THROWIN’ ELBOWS WITH BRENDAN MCGUIRE

1. ROUGHRIDERS SHOULD HIRE: Jason Maas would be a refreshing change from Stephen McAdoo as the Riders offensive coordinator. After 3 years in a row of coming up short in the playoffs because of an offence that just couldn’t get warmed up in the cold should be enough to warrant a change. Any successful head coach puts their stamp down eventually and this would be a perfect way to do it for Craig Dickenson.

2. ROUGHRIDERS SHOULD RE-SIGN: Cameron Judge. If management found big dollars to sign a 37-year-old punter who struggled with net yardage for part of the year (Jon Ryan), then they can find money to keep the most important Canadian starter on the team. Ron Lancaster once said, “It’s called the CANADIAN Football League because the team with the best Canadians is going to win.” I think the Little General exaggerated a bit with that one because most of the star talent is from south of the border. But to his point, nobody wins when forced to star sub-par Canadian talent, especially at skilled positions.

3. MEASURING STICK FOR O’DAY, DICKENSON STILL TO COME: Been a great story so far but let’s not kid ourselves. These 2 are still very much living in the shadow of Chris Jones. The switch to Cody Fajardo at quarterback helped but the jury is still out for what a long-term core under this duo looks like. The 2019 Saskatchewan Roughriders remind me a lot of the 1994 Saskatchewan Roughriders. Don Matthews had left prior to the season, along with a whole bunch of star players like Jeff Fairholm, Kent Austin, Jerald Baylis and others. The foundation Matthews had built was still strong enough, in large part due to Mike Saunders, to power that squad under Ray Jauch to 11-7 that season. But after that, it was all downhill. As time elapses since Chris Jones’ departure, we’ll get a better since as to the impact of the current regime. It’s still too early to really say.

4. RICK CAMPBELL WITH BC LIONS: Some are surprised he didn’t join the Edmonton Eskimos where his dad, Hugh Campbell, became a legend. Not me. Most of us want to make it on our own or at least step out of from the shadow of our parents and I suspect Rick Campbell is the same way. However, he has put himself in the crosshairs with this move as he chose the Lions and cannot blame the GM on his way out the door, if things go wrong, like he did in Ottawa.

5. OTTAWA REDBLACKS SHOULD INTERVIEW: Paul Lapolice. Would be perfect to sort out their quarterbacking woes.

6. EDMONTON ESKIMOS SHOULD INTERVIEW: Richie Hall. Would be a nice change of pace with his calming effect after years of the volatile Jason Maas. Fans in Edmonton respect Richie from his first go-round up there as a head coach and would be open to having him try it again.

7. ALOUETTES OWNERSHIP: We heard all season that the Lenkov brothers were poised to take over and that an announcement was imminent. It’s December and we’re still waiting. If I was Commissioner Randy Ambrosie, I’d starting the Montreal Canadiens ownership about merging with the Alouettes. Why not? Merging with the NHL has stabilized the Calgary Stampeders and Toronto Argonauts.  

8. CFL ANTI-DOPING RULES NEED MORE TEETH: Not trying to reign on Winnipeg’s parade or anything as I truly believe they could have won the Cup without Andrew Harris. But a measly 2 games for a positive drug test? 2 games?! Seems lackluster for an 18-game season, especially when the NFL gives its players 4-game suspensions which account for 25% of their 16-game schedule. Andrew Harris winning the Grey Cup MVP was not redemption for Harris, but rather embarrassment for the CFL. The Players Association should be taking the lead on this as they have the power to ensure their own members don’t have to face the choice of doping in order to keep up and face the consequences later in life, or not doping and risk falling behind. Any good union would confront this head-on and so far, we’re just not seeing it happen.

9. CBC SPORTS REDEMPTION: They’ve been kicked out of running Hockey Night In Canada, the CFL, MLB and the NBA. And that’s okay since the private sector is funding all of those projects. But instead of sulking and doing nothing, CBC Sports is once again fulfilling its mandate by bringing us high-quality broadcasts of stuff that matters to Canadians and isn’t being funded by the private sector. The Vanier Cup and Canadian Elite Basketball League will now be exposed to more Canadians than ever before. This is what the purpose of CBC Sports has been all along.

10. CANUCK LEGENDS IN MILESTONE: Saw Kirk McLean and Garth Butcher speak at the Milestone Sportsman’s dinner over the weekend. Having grown up a gigantic Vancouver Canuck fan in the 90’s, these 2 were right in my wheelhouse. McLean wimped out when asked about Mike Keenan stories but Garth Butcher didn’t hold back. He had lots of great Regina Pat stories too, including the season Bryan Murray coached them to their most recent WHL championship. What many don’t know is that Murray was ready to retire from coaching when he got the job in Regina that catapulted him on to the NHL where he would last for more than 30 years. You never know when that diamond in the rough is right under our noses.