STACKHOUSE’S 10 WEEKEND THOUGHTS

1 – RIDERS AFTERMATH – If I was to do CFL Power Rankings, the Roughriders would be 8th. There are a lot of people talking about the Riders making the playoffs as a crossover and having to advance to the Grey Cup through the East Division but I don’t even see a path to them making the playoffs at all at this point. They may catch a good opportunity this week against BC if Nathan Rourke isn’t able to play and they better take full advantage of that because they don’t have a sniff of beating the Lions if Rourke suits up. More on the quarterback situation in the points below but talking about the QBs distracts from the fact there are a shopping list of other things wrong with this football team so even if they get that position turned around, they have other warts that need addressing.

2 – QUARTERBACK CONTROVERSY – Cody Fajardo has been given a lot of opportunity and his salary dictates he should have a long leash. Maybe he’s hurt. Maybe he’s not. The fact is that for most of this season he hasn’t resembled the player we saw in 2019 and he’s not even as good as he was in 2021. For me, the injury is irrelevant. Either you are getting the job done or not. Right now, he’s not and he shouldn’t be playing until he can prove to the coaching staff that he can go out there and play limit free and do the things the team expects him to do based on the contract they doled out.  

3 – FINE CHANCE – This is probably well-documented in mainstream media but since I don’t consume any of that, this was quite interesting to me in reading up on Mason Fine over the weekend. Fine was not offered a single scholarship after high school because he’s under 6’ tall. When he got his opportunity with North Texas, Fine went to his interview with lifts in his shoes to appear taller. He put up very good numbers and my impression on him Friday night was that he has pretty good zip on his passes while Fajardo, for whatever reason, seems to labor through almost every throw. Frankly, I will admit to being shocked at how Fine performed on his first drive Friday night and, to me, he’s done enough to warrant a longer look and deserves an opportunity. The Riders are doing themselves a disservice by not turning over the team to him for the next few weeks and giving him an audition. Hoping Fajardo rediscovers his 2019 form by going out there next Friday is simply wishful thinking. 

4 – OFFENSIVE LINE – Yes, the O line is rather offensive to watch and yes the play of the O line will dictate how effective your quarterback can be but eyes don’t lie. Fine ran for his life and had to make quick decisions just like Fajardo did but Fine was able to make more happen despite the limitations. You can make as many excuses for the quarterbacks as you want but this should be a performance based business and while Fine wasn’t awesome, I think a week of practice with the starters and knowing he gets the nod next Friday is worth seeing from an organizational standpoint and I’m not sure what the Riders have to lose at this point by doing that.

5 – HALFTIME – I’ve mentioned numerous times that I don’t consume mainstream media anymore but I got several messages asking if I was watching the TSN panel conduct their witch hunt on Garrett Marino during halftime. The answer is no, but apparently the bullies that sit at that desk spent a few minutes picking apart Marino’s play from the first half. Correct me if I’m wrong but did Marino get flagged for anything on Friday? This is why I can’t watch it. It was bad enough listening to the play by play guy call Mosaic Stadium ‘jam packed’ on the opening kickoff (it was plain to see it was far from jam packed) and then on Bryan Burnham’s one handed TD grab there was not a single word about the football hitting the turf helping him secure the ball. I’m obviously watching a different game. Footnote – I did watch the local media scrum with Marino from last week and some of those questions are downright embarrassing.  

6 – WORLD JUNIORS – The World Junior Hockey Championship was decided in August, without Russia involved, and in an overtime that pitted 3-on-3. This will never happen, but if you want to increase viewership, change the rules to allow for more physical play and don’t use 3-on-3 to decide a champion. Also, let the best teams in the tournament and not just the ones you agree with politically.

7 – FLAMES CREATIVE – I don’t know how they did it, but the Calgary Flames may actually be a better team without Johnny Gaudreau and Matthew Tkachuk. They added Jonathan Huberdeau, Mackenzie Weegar, Nazem Kadri, and a draft pick while also ridding themselves of Shane Monahan’s contract. Bravo.  Well done despite being backed into a corner. Meanwhile, you have teams like Winnipeg who throw their hands up in the air and say they can’t compete and use every excuse under the sun as to why it’s out of the control of the General Manager but he does the best he can despite an impossible situation. Those excuses have never been more hollow after seeing what Brad Treliving has pulled off. If you want to win badly enough, there is always a way. Sorry it isn’t always easy. Sorry you may have to actually earn your wage and get creative.  

8 – O’NEILL RETIRED – The New York Yankees honored Paul O’Neill prior to Sunday’s game against the Blue Jays, but the ceremony was conducted without any of the current Yankee players on the field to witness it. You see, O’Neill is a very dangerous person. He’s unvaccinated! Despite all sorts of evidence to the contrary, Yankee ownership can’t risk him killing members of the current team but it isn’t all that risky for him to be around Jorge Posada, who caught the ‘opening pitch’ from O’Neill. What silliness. And, yet…we allow it.  

9 – RUSH MOVES – The Saskatchewan Rush have retained Kyle Rubisch, but have lost captain Chris Corbeil to the Toronto Rock. On offense, Dan Lintner has been re-signed and it’s hoped he will be able to contribute a bit more than he did last year. He certainly appeared to get more comfortable as the season went along. One significant move that didn’t involve the Rush was Toronto trading Rob Hellyer (15-18-45-63) to expansion Las Vegas for draft picks.  

10 – TRANSGENDER GOLF – 29-year-old Hailey Davidson is set to earn an LPGA card, becoming the first transgender woman to do so. Davidson last competed as a male in 2015 and finished the transition to woman in 2021. Davidson claims to hit the ball 15 mph slower now that she’s female and labeled any criticism as transphobic. The LPGA removed the requirement for female golfers to be born a female in 2010. I have just one observation on this issue: if women who used to be men aren’t at any advantage after becoming a woman, how come we haven’t seen a single story about a man who used to be a woman dominating men’s sports after the transition? Are there even any men, who used to be women, competing with men at a high level such is the case with women, who used to be men? I don’t know if you all followed what I just typed or not. I barely did myself.

(Mike Stackhouse is a freelance writer/broadcaster. Follow him on Twitter at @Stack1975)