in New York learned that in the late 1980s (see Mike and The Mad Dog 30 for 30) when they hired expensive big-name broadcasters who had no real ties to New York and were more focused on their national careers than they were at connecting with real New Yorkers. Then they paired up New York-sounding Mike Francesa with Chris Russo and the rest is history. I brought this point up when DT was hired 3 years ago in this very space and for that, I’ve been proven right. It should stick in any Rider fans craw when someone chooses the Blue Bombers over the Riders in any way shape or form (unconfirmed rumors have DT taking over for the retired Bob Irving in Winnipeg) but we don’t know Derek’s family situation or reasons for the move and should respect his choice. And besides, any fulltime broadcaster should consider Winnipeg over Regina since that town has an NHL team to cover in the winter months and ours doesn’t. 

2. WHO SHOULD REPLACE DT: After kicking tires and throwing my hat in the ring early on last time (because why wouldn’t I?) and not expecting any real consideration (and I didn’t get any LOL), I threw my support behind Michael Ball and would probably just hire him this time, too. However, I’m also going to respect Harvard management and their process for deciding on who they want. That’s who, after all, writes the cheques and is accountable for how it all shakes out. They have to consider what works best for them and probably the Riders too, who likely have input on the decision because that’s just how it works in professional sport these days. Ballsy and his followers should just relax and remember the John Candy line from Cool Runnings, “If you’re not enough without it, you’ll never be enough with it.” And besides, co-hosting a morning show on a rock station sounds way cooler than the Sportscage or any other sports thing, anyway. Harvard management should take their time, do a thorough search and decide for themselves without pressure from anyone. As we learned last time, Ballsy wasn’t everybody’s choice and won’t be this time, either. 

3. DIVERSITY ON ROUGHRIDER BOARD OF DIRECTORS: One commenter asked an interesting question a little while back. ‘Rudy’asked if the Riders have ever had a visible minority on their board of directors. I did some very minor digging around and the answer I’ve come up with is: I don’t think so. The Rider BOD has long had the appearance of an old boys club. To be absolutely fair, it’s always been a fairly well-run old boys club and I’m not sure that having a spot on that board has always been in high demand. However, Rudy’s question is a fair one and the Rider directors should try to go out of their way to nominate some visible minorities to help the board better reflect the community it represents. And after all, visible minorities are a demographic the CFL as a whole are striking out with big time. That needs to be addressed, even here in Regina. 

4. CFL SKILLS COMPETITION: Rod’s right. Not always but he is on this one. A quick google search tells me the NHL skills competition showcases seven different events. The CFL could easily launch that many or more and connect it with CFL Week around late February or early March to take football fans’ minds off of the NFL and remind everyone that spring is just around the corner with some time to get their season tickets at early bird pricing. It would give the gambling industry something to get excited about and maybe even cough up some money for the CFL. Sure, you’d have to fly these guys in but some of them have to fly in for CFL Week anyways and paying them a little something to do this would be money well spent, especially for some teams like the Toronto Argonauts who lost a reported eight million dollars last year. Let fans in for free and just make sure you have a loud and rambunctious group to make it a great TV event. If there’s anything the pandemic has taught us, it’s that the energy from a live crowd makes it so much better on TV. The CFL would get more out of this gimmicky stuff than any of the major leagues do. I’m right about this.    

5. BC LIONS HIRE FEMALE COACH: Tanya Walter is a new defensive assistant with Rick Campbell’s BC Lions. There’s no good reason why this hasn’t happened sooner. For a league that prides itself on diversity, I’m kind of disappointed the CFL didn’t beat the NFL to punch on this. Better late than never.

6. KEY TO NEW REGINA ARENA: It really boils down to whether or not it can accommodate a pro lacrosse franchise and a pro basketball franchise. If that can be inside the shell of the existing Brandt Centre, they should just do it there. If they can’t, then it’s time to go closer to downtown. Maybe a complex with a baseball stadium and lots of parking. Throw in some affordable housing too, maybe. An arena wouldn’t be much good to any of us if it doesn’t bring in good concerts, some pro sports and be a world class place to see the Pats. Right now, Moose Jaw has a nicer arena than Regina does and that just shouldn’t be.  

7. OLYMPICS: All of these Canadians helping and playing for China’s hockey team might be the best thing for world peace at this crazy time. Ted Turner always said if we had no boycotts at the Olympics, we would never have any world wars. He’s probably right. Disappointed the Russians got to compete and even more disappointed that the doped up figure skater wasn’t disqualified. Funny how we keep moving the red line for Russia and then we get surprised when they cross it.

8. THIS WEEK I’M JEALOUS OF: Mark McMorris. Did some reading about his sponsorship empire worth a reported 15 million dollars. He’s given his life to the sport and so it’s great that he’ll probably never have to work again. Hopefully he uses his platform to help other amateur athletes just starting out. 

9. COWBOYS VOYEURISM SCANDAL: Contrary to what another commenter recently suggested, I don’t hate the NFL. In fact, I probably enjoy the NFL more than most of you reading this piece. I watch a tonne of it, I read about it daily and I gamble on it lots too. However, I do find it appalling how we put these franchises and the people running them on these ridiculous pedestals. The behavior of not only the Cincinnati Bengals ownership but the Miami Dolphins, Cleveland Browns, Washington Commanders and Dallas Cowboys ownership/management is showing to be a disgrace too. The Cowboys refusal to answer questions about their PR guy peeping at cheerleaders changing and recording it on his cellphone is just about as low rent as it gets. Is Jerry Jones and his PR guy in grade 9 or what?!      

10. THE TINDER SWINDLER: Saw this movie on Netflix over the weekend and it completely blew my mind. The power of manipulation is on full display and I suspect it will blow your mind, too. Remember, if someone seems too good to be true, they probably are. You need to see this.