THROWIN’ ELBOWS WITH BRENDAN MCGUIRE

1. ONE BIG BEEF ABOUT 80’S NIGHT: The idea was fantastic. The retro cheerleaders were terrific. The music was great, though I do cringe every time I hear a Michael Jackson song since watching ‘Leaving Neverland’. The alumni were awesome. The jerseys were…pathetic. Next time we celebrate the ’89 Riders, lets make sure our team wears the uniform of…the ’89 Riders! I’ve been told the CFL does such a poor job of this because of cost. I call BS! The legendary Mark “Torchy” Simpson, who runs ‘Torchy’s Sport Imaging & Embroidery in Regina’ tells me it would probably cost the Riders about $17,500 to produce 100 jerseys customized to the ’89 Riders. This would represent about 1% of the total ticket revenue from the 30,000 or so who paid to see this. And next time, let’s do it on a night the Ticats are in town and spend another 1% to make them wear their Grey Cup ’89 gear too. The players, coaches, fans, GM and alumni here don’t do it half-assed and neither should the brand manager either, whoever that is.

2. LIKE DURANT, FAJARDO A SECOND HALF GUY: Darian Durant had a lot of games throughout the decade of decadence where he looked really pedestrian through 2 or 3 quarters, only to come through in the clutch when we needed him to. I’m seeing the same traits in Cody Fajardo. Like in the labour day win over Winnipeg, there he was Saturday night putting in a so-so performance until the 4^thquarter. I heard Brendan Taman telling Ballsy on the Rider Radio pregame show that they needed to get William Powell involved more than they have been. My response: The Riders are finding ways to win when the going gets tough and the traffic gets heavy. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.

3. JON RYAN PROOF CFL NOT INFERIOR TO NFL: Roughrider punter Jon Ryan has had the worst net yardage for much of the season and no Jon it doesn’t mean you’re the ‘9^thbest punter in the league’. It means you’re adjusting from the NFL to the CFL game just like you had to do vice versa back in 2006. There have been plenty of successful NFL players who have come and gone in this league and very few of them have had any meaningful impact in Canada. Our game isn’t better or worse, it’s just different.

4. WHO SITS FOR JWL: Jordan Williams-Lambert took his sweet time in returning to Regina and even mocked some for suggesting his comeback to the ‘306’ was imminent. So, with that, I sure hope that he has to earn his way back onto the roster like everyone else. I agree with Rob Vanstone’s observation in Saturday’s Leader Post that Manny Arceneaux appears to be the most likely odd man out eventually. But not before Williams-Lambert proves to the coaching staff that he really is “all-in”.

5. SOLVING THE REDBLACKS QUARTERBACK WOES: The best solution I can offer would be for Ottawa GM Marcel Desjardins to get down on his knees and beg Calgary GM John Hufnagel to trade Nick Arbuckle’s negotiating rights to the Redblacks after the Grey Cup. Locking Arbuckle down before he becomes a free agent in February looks like a far more appealing option today than Jonathon Jennings or Dominique Davis. We don’t know what Arbuckle looks like as a fulltime starter yet but it can’t be any worse than what Jennings or Davis can offer the Redblacks or their fans, which we especially found out on Friday night, isn’t much. Hard to believe that Cody Fajardo ever sat on the bench behind Jennings.

6. KELLY BATES: Got to know Kelly a little bit in my glory days on the Rider beat for CJME and always thought he’d make a superb football coach. Didn’t go his way at Simon Fraser University but that was more because of that school’s really dumb decision to go in over its head playing 4-down football against American football factories. Am I surprised the BC Lions offensive line looks so much better from a coaching change? Yeah. Am I surprised that Kelly Bates is having such a meaningful impact? Of course not. He’ll make a great head coach in the CFL one day, too. It occurred to me when writing this piece that no Saskatchewan-born-and-raised person has ever become a CFL head coach, ever. At least not that I can find. Kelly will be the first. Mark my words.

7. SOLVING THE ALOUETTES, LIONS OWNERSHIP WOES: CFL Commissioner Randy Ambrosie is taking the long way to court the hopeful new owners for the Montreal Alouettes, Peter and Jeffrey Lenkov. And while I’m not crazy about the Lenkov’s idea to get Vince Feragamo involved, I do respect the fact the league is going through a long process to make sure they find the right owners. And he should have brought those owners, and potential BC Lion owners, to Regina Saturday night to show them the amazing atmosphere that could be in Montreal and Vancouver. I don’t know enough about the Lenkovs to fully judge what kind of owners they would be but they sound more promising then former Alouette running back Jeff Lapointe who keeps running his mouth like a bigshot, rather than someone who wants to partner with the rest of the league.   

8. BIGGEST TAKEWAY FROM ’89 RIDERS: The starting offensive line included Roger Aldag, Bob Poley and Vic Stevenson. Quite possibly the 3 greatest starting linemen in Rider history. I’d put Centre Mike Anderson in that category too but Jeremy O’Day had more all-star selections. And Ken Moore would later block for Doug Flutie in Calgary. I’ve always been convinced that O-line was the greatest in Rider history (well at the least the last 50 years, anyway) and maybe in CFL history, too. Everyone thinks about Dave Ridgway, Glen Suitor, Kent Austin, Jeff Fairholm, Don Narcisse and Ray Elgaard but I have a hard time believing any of it happens without that incredible all-world offensive line.

9. YORKTON’S BASEBALL TEAM: Excited to see they’re going to try and make a go of it and operate the Yorkton Cardinals like an actual Western Canadian Baseball League caliber franchise in 2020. I tip my hat to all of the volunteers out there as I do think Yorkton is critically important to the league. But at the end of the day, it’s really going to be up to the good folks of that city to decide if they’re content to lay on the couch and watch the Blue Jays on TV every summer or if they actually want a team of their own. I don’t know about you but I’d much rather be at an actual ballpark outside in the summer air. Sounds like a pretty easy choice to me.

10. WEEKLY WISDOM: Check out “The 5^thEstate” on CBC’s youtube channel. You’ll be glad you did.

(Follow Brendan on Twitter at @brendanhowardmc)