THROWIN’ ELBOWS WITH BRENDAN MCGUIRE

1. FAJARDO CONTRACT EXTENSION: Cody Fajardo was never going to command premier free agent money and the Riders were never going to let him get away. His 2-year contract extension was a nice press release but nothing more. Perhaps announced as a way to avoid questions about it going into the playoffs. But make no mistake, this deal was going to get done come hell or high water.

2. EXPECT RIDERS TO FINISH FIRST: The Calgary Stampeders narrowly escaped the Winnipeg Blue Bombers over the weekend and have to do it again next weekend, except this time in The Peg, where the Bombers are MUCH better. If Winnipeg pulls the upset, all the Riders need is a home-and-home sweep over Edmonton. With apologies to Jason Maas fans reading this, I feel really confident of victory when he’s directing the other sideline.

3. EXPECT ALOUETTES IN THE GREY CUP: The Hamilton Tiger-Cats 13-3 record is worthy of Grey Cup consideration but seeing them play makes me think twice. They’re well prepared and Dane Evans is the real deal. But it’s the Montreal Alouettes who have the flare for the dramatic and have overcome adversity all season long to be where they are. If I was a gambling man, which I’m not, I’d be betting on the Alouettes to play in the Grey Cup. In fact, a 2009 (13^th man) Grey Cup rematch with the Riders in the same setting of McMahon Stadium wouldn’t surprise me at all.

4. REGINA THUNDER: Heart-breaking Prairie Football Conference semi-final loss in the dying seconds to the Edmonton Huskies at Leibel Field Sunday. I could totally see Edmonton upsetting the 5-time defending national champion Saskatoon Hilltops next week. Would be nice to see a new champion for a change. What really stuck with me was the atmosphere at Leibel Field off the charts. Hope to see more Thunder and U of R Rams games there next year.

5. THE ELECTION: Enjoyed the whole campaign except when I sat through the all-candidates forum in Regina-Lewvan and watched the morons who pretended to have a question for the candidates instead use the microphone to berate them. The candidates were cool under pressure. Just remember, being a politician usually isn’t easy and they’re not your punching bag.   

6. HERITAGE CLASSIC: Glad the NHL finally gave Regina something, even if it is just another money grab. Feels more and more like our city is growing up when we get to host events like this. As a kid I never could figure out why we didn’t have more Winnipeg Jet fans in this province, being so close to that city. Will be curious to see how well they get supported on Saturday night.

7. LOSING QUARTERBACKS TO THE XFL: The Alliance of American Football made it hard for the CFL to retain some position players but not quarterbacks. The XFL 2.0 is going the opposite route in underpaying everyone else in an effort to raid our quarterbacks. My response: If any decent CFL quarterback wants to give this up so they can try some bush-league semi pro gimmick like Johnny Manziel did almost a year ago, be my guest. Last I checked, Johnny was selling insurance and the Alouettes were doing just fine without him.

8. LOSING INTEREST IN THE WHL: In working the WHL on Access broadcasts last season, it confirmed to me that I’m just not the WHL fan I once was many moons ago. It’s hard for me to get excited about a product that allows teenagers to fight and a system that takes kids away from their parents while they’re still in high school. The WHL, and for that matter the CHL, is long overdue in reforming the age-range. I’m not interested in treating 16 and 17-year old’s like commodities. Switch the age-range from 16-19 to 18-21 and maybe I’ll be back. Always preferred the SJHL and Western Canada Baseball League anyways and it’s probably because you see more adults in that league and less teenagers who should be focusing on high school and growing up rather than putting that all on hold for hockey. Ridiculous and very outdated.  

9. WORLD SERIES: Happy for the Washington Nationals to make their first ever World Series and the connections to the old Montreal Expos are indeed intriguing but no I will not consider this a win for Expo fans. It’s just another slap in the face for all the heartache Montreal baseball fans endured over the years. It’s like Cleveland Brown fans watching Bill Belichick struggle in Cleveland and then become great somewhere else just like they saw their Browns struggle and then win 2 super bowls as the Baltimore Ravens. The Expos move to Washington is and will remain a tragedy until the Spos finally return to downtown Montreal and win their own world series.

10. DOCUMENTARY OF THE WEEK: Tough Guy: The Bob Probert Story cost me $13.00 to buy on Youtube but I ponied up because after seeing the trailer for it, I just had to have it. It brought up so many memories of the early 90’s when enforcers like Probert and Tie Domi ruled the roost in the NHL. It was okay when we didn’t know about CTE and the fighters could actually score a little bit, like Probert did. Where it got out of hand was when we started hiring full-time goons, like Derek Boogaard, who had no business ever playing pro hockey. It’s a great watch and a great lesson for why fighting isn’t the answer for policing the great game of hockey.