THROWIN’ ELBOWS WITH BRENDAN MCGUIRE

1. HUMBOLDT CRASH TRUCK DRIVER: Jaskirat Singh Sidhu has failed in his first bid in the courts to avoid deportation. I’m disappointed by this given his clear remorse, lack of intent and an overall willingness to face the music since day one. This decision shouldn’t be based on the victim’s emotions because it’s not fair to make them responsible for our justice system. 

2. GREY CUP HOTEL FIASCO: Pretty sad the Roughriders had to send gifts to the people jilted by a Regina hotel who canceled their reservations for Grey Cup week once the owners realized the rates should have been higher. The arrogance of this would infuriate any one of us and only encourage travelers to use Airbnb. Other hotel owners should be enraged.  

3. GREY CUP PICKS FOR NOVEMBER: I had to scoff at another writer’s pick of the Argos coming out of the east. I expect Toronto to finish in the basement now that head coach Ryan Dinwiddie no longer has Chris Jones running his defence for him. Ottawa will be better but not yet ready for prime time and the Alouettes don’t scare anyone with Trevor Harris pulling the trigger. The Hamilton Ticats returning to the big game are as good a pick as any. Out west, it’s probably a coin-flip between the Riders and Stampeders. I’ll take Calgary to avoid looking like a homer.  

4. SHONTE PEOPLES: Found an article online the other day quoting former Roughrider bad boy Shonte Peoples talking about how much he loves Saskatchewan and how falling in with the wrong crowd caused him to lose his condo in Regina. Kind of shocking to hear how glowingly some ex-players feel about Regina long after their days here are done. Shonte was a scary dude who seemed to come because of Roy Shivers more than anything else and never once gave anyone the impression he ever liked Saskatchewan at all. Time gives us all perspective. 

5. THE BRIER: Brad Gushue winning 3 must-win playoff games in 2 days with only 3 players to capture the Brier in Lethbridge was nothing short of legendary. The Newfies had no alternate on hand to replace third Mark Nichols when he went on the COVID shelf. One wonders if this will somehow set a trend for curling teams going forward. But more than anything, it was just so wonderful to see people crammed into the Enmax Centre for a sporting event again. Life truly is getting back to the way it should be. At least here in western Canada, it is.   

6. BRIER COMMERCIALS: Those New Holland combine commercials make you want to quit your job and go farming, don’t they? Admit it! 

7. MLB LOCKOUT: The fact they would even dare to discuss a work stoppage when all the hell the world has been/still is going through is appalling to say the least. And now they want us all to drop what we’re doing to pay attention to them now that they’ve changed their minds and have chosen to get back to work after all? This labour dispute appears to have accomplished damn near nothing.

8. UNIVERSAL DH STINKS: Much better strategy in the old National League. There’ll be a hunger to bring it back within five years. Mark my words.

9. RUSSIANS NHLers AGAINST PUTIN: For all the criticism lobbed at Alex Ovechkin for his wishy-washy stance on the war in Ukraine being started by his old pal, Russian president Vladimir Putin, there are some NHLers who aren’t towing the Kremlin line on the criminal dictatorship. New York Rangers star Artemi Panarin has been outspoken about his disdain for Putin and has faced repercussions back home in Russia because of it. Alexander Radulov, who once bailed on the Nashville Predators to promote pro hockey in Russia, but has since returned to the NHL has dropped hints that he, too, is no fan of Vladimir Putin. Not everyone from Russia is naïve enough to buy Putin’s nonsense or cower to his evils. To be clear, I do sympathize with the position Ovechkin has been put into but at the same time, let’s not forget he did use his platform to promote Putin for re-election. Remarkable how athletes hate having this platform except when it’s convenient for them.   

10. CONSERVATIVE LEADERSHIP RACE: Leslyn Lewis won’t appeal to the hardcore conservatives and neither will Jean Charest. Patrick Brown won’t appeal to the west and no-one has ever heard of the other guy. That leaves Pierre Polievre. From Calgary and lives down east and is a francophone (sort of). Barring any unforeseen circumstances (because of course we haven’t been getting those lately!), Polievre is the guy. You read it here first.

(Follow Brendan on Twitter at @brendanhowardmc)