THROWIN’ ELBOWS WITH BRENDAN MCGUIRE
1. WE’RE BETTER OFF WAITING TO HOST GREY CUP: The longer we wait for anything in life, the more we appreciate it. The best Grey Cup festival we ever hosted was the first in 1995. That came after waiting the better part of a century for it. Eight years later was good in 2003 and ten years after that was special because the Riders won the Cup at home and we all knew it would be the last at Taylor Field. But it’s been seven years since the night Tom Hanks chose to spend his Sunday with us in Regina. It would’ve been the quickest turnaround between Grey Cups hosted in Regina and we’ll get lots of chances to host again in Regina. It will be so much sweeter after all this when it comes back to us in 2022 on the other side of this awful nightmare.
2. CFL 2021 SCHEDULE: Not sure I understand the need to roll out a schedule so quickly. Pretty sure we’ve never had it rolled out this early for the next season. Seems like the league office was desperate to roll out some good news, no matter how likely it is they will be able to pull this off the way they’ve written it up. I would’ve put it all on hold until we get closer to opening day. Honest-to-goodness, I think eyeing a Labour Day kickoff makes more sense to buy time for not only public health, but sponsors and ticket-buyers who’ve been getting clobbered financially, to prepare as well.
3. THE GREATEST GENERATION: Listening to CFL players volunteering to take pay cuts just to get on the field is a far cry from what we saw from the spoiled multi-millionaire Major League Ball players back in the spring. I’ve wondered all along if this awful experience would bring out the best in humanity and in some ways, it has. Jack Todd of the Montreal Gazette recently pointed out that for all the whining we do about our pro athletes, they’ve created more social change in the past 8 months then we saw in the previous 20 years. From the first female GM in Major League Baseball to the NFL pushing it’s get-out-the-vote campaign, I think Jack Todd is right.
4. WHY BO LEVI IS BETTER THEN FLUTIE: Bo is talking about giving money back and taking a pay cut for the good of the league. Doug Flutie is still whining about the $700 thousand former Stamps owner Larry Ryckman “still owes” him. And Doug also appears to be very selective about which CFL events he attends and doesn’t. Salaries paid to the likes of Flutie, Rocket Ismail and Vince Ferragamo are exactly what very nearly bankrupted our league and helped players like Flutie not only make a great living, but also revive their dormant NFL careers. The CFL did much more for Doug Flutie then he did for the CFL.
5. CHANGES TO RIDER GAME DAY EXPERIENCE: The Roughriders have been spending a lot more on the gameday experience around the park over the past few years in the new stadium than a lot of other teams do, not to mention donations to non-profit organizations. I hope everyone criticizing the organization for spending like drunken sailors keep that in mind when everything is scaled back after it all returns.
6. MATT DOMINGUEZ MOVES HOME: Great piece by Murray McCormick in the Regina Leader Post about Matt Dominguez recently moving his family home to Texas. I’ve never understood why more ex-Rider stars don’t stick around and try to use their name recognition to build post-playing careers in things like real estate, such as what Dominguez has done, especially when they are likely to be treated as regular joe’s back home in the states. It’s a good reminder that although pro sports can be life-changing for some, it is just a game and being a regular joe isn’t so bad, after all.
7. SJHL: Glad they’re putting it on but I just can’t get into it. Everything is too different. Sports has always been our substitute for battle. We have enough battling in the world these days, we don’t need no substitute.
8. ANYONE NOTICE: Seems like NFL stadiums in the states that voted Trump allow fans in the stands and states that voted for Biden, don’t. Except maybe Arizona. Am I missing something here?
9. GYMS TREATED UNFAIRLY: Gyms are absolutely an essential service for some. I have yet to see any proof they are bad COVID spreaders. I went to Evolution Fitness near the airport early Sunday morning and was very impressed with everyone wearing masks, distancing and sanitizing everything they touched. These gyms deserve more respect than they’re getting.
10. YOUTUBE VIDEO OF THE WEEK: Search “New York Times Trump tax fraud investigation”. Will give some of you a bigger appreciation for why some of us are so offended when we hear people supporting Trump because he’s a “business leader”.
(Follow Brendan on Twitter at @brendanhowardmc)
