STACKHOUSE’S 10 THOUGHTS

1 – RIDER FANS FINALLY GET THEIR WISH – For about three years now (this year not included), I’ve listened to Saskatchewan Roughriders fans clamour for the signing of James Franklin.  Well, it finally happened Monday night. Franklin is a Rider. I don’t think Cody Fajardo should be looking over his shoulder, but it wouldn’t surprise me to hear some cries for Franklin to play after Fajardo has his first bad game of the season.  I’m going to criticize this signing. I think it muddies the waters a bit with Isaac Harker, who I felt looks the part of a decent back up and a potential starter in the event Fajardo suffers an injury. This signing tells me the Riders aren’t entirely comfortable with Harker and/or their own ability as a team to locate a third quarterback to stash deep on the roster.  I can appreciate wanting the depth, and I’m sure that’s the argument to be made on the other side.

2 – JETS HELP – I have to give Paul Maurice and the Winnipeg Jets a lot of credit.  This team should be nowhere near a playoff berth, but with three wins in a row, they are sitting in a playoff spot as of today.  With the Dustin Byfuglien situation near a resolve, the Jets will have some money at their disposal and General Manager Kevin Cheveldayoff, to me, is obligated to show his appreciation and throw his players some help in the form of a top blueliner via trade.  The most common name I’m hearing is Matt Dumba from the Minnesota Wild. Dumba is under contract for three more years after this one and if you look at the deal made last night with Pittsburgh where the Wild sent Jason Zucker for a first rounder and Calen Addison, it would appear the foundation is in place for a Dumba in exchange for Kristian Vesalainen and a first rounder type of move.  The Jets should do it. Dmen like Dumba aren’t widely available.

3 – FLAMES SITUATION – I was in Calgary last weekend and listened to a fair bit of sports radio chatter about the Flames and I didn’t realize how unhappy folks are with their team.  I look at the roster and I just don’t think it’s as good as what their local media and fans think it is. Johnny Gaudreau may be underachieving a bit, but Matthew Tkachuk is having a typical season and the rest of the roster is a bit overrated to me.  Even if you compare them to Winnipeg, the Jets have a better goalie and even with their defense in shambles, I don’t think it’s far off from what Calgary has, especially with Mark Giordano injured. The Flames really don’t have elite scoring talent beyond Gaudreau.  Sean Monahan and Elias Lindholm are pretty good players but I wouldn’t put them in the conversation of elite and then they’ve got a lot of third line types after that. I don’t think this is on the players at all. It’s on their GM for not supplying a better roster.

4 – BASEBALL IS BURNING – I have to say that as much as I love fantasy football, I still feel nothing beats fantasy baseball.  I have been a fantasy player for most of my adult life, and baseball is the one sport that I have enjoyed more than any other sport.  Admittedly, fantasy is the only thing keeping me interested in baseball. The analytics, the electronic sign stealing, the overuse of video replay, the blatant tanking of entire seasons before they even begin, and this disaster involving my favorite team, the Boston Red Sox and star player Mookie Betts, has really soured me.

5 – NO COMPETITION – Spring Training opens this week.  I already know Boston, Toronto, Baltimore, Kansas City, Detroit, Texas, and Seattle have no shot.  The American League will come down to eight teams battling for five playoff spots: Yankees, Tampa Bay, Cleveland, Minnesota, White Sox, Houston, Oakland, and Anaheim.  And, I’m willing to bet two of those eight are out of the mix by June. How thrilling and we haven’t even started. I will go out on a limb and say the best team is the Rays.

6 – RED SOX ARE A JOKE – First they screwed up the Mookie Betts trade with the Dodgers and now the Red Sox are arguing with pitcher Eduardo Rodriguez over $600,000 in arbitration.  ERod is asking for $8.9m, the Red Sox counter with $8.3m. What’s the point? Boston fans who point to the fact they needed to get their payroll in order should ask themselves this question since they like to be compared to the Yankees so much.  Who was the last franchise face of the team type player the Yankees blew out the door unceremoniously the way the Sox have done with Betts?

7 – BOLSINGER SUES ASTROS – Former Blue Jays pitcher Mike Bolsinger is suing the Houston Astros because he says they ruined his career because of their cheating.  Bolsinger, a borderline MLB player, was lit up for 4 runs in ⅓ of an inning at Houston on August 4th, 2017 and never pitched again. Ordinarily, I dismiss these types of lawsuits as a bunch of silliness but this one intrigues me.  I think it’s fair to say had Bolsinger pitched even 3 innings and allowed, say, three runs then he’s getting, at least, one more look.

8 – SJHL STRETCH DRIVE – There is plenty of intrigue for SJHL fans as we hit the final 8-9 games of the season.  Seeds 3 through 6 are separated by three points (Yorkton 60, Nipawin 59, La Ronge 57, Melfort 57). The Terriers were dealt a blow this week with superstar forward Chantz Petruic getting a six game suspension.  Here’s my prediction for how things finish 1-through-8 and the first round playoff match ups: 1) Battlefords vs 8) Humboldt, 2) Flin Flon vs 7) Estevan, 3) Nipawin vs 6) Melfort, and 4) Yorkton vs 5) La Ronge.

9 – FOOTBALL MOVES – The Edmonton Wildcats of the CJFL have, apparently, hired Kavis Reed to be their Offensive Coordinator.  The Calgary Colts have openings for Offensive and Defensive Coordinator after they opted to make a change earlier this month.  I also know the first thought is to be critical of the University of Regina after football coach Steve Bryce resigned, but my sources tell me those criticisms are off the mark here.

10 – DISTRACTED DRIVING – SGI wants to clear up misconceptions about distracted driving tickets.  Basically, if you operate a phone that isn’t hands free beyond 1 touch, you are going to be fined.  You could be fined for eating or adjusting the radio on the front panel, but not necessarily. Clear?  Oh, and police are allowed to do whatever they want based on the premise they can run red lights and speed because of an emergency.  I’d be okay with that, but I see police using cell phones when it’s not an emergency too. I guess they are just better drivers than the rest of us or maybe their level of distraction is lower and they can multi-task better than us dumb folks who aren’t cops.  Don’t get me wrong, I’m in favor of the stiff penalties, but there should be no exceptions unless it’s an emergency and they should also quit waffling on whether eating or adjust the radio can get you fined too. If it’s a discretionary thing, then I’d argue so too should phone use.

(Follow Mike on Twitter at @Stack1975)