THROWIN’ ELBOWS WITH BRENDAN MCGUIRE
1. CHANGING THE PLAYOFF FORMAT: There’s been an awful lot of whining over the past 40 years about the CFL West being so much tougher than the CFL East. Western teams, including the 1981 Riders, have been railroaded time and time again by a flawed system that rewards weak teams from out east and punishes strong teams from out west. Like Canada’s equalization system, the east-west format was set up with good intentions but was never designed to constantly transfer prosperity from one region to another. Commissioner Randy Ambrosie’s latest idea of using the divisions to choose only a division winner/bye week and seed the rest from 3-6, regardless of division, worth a try. It’s not like we haven’t tried experimenting with this before. You might recall a north-south playoff format in 1995 on the road to the first Grey Cup ever held in Regina. What’s the worst that could possibly happen?
2. ROUGHRIDERS SHOULD CONSIDER CUTTING FRANKLIN: Good signing and he could be the right fit for the Riders to back up newfound rock star Cody Fajardo. However, there is some downside in adding a veteran to your quarterbacking depth-chart. Pushing Isaac Harker back a spot not only discourages him with a demotion but also pushes another prospect, who could be that 3rd stringer diamond-in-the-rough, right off the roster. I support the signing of Franklin 100% but the main competition for the Rider coaching staff in training camp should be to decide if James Franklin really is deserving to be the number 2. And based on what we saw out of him in an Argo uniform the last couple of years, that should be anything but a slam dunk.
3. EDMONTON ESKIMOS NAME CHANGE: Rearing its head again. Most defenders of outdated, racist nicknames are dumb, middle-aged white-guys who have no business making these decisions in the first place. Glad to hear team management is engaging the Inuit community and if the Inuit community isn’t coming to a meaningful consensus that the name should change, then change is unnecessary. The team and its fan base should remain open to change for the right reasons. Not because some activist, who wants air time, decides that for everyone else.
4. STREVELER CALLED “LEGEND IN THE CFL” BY NFL: Arizona Cardinals GM Steve Keim told a radio station down there that Winnipeg won its first Grey Cup in 29 years because of Chris Streveler and what he brought to the table. I’m not sure if they understand that Streveler was never anything more than a backup in Winnipeg or that the Blue Bombers success in 2019 came mainly from a great Richie Hall-guided defense and two quarterbacks, Matt Nichols and Zach Collaros, not named Chris Streveler. Pretty remarkable to see the NFL get more excited about this backup than it does any of our star quarterbacks, despite the tremendous track record of CFL starters becoming good NFL quarterbacks.
5. ALOUETTES KEEP CHEERLEADERS: Happy for the dancers and happy for the half dozen or so fans who actually base their decision to buy tickets on whether or not cheerleaders will be there. Happier yet to see the new Alouette owners have come to their senses and realize that cutting the smallest and most minute expenses is not how you reverse a $7 million/year loss or engage a city like Montreal.
6. TRESTMAN, ELIZONDO STRUGGLING WITH XFL: Saw the Tampa Bay Vipers first 2 losses of the season and their offense looks dreadful. Not one offensive touchdown yet and if they don’t turn it around soon, CFL alumni Marc Trestman (head coach) and Jaime Elizondo (offensive coordinator) will eat much of the blame. I don’t worry about this creating a black eye for the CFL because neither one of those coaches had much success up here without a hall of fame quarterback, either. And besides, how much credit do Americans give our league for producing great head coaches like Bud Grant and Marv Levy, anyways?
7. A GOOD CFL HEAD COACH WOULD BE: Jim Zorn. Doing well with the Seattle Dragons of the XFL right now and coached Anthony Calvillo in college. Great personality and had a brief stint with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers as a quarterback in the 1980’s. So, he has some familiarity with the 3-down game. When the XFL folds, and it’s going to, some struggling CFL franchise should reach out to Jim Zorn.
8. OTHER THAN SASK, WHO TO CHEER FOR AT THE SCOTTIES: P.E.I. Never hear about them winning anything, hardly ever.
9. UFC FIGHT NIGHT: Took in Jon ‘Bones’ Jones title defense at a UFC Fight Night Watch Party a couple weekends ago. I could count on one hand how many UFC matches I’ve ever seen. The brain damage these guys do to each other for all of us to enjoy is something I just can’t ignore. Makes it even more remarkable that some people still get excited to see teenagers as young as 16 fight in junior hockey. Uggh!
10 .FAMILY DAY: In watching the Scotties on TSN coverage from the in-laws ranch Sunday night, it dawned on me that Sandra Schmirler passed away at age 36, one year younger than I am right now. Appreciate every moment of every day that we have on this earth and use every moment you can to smell the roses and enjoy the small things around you. We’re lucky to have all of it and this world really doesn’t owe any of us anything, ever.
(Follow Brendan on Twitter at @brendanhowardmc)
1. Good idea but for the top team selecting the opposition.
3. Already ranted on this on 10 Weekend things. Finally some common sense. The Third Rail of Sports.
4. I always thought of Streveler as Tim Tebow with a slightly more accurate arm.
5. Why would you cut cheerleaders? No win that.
6. Anybody care?
Franklin was brought into solidify the short yardage game and save Cody from some unneeded shots in the pile. With the change tot he roster format, the backup quarterback actually becomes an important position as well.
And how can you say Franklin can’t contribute. He scored 14 touchdowns two years ago.
Also, the Riders cut funding for their cheerleaders a couple season ago as well. They are now independently run from the actual club.