THROWIN’ ELBOWS WITH BRENDAN MCGUIRE

1. ZACH GETS THE LAST LAUGH: Seeing Zach Collaros go 4 for 4 in his starts for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, including Sunday’s Grey Cup win, stirred up some painful memories for this Saskatchewan sports-nerd. We’ve seen plenty of Rider players and coaches in the past who have starred with another team, come to Regina with all kinds of hype and excitement, only to disappoint, and in some cases succeed somewhere else. Tom Clements, Tyrone Jones, Willie Pless and Shawn Lemon all come to mind. You could blame the Roughriders for not hanging on to Zach but the reality is he never was the same quarterback that we saw this November for Winnipeg. And it was the Blue Bomber defense who won that Grey Cup, not their quarterback.

2. JEFFERSON, NOT HARRIS, DESERVES MVP: Willie Jefferson was the best player on the field hands-down. Forget about his 3 sacks, 2 forced fumbles, 2 tackles and countless hurries he produced. I’m talking about his presence all over the field on every defensive down as well as his presence on that Winnipeg sideline when the Blue Bombers had the football. That was as spectacular of a defensive champion performance as I have ever seen and sitting up in row 66 in Section B at Calgary’s McMahon Stadium, I could see with my own 2 eyes just how much young man Willie meant to that group. He should have his nose out of joint for being snubbed for someone who failed a drug test only 3 months earlier. This championship does NOT carry an asterisk for me because I truly believe the Blue Bombers could’ve done it without Harris and I’m so very happy for classy ex-Riders Paul LaPolice and Richie Hall. But Harris being allowed to miss only 2 games and then come back and win such an award is embarrassing to the CFL and should only strengthen resolve for tougher penalties against dopers.

3. FAJARDO MOST-OUTSTANDING-PLAYER SNUB: If this had been Most Valuable Player to his team, I would have supported Fajardo because he rallied his teammates together for the most unlikely season. But make no mistake about it, the defence was, and going into the offseason will remain, the strength of this ballclub. This wasn’t the MVP award but rather Most Outstanding Player award. There’s a difference. Brandon Banks was the best player in the league this year, whether Rider fans like him or not, and he won it fair and square. 

4. DICKENSON COACH-OF-THE-YEAR SNUB: I would’ve voted for Dickenson to win the award but let’s give credit where credit is due: Orlondo Steinauer is a defensive guy who lost his starting quarterback early in the year and still managed to produce as good of a season for a rookie head coach as we’ve ever seen in pro football history. It feels nice to see so many new head coaches getting a shot in the CFL and doing well, rather than the old days of recycling the same faces over and over again.

5. McMAHON STADIUM: Of the 9 stadiums around the CFL, it’s probably number 9 on the list due to all the recent upgrades around the league. The concessions and bathrooms aren’t fancy but they don’t need to be. When I’m at a football game, all I need is a burger, a drink and my 50-50 tickets. I don’t need a fancy concourse or a fancy bathroom. Sports fans have become such snobs with all of these fancy new stadiums we really don’t need. Don’t get me wrong, it’s nice to have probably the best stadium in the league here in Regina (though I’ve never actually been to the new facilities in Hamilton or BC to see for myself) but I’ve heard from a few Calgarians who say McMahon Stadium is just fine. And I would have to agree.

6. BEST PART OF GREY CUP: Very unifying event to see fan bases from southern Ontario and Manitoba filling a city in southern Alberta for a national championship. We’re at a very divisive time in our nation’s history and the Grey Cup seems to bring this country together better than just about anything else. The CFL needs to take the next step by aggressively recruiting new Canadians to join in on this event to take it to the next level.

7. CALGARY EX-PATS: Grew up hearing about how great Calgary was and how awful Regina was and blah blah blah. Very nearly made the move to southern Alberta myself some 14 years ago until I saw my auto insurance bill would skyrocket by about $5,000/year (Brendan had a few speeding tickets under his name). Today, all I hear from friends who made the move is about overrated it was before they tried to move back home or about how crappy Saskatchewan still is as they want to keep justifying the choice they made to move out there. I dunno, other than a better airport and fancier buildings, Calgary just seems like a bigger Regina to me except you can get around our city a lot more quickly than you can theirs. John Lynch prefers Regina and I have to say I’m with John Frenzy on that one.

8. A VEGAS GREY CUP: It would be a great chance to honor all the United States has given to the Canadian Football League through star players and coaches. The CFL could even do a special pregame ceremony to honor the 7-now-defunct American CFL franchises. Each team could surely convince 3,500 of their own season ticket holders to buy travel packages down for the big game and then sell a few more to fill the old Sam Boyd Silver Bowl, once home to the Las Vegas Posse, which could probably even accommodate a CFL-sized field. This would be a great way to say thanks to the American fans who watch the CFL on TV and even showcase our great game to more American sugar-daddies who might be interested in owning their own CFL franchise one day. And if for no other reason, it would help silence the whining about cold November playoff football. Think about it.

9. BEST WHL BROADCASTER: We tuned in to Calgary Sportsnet Radio 960 The Fan upon arrival in the Grey Cup city on Friday night and caught the start of the Calgary Hitmen road game in Brandon. I’ve just about completely lost interest in the WHL these days and yet broadcaster Brad Curle found a way to make that night’s game sound so interesting to me and all of the other listeners that I actually stuck around for the first period. How this guy isn’t working in the NHL is beyond me.  

10. BOOK I WANT TO READ: “SCOTTY” by Ken Dryden is a memoir about the NHL’s all-time winningest coach, Scotty Bowman. Coached from the 1960’s into the 2000’s. Prime Time Sports co-host Damien Cox once said it best, “Scotty’s historical but yet he’s current”. And unlike the 85-year-old Don Cherry, the 86-year-old Scotty Bowman actually has winning experiences to back his stories up.

(Follow Brendan on Twitter at @brendanhowardmc)