THROWIN’ ELBOWS WITH BRENDAN MCGUIRE
1. SHAQ EVANS SHOULDN’T APOLOGIZE: Some of the Roughrider players aren’t happy with the lack of sympathy shown by some of the Roughrider fans toward the ‘Black Lives Matter’ protests upending the sports TV schedule. It reminded me of an era when Roy Shivers and Danny Barrett became trailblazers for the sport as the first-ever black GM-Head Coach duo in pro football history with the Riders back in the early 2000’s. It started off well but ended not-so-well and from time to time some in our province, including me, felt like they were playing the race card just a little too much. That’s not what’s happening here. Shaq Evans wishes some more people in Saskatchewan cared just a little more about the inequality black people in North America face every day and I do, too. Don’t apologize, Shaq. I’m not about to and neither should you.
2. WHERE AMBROSIE FAILED: He’s taking too much blame for loss of the 2020 season but to be absolutely fair, the CFL Commissioner’s presentation to the House of Commons for financial aid was atrocious. He had no explanation for where the money would go and how he came up with his figures about how much the league would lose in 2020. He looked completely unprepared which was, quite frankly, embarrassing. Since then, he’s been great. And he’s still the best option this league has for commissioner, despite what a few know-it-alls like to think.
3. WHERE IS ALL THE MONEY GOING?: It’s a legitimate question when you hear stories about the Riders and Alouettes projecting $10 million and $9 million dollar losses, respectively. Major pro sports leagues don’t like to show their books because they’re always trying to drive the price of franchise values up. CFL franchises are worth no more today than they were 30 years ago. Every team, not just the community-owned ones, should show their books to the public. Otherwise, the questions will keep getting asked, ‘Where is all this money going?’
4. PLAYERS OPTING OUT: It’s a non-issue. They’ll all come running back once the league is up and running again. Just you watch.
5. BLM PROTESTS: The world needs a bit of chaos sometimes to bring attention to these issues or else they are never confronted and we can never move forward. It’s no coincidence the relationship between the LAPD and black citizens of Los Angeles failed to make meaningful strides until after the Rodney King riots and O.J. Simpson acquittal. Pretty sad our world has to learn these lessons the hard way, but such is life.
6. STANLEY CUP PLAYOFFS WITH NO FANS: Never thought I’d say this but part of me kind of enjoys watching this more than the jam-packed arenas we’re used to. No over-hyping. No fans trying to be the story. Just hockey. I kind of like that.
7. ALOUETTE OWNER COMMENTS: It’s hard not to like the new owners of the Montreal Alouettes. Gary Stern, who along with Sid Spiegel bought the Als at the absolute worst time imaginable, is still saying all the right things. Except one thing. He recently referred to quarterback Vernon Adams junior as a future ‘Hall of Famer’. Premature at best and ridiculous at worst. Let’s wait for Vernon to at least get to a Grey Cup before we start hyping him like that.
8. GREY CUP FAN BASE FUNDRAISER: This is a great idea. If they can fit 10,000 names on this thing at $400-a-pop, they’ll have it made. It would be a cool keepsake and legacy for anyone to remember how we saved our Canadian Football League from the coronavirus. I’ve heard lots of dumb ideas from CFL executives and players over the years. This isn’t one of them.
9. MORE CFL BROADCAST OPTIONS WOULD HELP: If we didn’t know that live broadcasting of sport was the future before covid, we know it now. TSN does a great job but broadcasting on multiple other platforms like Sportsnet, CBC, CTV and even YouTube would help even more in gain even more exposure with millennials and new Canadians. And besides, I miss the good old days when the CFL on CBC would dig up dirt on what was happening behind-the-scenes with players, coaches and owners. It made the league so much more interesting. With every game being broadcast by TSN cheerleaders, we don’t see so much of that anymore.
10. GREAT DOCUMENTARY: McMillions explains the McDonalds monopoly scandal from the 90s. I had zero interest until the wife put it on and I was glued til the end and you will be, too. Not on YouTube but you’ll find it online, somewhere.
(Follow Brendan on Twitter at @brendanhowardmc)
