THROWIN’ ELBOWS WITH BRENDAN MCGUIRE

1. RIDERS SHOULD SIT FAJARDO: I said it in this space before the first home game against BC and I’m saying it again this week. The booing Cody got Friday night is something we haven’t yet seen in his three seasons with the Riders. That was a tipping point. Give Mason Fine all of the first-team reps this week and see what he can do in Friday night’s battle of the backups rematch in Vancouver. If Fine performs and earns a W, terrific! If he doesn’t, then we know he’s not yet ready for prime time. It might even be time to consider your options with swapping him out of the 2^nd spot for Jake Dolegala who can at least be used on short yardage plays. They should sit Cody out completely so big Jake can relieve Mason of those quarterback sneaks and it would also give Fajardo a bit more time to heal up while minimizing the quarterback controversy that is emerging. And by the way, if Cody is injured to the point he can’t perform at an acceptable level, Cody has a responsibility to relay that to the coaching staff, too. Injured or not, his performance in that loss on Friday night wasn’t good enough to justify the status he has in Riderville. They’re rolling with Cody again and it’s a mistake.

2. TOO EASY TO BLAME O-LINE PROBLEMS ON NA’TY: I can admit that I am no expert at examining offensive line play but can recognize it’s a lot more complicated than most of the fans who love to evaluate realize. By all accounts, it seems clear the Jamal Campbell at right tackle experiment didn’t go so well. Part of Cody Fajardo’s poor play can be blamed on his fear of stepping into his throws on the right side. Maybe he’s seeing ghosts or maybe his offensive line is still flat out letting him down. I won’t criticize the Riders for cutting Na’Ty Rodgers as it was clear he wasn’t getting the message about penalties. But the BC loss was yet another clear indication of just how badly they miss Dan Clark and haven’t figured out a solution for his absence.   

3. MAAS UNDER THE MICROSCOPE: Cody Fajardo came from out of nowhere to have an amazing year in 2019 under offensive coordinator Stephen McAdoo before McAdoo was unceremoniously run out of town. Since then, Cody’s performance has been a mixed bag. Chris Jones’ criticism of why McAdoo was pushed out (the fans and some of us commentators had a role in that too) appears to be valid at this point. Questions are swirling as to what Jason Maas has accomplished to elevate Cody’s performance or even that of the Rider offence. COVID was a great excuse for any flaws in 2021 but not anymore. Maas is under the microscope and he should be.    

4. WHY THE PLAZA OF HONOUR MATTERS: Good for the fans, good for the team to celebrate its past and good for the voters and organizing committee to stay involved. Connecting people with people which is really the whole purpose of what sports is supposed to be. But the most important part to me is how the retired players and coaches get a call to tell them that the organization hasn’t forgotten about them and that another day in the sun is still ahead. With all due respect to inductees like Roger Brandvold and Paul Hill, they don’t excite me much and I’m pretty sure most fans feel the same way. But the athletes come here in their youth, put all of their blood, sweat and tears into this thing before they are usually discarded in their 30’s and pushed out onto the street to re-make themselves in a completely different universe. Some of them probably feel like we just use them for our entertainment and then kick them out and forget about them and in some ways, that is true. The Plaza of Honour is a good way to right that wrong and remind these people they will always matter to us. 

5. RIDER RADIO COMMENTATORS: I grew up bringing my radio to the park and listening to the live broadcast with Geoff Currier and Carm Carteri. Some fans in Estevan would bring their radio to the Bruin games when I did those broadcasts. Vin Scully says that’s how he connected with Dodger fans in the old LA Coliseum when the team moved from Brooklyn to Los Angeles. That seems harder to do nowadays since no-one buys the transistor radios anymore. I’ve tried radio apps on my I-phone but still get the delays. It cost me $17.73 but I found a brand new transistor radio on Wal-Mart’s website and ordered it in. It was like a breath of fresh air to hear the live feed with no delays again on Friday night. I found Luc and Ballsy to be objective and gave fair criticism to Cody Fajardo and the Riders in general. It is clear they are sick of being accused of seeing the games through green and white glasses.

6. CFL PRODUCT GREAT AGAIN EXCEPT FOR RIDER GAMES: The weekend was a perfect example of how the season has gone. Three close entertaining games and one stinker. That stinker just so happened to be the one at Mosaic Stadium. We have yet to see a GREAT game in Regina this summer. Maybe they’re saving it for the fall and maybe they’re not.

7. REGINA RED SOX NEW GM: Congratulations again to retiring Sox General Manager Bernie Eiswirth. Over the weekend, I checked in with team president Gary Brotzel to find out the skinny on who the next GM will be. His response: “We’re still looking.” 2023 will be critical for the ball club as I just know they will be eager to put the Moose Jaw Miller Express back in their rightful place of watching the Red Sox in the finals instead of the other way around like we saw this year. Moose Jaw has a great program in place now with former shortstop Eric Marriot running the show. Eric, from Niagara Falls who coaches down south during the wintertime, tells me he hopes to keep coming back to Moose Jaw in the summers to run the ball club for a long time. That’s good news for Moose Jaw, the league and the rivalry.  

8. REGINA THUNDER WEEK TWO: Great finish for the Thunder to hang on to Sunday’s 24-22 win over the Winnipeg Rifles at Leibel Field to improve to 2-0 on the Prairie Football Conference season. Great atmosphere at Leibel and a terrific broadcast by Ryan McNally and Josh Sigurdson to present it to us on Access Now TV. Running back Ryland Leichert stole the show with his 174 yards rumbling on 24 carries. Last week it was the Carter Shewchuk to Isaac Foord connection and this week it was their run game. Each week they have found different ways and close games like Sunday will probably help them in the long run. Off to Edmonton  for week 3 next Sunday to play an Edmonton Huskies club that has given them fits over the years including a playoff loss at Leibel Field the last year before the pandemic.

9. ROCKSTAR OF THE WEEK: Atlanta Braves GM Alex Anthopoulos. Treats players, managers and fans not like assets or stats but rather like people. Rooting for him and the Braves as much these days as I am the Blue Jays who are run by a pair of guys who operate much differently.  

10. IN-THE-HUDDLE THIS WEEK: Hear my take on why Cody Fajardo’s biggest strength in 2019 might be his biggest downfall in 2022. We’ll be joined by CJME sports maven Darrell Davis, too. Watch us on Access Now TV at 7pm Tuesday nights or on the Access Now app.

(Follow Brendan on Twitter at @brendanhowardmc)