THROWIN’ ELBOWS WITH BRENDAN MCGUIRE
1. NEW CBA PROVES UNION IS REASONABLE: So, they get a deal done at the last minute with better health benefits, a better minimum wage and barely any more money for the players. Hope all the hysteria about the union trying to ruin the CFL was worth it for THAT!
2. IMPORTANT STEP FOR CANADIAN QB’S: Nice to see a small but important step taken to reward coaches who install Canadian quarterbacks onto their roster. The downside to this is—–there really is no downside.
Having a Canadian as your 3rd string quarterback will barely impact your team’s quarterback performance since the 3rd stringer rarely ever sees the field anyway. But now that these quarterbacks will take part in the daily meetings and get some reps in practice, some of them will see the field and some of THEM will find success.
This is and always was a no-brainer!
3. ROUGHRIDER PUNTER: No punter in the league is worth 6 figures. I really hope Jeremy O’Day signed Jon Ryan because he believes Jon can be a secret weapon on special teams and gadget plays, offensively. I really hope Jeremy O’Day didn’t sign Jon Ryan so he could bow to public pressure. Legendary Alouettes coach Marv Levy said it best, “If you start listening to the fans in the stands, pretty soon you’ll be sitting right next to them.” Last year’s punter, Josh Bartel, was/is pretty good and didn’t deserve to lose his job like that.
4. TOM SHEPHERD: It’s great that he did the lottery for so long. Probably saved the Riders when they needed saving the most and it gave him a platform to run his mouth (not unlike what this website does for me) he wouldn’t have ordinarily had. The fact the Roughriders don’t need a lottery in 2019 is the best part for everyone and is worth celebrating on its own.
5. EDMONTON REDBLACKS: Seems clear that Edmonton Eskimo GM Brock Sunderland is bringing all of his friends from Ottawa to fix what ails the Empire these days. I remember the Roughriders doing that in the mid-90’s when they kept hiring Jim Daley and Greg Marshall to be the head coach and run the defense. Hiring from an inferior program, which is still what the Redblacks are based on their record over the years, isn’t the answer. Sunderland needs to think outside the box here. Or at least make some new friends.
6. BRETT BOYKO: Told us on the Sportscage he chose the Alliance of American Football so he could stick with the NFL dream. Now that the Saskatoon kid has signed on with the B.C. Lions, we should see this a sign of the CFL’s enduring strength. An acknowledgement of how ridiculous some of these predictions of flimsy American experiments upending our 100 plus-year-old league truly were.
The XFL will last longer than the Alliance did because when Vince McMahon says he’s committed $200 million dollars, he’s committed $200 million dollars! But the moment that cash runs out, that league will be a memory, too. Give it 2 years, max.
7. GREATEST FACEBOOK FRIEND INVITE EVER: Don Narcisse. Narco just posted an online update of his prostate cancer treatments from down in Houston, Texas as he just entered a 59-day radiation treatment session that’ll expire July 15th. Donald promises to ring the bell and do his trademark touchdown shake for us all to see as soon as that day comes. Find him on facebook or anywhere you can to flood his inbox with well-wishes. It’s the least we can do for everything he did for us in the 90’s when we had so desperately little to cling to economically or with our football team. He was there for us and now it’s time for us to be there for him.
8. FAT LADY ABOUT TO SING FOR PRINCE ALBERT: The Prince Albert Raiders need a win over Guelph Tuesday just to stay alive and even force a tie-breaker at the Memorial Cup in Halifax. Should the Raiders emerge victorious Tuesday night, they would then need a win Thursday in the tiebreaker against Guelph or Rouyn-Noranda, followed by another win in Friday’s semifinal just to advance to Sunday’s championship game.
In other words, the Prince Albert Raiders need to win 4 games in the next 6 days to win the Memorial Cup.
Hold your head up high fellas, it’s been a good run.
9. UBER IN REGINA: It’s a great service, long overdue in these parts. Just make sure you all tip, after. Most UBER drivers I’ve been interviewing all over North America tell me about 5 in 7 riders DON’T tip. Let’s be the other 2 riders.
10. WEEKLY WISDOM: If you don’t ask, you won’t get. We miss 100% of the shots we don’t take.
(Follow Brendan McGuire on Twitter at @brendanhowardmc)
