THROWIN’ ELBOWS WITH BRENDAN MCGUIRE

1. NO SUCH THING AS ‘SOCIAL DISTANCING’: Does anyone even know what that term means? It sounds like one of those dumb millennial phrases we feel like we have to use to fit in with the social media era. The correct term is ‘physical distancing’. Stay 2 meters or 6 feet away from each other. That’s about the best we can do. I’m hearing lots of stories about people ignoring the rules. My wife and I went out for a jog Sunday and were quite impressed with how everyone appeared to be going to great lengths to obey the rules. It’s a bit awkward for all of us. These pandemic things only come around every 100 years or so and we’re a bit short on practice.

2. HEROES OF THE WEEK: Front line workers who’ve lost their jobs to help business cope with the crisis. Front line workers who’ve kept their jobs and are most at risk. Financial institutions who’ve cut their customers a break in this rough patch. Business owners who’ve had to close or cut back just to help keep the rest of us healthy and all of you who’ve done your best to just stay home.

3. LOSERS OF THE WEEK: Financial institutions who’ve refused to cut any slack on loan deferrals for their customers. Landlords, especially some of the commercial ones, who’ve refused to cut their tenants any slack during this horrible tragedy. Karma’s a funny thing and those landlords (you know who you are) will get what’s coming to them.

4. SOLUTION TO THE PANDEMIC: Stop paying or charging interest to anyone or demand any loan payment for 1 year. Put everything on pause for 1 year. It can be done. We’re all in this together. And even if this doesn’t drag out for that long, then let’s just consider it a stimulus package for those people and businesses who were on the edge to begin with. End the debating and administrative nightmares to all of this change and just go to the world and central banks. They can make this happen and should.

5. NFL ARROGANCE: It’s not the big money signings that annoy me. Some NFL talk can take a bit of the edge off. It’s the “business as usual” comment from commissioner Roger Goodell. He’s far too stupid to realize the worst of this is yet to come and the United States is not prepared for it. Just another sign of how far removed he and the NFL owners are from reality.

6. FEDERAL, NOT LOCAL, GOVERNMENT NEEDS TO TAKE CHARGE: This is not an issue for different municipalities or provinces to figure out on the fly. This is something that the leader of our country needs to be crystal clear and consistent about for the good of the nation. I’m not criticizing our friend Justin for how he’s handled this so far. I couldn’t imagine having to bear the weight of responsibility he must be feeling right now. But I do think it’s ridiculous to see the City of Regina and Province of Saskatchewan having to decide which businesses can stay open and which cannot.

7. LIVE SPORTS ON TV: Australian rugby is all I can find these days and it is dreadful! Hopefully we can quarantine a few hundred ball players for 30 days and then let them entertain us with made-for-TV baseball. I’m running out of ideas but we need something and there’s got to be a solution out there, somewhere.

8. JOHN LYNCH: The last Friday episode of The Rod Pedersen Show where 82-year-old John Lynch bulldozed his way past all medical advice and entered the bunker to talk some CFL will live in infamy. It’s probably the best show I’ve watched in 2020 and I cherish every moment we get to hear the old guy’s take on what’s happening in the world. Regrettably, I’ve never met John Lynch but years ago, on CKRM, they played some raw audio of a Riders post-practice media scrum with then-coach Danny Barrett who had a nasty hate-on for me. I wasn’t crazy about Danny either. Danny and I sparred back and forth to which Lynch reacted with “What kind of stupid questions was that idiot reporter asking?!” I nearly died laughing and wasn’t even offended. John Lynch is worth the price of admission every time and a whole lot cooler than Don Cherry ever was.

9. BOB McCOWN: Probably the greatest sports-talk show host Canada has ever seen but his tweets, since leaving the airwaves, have been a major disappointment. All he does is retweet the news we’ve already heard and promote his winery. Bob McCown, post-Prime Time Sports, is turning out to be a dud. Very disappointing. I expected more from the Bobcat.

10. GREAT BINGE-WATCHING FOR SELF-ISOLATION: TIGER KING is off-the-wall entertaining and HILLARY shows us a unique behind-the-scenes look at the Clintons to prove they’re just people like the rest of us. I really wish the American public hadn’t voted the loser into The White House, that they did. I would feel so much safer for them and the rest of the world if they had chosen Hillary and not the buffoon in charge today. Children shouldn’t be allowed to play with matches and we’re seeing the end result right now.

(Follow Brendan on Twitter at @brendanhowardmc)