THROWIN’ ELBOWS WITH BRENDAN MCGUIRE

1. ANDREW HARRIS SHOULD JUST ADMIT IT: It was eery to recall a Friday Night Football TSN sideline report (I think it was from Ryan Rishaug but could be wrong) that referred to Winnipeg Blue Bomber running back Andrew Harris as being a rarity in the fact he’s a running back who gets better with age. I started recalling the same thoughts when Toronto Blue Jay Chris Colabello came out of nowhere in his 30’s to be become a key part of the 2015 Jays team which captivated the country.  

The moral of the story: If it seems too good to be true, it probably is. Andrew Harris improving as a ball carrier in his 30’s was too good to be true.

If he just admitted that he took steroids or some other PED to help prolong his pro football career and said he was sorry, we could almost forgive him for starting a conversation that needs to be had. Instead, we get this garbage narrative we get from all players who test positive of “Whoops, I didn’t know I broke any rules.”

Baloney! He cheated. He knows he cheated and he’s no less a disgrace to Bomber fans than Ben Johnson was to Canadians. If the Blue Bombers win a Grey Cup in November, and they might, the CFL might want to consider putting an asterisk beside it to remind everyone that cheating only shortchanges everyone in the end.

2. ROUGHRIDER WIN SOLIDIFIES CROSSOVER: Saturday’s win not only catapulted the Riders into a legitimate hunt for first place, but also appeared to bolster the playoff hopes of everyone else in the west. The great start of the Hamilton Ticats, surprising early success of the Ottawa Redblacks and resurgence of the Montreal Alouettes had some of us thinking that staying ahead of the BC Lions might not be enough to get into the postseason for 2019. But alas, the Redblacks have fallen back down to earth and we are all learning that Ottawa quarterbacks Dominique Davis and Jonathon Jennings still are who we thought they were, as in not very good.

It all opens the door for the Riders to think less about making the playoffs and more about hunting down Winnipeg for first place. When was the last time we had a Labour Day matchup like this to talk about? I’ve been following it since ’91 and can’t think of one that comes even close.

3. CHRIS JONES EFFECT STILL HELPING: As bad as Dominique Davis was in that first quarter, and he was awful, let’s not forget to give the Rider defence some credit where credit is due. Defensive Coordinator Jason Shivers called a great game in blitzing the crap out of 2 very confused looking Ottawa quarterbacks. Shivers, who was taught by Chris Jones, used schemes designed by Chris Jones which enabled a couple of players recruited by Chris Jones, Nick Marshall and Derrick Moncrief, to capitalize with turnovers of their own. Jones deserves all the heat he took for exiting the way he did so late into the last offseason but none of us can deny that his impact is still aiding this year’s Roughriders at least as much as the emergence of Cody Fajardo has.

4. JOE PAOPAO A GOOD PERSON, BAD COACH: Drew Remenda and I used to discuss this quite regularly on the Drew Remenda Sports Show back in the day and it’s still true to this day. Why do so many CFL teams turn to Joe Paopao? He was never a great quarterback and quite frequently played on losing teams. His head coaching record is an abysmal 28-62 and wasn’t any better at the Canadian College level in his 3-13 playoff-less 2 seasons at the University of Waterloo. Kerry Joseph showed very pedestrian numbers over his time under Paopao with the Ottawa Renegades before blossoming into the 2007 league MOP with the Riders under Kent Austin.

My point: Joe Paopao is a great person but not a great football coach. He was handed the Redblacks play-calling duties this week only to have disaster strike early in that blowout loss Saturday night. If Ottawa head coach Rick Campbell thinks this move will somehow magically save their season, then I’m afraid he is sadly mistaken.

5. ALOUETTES ARE SASKATCHEWAN EAST: Montreal is easily the 2^ndmost exciting team in the league to see right now. Vernon Adams JR was clutch again on Sunday in beating the Argos and his Alouettes just give you the vibe of a little engine that could in blowing the preseason expectations out of the water. Next to Cody Fajardo’s Roughriders, the Alouettes are easily the next best feel-good story around the league in 2019.

6. TOUCHDOWN ATLANTIC: Some are grumbling about the less-than-11,000 announced in attendance for Sunday’s Alouette-Argo game in Moncton, New Brunswick and there are even suggestions emerging that it could hamper the CFL’s expansion efforts in The Maritimes. Hogwash for a couple of reasons: 1) The game was played in Moncton and not Halifax. Small will go to big but big won’t go to small and Halifax has nearly triple the population Moncton does. 2) The fans out there have no rooting interest right now. That will all change if and when the Atlantic Schooners emerge. It will be interesting to see if a politician out there has the courage to battle the naysayers and make this happen.

