THROWIN’ ELBOWS WITH BRENDAN MCGUIRE
1. THE BRIER: They came close. They came oh sooo close to breaking Saskatchewan’s 40-year-drought at the Brier, did Matt Dunstone’s Regina foursome. It’s okay because they lost to the best. Brad Gushue is Canada’s Curling Rockstar right now and if you can hang with his crew for 10 ends, then you’re knocking on the door and not far away. Being from Saskatchewan, it’s easy to cheer against Alberta, Manitoba or Ontario. Those are places that largely thumb their noses at us. But not Newfoundland. Alberta has sucked the life out of their economy over the last couple of generations almost as much as it has ours.
2. DID YOU KNOW: Matt Dunstone is from Winnipeg? Anyone have a problem with that? Not I. We’ve grown plenty of the country’s best curlers, only to see them ditch out for other places like Alberta or BC. It’s about time we stole someone else’s talent.
3. TOUCHDOWN ATLANTIC: Tickets are going on sale and I expect them to be snapped up quickly. If I wasn’t in the process of buying a house and about to carry 2 mortgage payments, I’d be all over that. Seriously, can anybody out there think of a better sports summer holiday than a weekend in Halifax with the Riders? And with the dollar nowhere near par with the U.S. greenback and other worries like the Coronavirus kicking around, it might not be such a bad idea to enjoy our own country for a change.
4. TJ JONES SITUATION LAUGHABLE: In case you haven’t been following this, the Argos want to sign a 27-year-old stud Canadian receiver, whose done 6 years in the NFL, to a $200,000/year contract. Only problem is the Collective Bargaining Agreement requires all Canadian rookies to sign a 3-year entry level minimum contract. How the league and the Players Association didn’t think of this loophole is embarrassing. Apparently, it doesn’t take much to get hired in either one of those boardrooms these days. Mind you the same could be said about the White House.
5. ROUGE AIN’T BROKE SO DON’T FIX IT: Broadcasting legend and twitter Rockstar Bob Irving nailed it with, “change is great but so is status quo sometimes”. Translation: Randy, don’t mess with our rouge!
6. CFL COACHES TEAR UP XFL: June Jones has his Houston Roughnecks at 5-0 while Jaime Elizondo has rescued a sputtering offence with the Tampa Bay Vipers by taking over play-calling duties and racking up 28 points per game over the last 3 weeks. What does this mean for our league? Absolutely nothing other than it further legitimizes what we have is not inferior to U.S. college or even pro ball.
7. LIVE MICS BECOMING OVERKILL: Loved the idea at first and still do. However, listening to, at some points 2 or even 3 sets of conversations happening at the same time, is turning me away. Solution: Do a broadcast with no commentators and make it all strictly live mic. Why not?!!
8. BIZNASTY THE NEW DON CHERRY: Think about it. Marginal playing career. Has recruited a massive following through his ‘Spittin Chiclets’ podcast. And Paul Bissonnette has the grammar of a jock who would struggle to graduate high school. You won’t find me tuning in to such drivel but nobody can deny what he’s accomplished so far. With Grapes and Gregg Zaun both now out of the picture, I can’t help but wonder if there is room for a new legend to grow into that role.
9. RAPTORS: No-one is betting on them to get back to the finals. I’m not betting against them. A quiet, calm and confident group might win it all WITHOUT Kawhi. They just have to get past the Milwaukee Bucks who have yet to prove they can come through in the clutch. The Raptors are so un-superstar driven, the only NBA champion I can think of who the Raps remind me of are the 2004 Detroit Pistons. 2019 was pretty sweet but 2020 could be a whole lot sweeter.
10. WHATEVER HAPPENED TO: Mitchell Blair? Scruffy’s This’n that. Miss that guy!
(Follow Brendan on Twitter at @brendanhowardmc)
Hi Brendan, 1) Saskatchewan will eventually win a Brier. Dunstone is from Winnipeg by way of Kamloops, B.C. – if he curls of out Saskatchewan he’ll always have an easier time of qualifying. It’s not unheard of as other Provinces have done this for a long time. 2) XFL – I predicted June Jones and Marc Trestman would have the most success. The key to XFL football similar to CFL is mastering that 25 second play clock. If you have the CFL pedigree you can transition from 20 seconds to 25 seconds easier. The other teams look absolutely lost on… Read more »
Strong agree, no need to fix the rouge – it ain’t broke.
I also agree that mic’d up games are overdone. I would be okay with them just going away. Unsure about the idea of no commentators but I would be okay with selectively removing commentators.
5. If a kicker misses a field goal from any on field range distance he definitely shouldn’t be rewarded with a game changing extra point. No rewards for failure, you had your
chance, you missed, try again next time. Case closed.
Sonny, you are a little too young to remember why Alberta “sucked dry” a lot of Saskatchewan’s population. It was called opportunity, in the form of jobs. I love the breadbasket, from Sask. originally but not much work available when a combine can do a quarter (section) in about an hour and a half. To your relatives, friends and others that came to roost in the Wild Rose when things were good, we say “you’re welcome”. But don’t go away cause we will be back.