7. NFL IN WINNIPEG FIASCO: No need to blame the promoter for this disaster. Although trying to revoke the press credentials of Winnipeg Sun columnist Paul Friesen for questioning the event was pretty bush league on the part of On Ice Entertainment Ltd president John Graham. But thin skin aside, let’s give them credit for trying to bring big events to places like Winnipeg and Regina. The blame lies solely with the NFL, Oakland Raiders and the Green Bay Packers. No-one else. The NFL is to blame for inspecting the field and approving it for play the day before the game, only to point the finger and lay blame on the stadium a day later. The Oakland Raiders deserve blame for, aside from being a disgrace in general, collecting the payday out of this by treating the customers of Winnipeg to a night of also-rans and never-will-be’s by resting their starters. The Green Bay Packers deserve blame for making a mountain out of a molehill about player safety over a small patch they didn’t like and for also not caring about the 21 thousand plus who would’ve loved to have seen Aaron Rodgers take the field for even a series.

The Toronto Blue Jays once played an in-season exhibition game at Taylor Field when rain started to pour over the Regina skies in the spring of 1989. Then-Jays Manager Jimmy Williams was heard telling his players to get up and sign autographs and visit with the fans as a major league game might be something many of those people will never get to experience again.

Williams, Pat Gillick and the Toronto Blue Jays were all class. The NFL, Oakland Raiders, Green Bay Packers and their head coaches, Jon Gruden and Matt Lafleur, are all an embarrassment who are scared of their own shadows and unworthy of respect from any of us. 

8. DEREK TAYLOR: Time to address the online criticism being hurled at the new voice of the Riders and Sportscage host, Derek Taylor. From the beginning, I was very skeptical of bringing a Toronto broadcaster in to host a local institution like that as most big-city broadcasters would just view Regina as another stop on the tour. Luckily, Derek Taylor does not display that kind of arrogance. It is clear that the Sportscage is much different than it was before Derek showed up and we definitely don’t hear the local flavor or content we once did. Like many of you, I too have found myself disengaged in a big way since about April. However, a first 6 months with a new host does not a production make. It always takes anyone time to get familiar with their new surroundings and I suspect the same is true for Derek Taylor and thought his broadcast in the Ottawa win was easily his best so far. The Cage isn’t what it was and maybe that’s deliberate. But let’s give it some time to grow on us, like maybe a year, before we give up on it completely, shall we?

9. GREATEST GAME EVER: On my jog around the beautiful Wascana Lake on Sunday, I thought of the most random but brilliant marketing idea for the BC Lions. One of the greatest CFL games that ever took place happened at BC Place in 1991. Rocket Ismail’s Toronto Argos and Doug Flutie’s BC Lions traded punches for 70 minutes including overtime in a game nobody wanted to end. The Lions need to invite all of the celebrities who took part in that game to be introduced during the player intros and then give a small donation to Doug Flutie’s charity if the Lions win or the Pinball Clemons foundation if the Argos win. They could even give away Doug Flutie BC Lion souvenir t-shirts. It would be an instant sellout and capitalize on a great moment the CFL has failed to celebrate for far too long.

10. BOOK OF THE WEEK: Pretty sure I’ve recommended THE HOT LINE in this space before but I’m doing it again this week. Many of you think the Winnipeg Jets current incarnation is Jets 2.0. Wrong. It’s actually Jets part 3. Part 2 was the mostly unmemorable Jets NHL history, aside from some Dale Hawerchuk and Teemu Selanne moments, between 1979 and 1996. The actual magic of the Winnipeg Jets, and one that would’ve mopped the floor with any other Jets teams, including the one they have right now, was the WHA Jets from 1972 until 1979. They had the world’s best forward in Bobby Hull sharing a line with 2 of the greatest Swedes to ever play in Ulf Nilsson and Anders Hedberg. They were the Sedin brothers before the Sedin brothers and were not only the greatest team Winnipeg ever had but for a time were probably the best line the entire hockey worldhad ever seen. Without those 3 players, the Winnipeg Jets probably don’t exist today.

(Follow Brendan on Twitter at @brendanhowardmc)