STACKHOUSE’S 10 THOUGHTS

1 – ANOTHER RIDER EMBARRASSMENT – The Saskatchewan Roughriders are an unmitigated disaster at this point as they suffered their fifth straight loss on Saturday, another listless effort by the players in a 38-13 drubbing by the Hamilton Ti-Cats. The Riders are 6-and-17 in their last 23 games overall and aside from a one month stretch to begin the 2023 season when they started 3-and-1, they are 3-and-16 in their last 19 overall. You can blame the coaching staff for sure, but there is plenty of blame that can go around and nobody should be absolved. Even if the Riders lose out their remaining two games, it would be stunning to see them miss the playoffs. Having said that, they appear to be easy fodder in the division semi-final.

2 – FANS LOSING INTEREST – More and more, the reactions from Roughrider fans on social media seems to be that they aren’t willing to spend any more money on this football club until wholesale changes are made. There are two schools of thought to that tactic, the first of which is that fans should support their team through thick and thin and be loyal no matter what. The second school of thought is that unless you withhold your money, the team is under no pressure to actually do anything about its ineptitude. I tend to fall into the second line of thinking. Those who subscribe to thought one believe that if they stopped supporting, it could result in losing the franchise. To that I would say if the franchise is repeatedly dysfunctional and not worth your money, maybe it needs to go away anyway. It’s tough love, but spending money is the only leverage fans have when it comes to demanding more from their favorite team.  

3 – LAST HOME GAME WILL BE A MESSAGE – I believe the Riders have sunk to a level where too many fans have gone from mad to apathetic and that’s a dangerous place to be. The team isn’t going anywhere so fans don’t need to be afraid of losing the franchise. After all, they are reporting healthy profits.  But, fewer bums in the seats means it is harder to secure sponsorship dollars and the proof is in the pudding as far as those steering the ship is concerned. If Mosaic Stadium was still selling out there would be no motivation to change it. There is one home game left, Saturday October 21 against Toronto. Based on the Argos’ record, it’s almost a guaranteed loss. The number of people at this game could go a long way towards how much of a gutting occurs in the offseason. Some of you will say my opinion on this is harsh, but how many times do you go to a restaurant and put up with a bad meal or bad service?  

4 – FREE TICKETS – I’ve never been a fan of promotions where tickets are just ‘given away’, even if a corporate entity pays for them behind the scenes. The message sent to the general public is that you have a product that is worth, essentially, nothing.  So when you start next season’s ticket drive and demand upwards of $100 a seat, it becomes a tall order for the sales agents because why would you pay $100 for something that the seller was willing to give for free weeks ago?

5 – VOUCHERS – Here’s a promotion where tickets are ‘given away’ but I can get behind it to some degree:  the Saskatchewan Rush are rewarding people who purchase 3-packs by giving them a voucher to the home opener in an effort to get SaskTel Centre sold out.  So, it’s not ‘free’.  You have to commit to regular ticket prices for 3 games in order to get the voucher.  The club has also made wholesale changes to its roster so this is a good way to entice people to get out and get acquainted with the newcomers.  I’d also say that these widespread changes to the team were prompted by the fact the Rush were sold out, consistently, during their heyday of winning titles but as soon as they became mediocre, attendance dropped off by 30%.  It’s clear the organization is listening and wants to get their fans back.  The best way to do that is to try and return to their perch atop the NLL.

6 – SENS NORRIS – The NHL season opens Tuesday and the Ottawa Senators begin play on Wednesday.  The Sens are already in a state of puzzlement as it was expected centerman Josh Norris would be ready to go after shoulder surgery limited him to just 8 games last year.  Norris was deemed 100% recovered late this Summer but then there was word he ‘tweaked’ something early in training camp.  Norris skated with a non-contact jersey and then was upgraded to being close to a full participant and it was widely assumed he’d get into a preseason game or two but then those plans were put off and now the team is saying they have no idea when he will play. To me, this appears to be headed towards another surgery (which would be his third) and one has to wonder if Norris shouldn’t just hang them up if he’s at risk of shoulder surgery every time he hits the ice and takes a bump.

7 – BASEBALL ANALYTICS – I’ve written a fair amount recently about how analytics is ruining sports and I declared a week ago that analytics has already destroyed baseball.  That was on full display for anyone to see this week in the Blue Jays series with Minnesota.  Jose Berrios was rolling along through 3-innings, but gave up a base runner to start the fourth.  The Twins had left handed hitters coming up.  Analytics says bring in the left handed pitcher to face the left handed hitters as that’s your best chance to get them out.  Analytics doesn’t take into account Berrios is pitching great nor does it take into account Yusei Kikuchi is a starting pitcher and not adept at coming into the middle of an inning.  But, who cares.  The data says do it.  Oh, and then there’s the little tidbit concerning Berrios making $131-million over 7-years.  What are you paying him for?  Three innings and 47 pitches?  Good-bye Toronto, but I assure you this won’t be the last stupid decision an MLB manager makes in these playoffs.

8 – BASE LAYERS – Hockey Canada, for all of its infinite wisdom, has come out with a new policy that requires all players under age 18 to arrive at the rink with a base layer of clothing on and if they don’t, they will need to get dressed in a private bathroom.  I’ve seen widespread criticism of this new order and to that I would simply say this: all players should arrive at the rink the same way they always have and all players should then go one by one into the private bathroom to get dressed.  It won’t take long for games to be delayed and schedules to run behind.  But, alas, everyone will feel safe now because this was a major issue that Hockey Canada just needed to get off its plate, right?  One friend of mine posted on a social media page, and I thought it was a well pointed message, that while Hockey Canada covers your insurance, very very few actually get to experience Hockey Canada programming.  That’s reserved for the elite of the elite and yet everyone is subjected to punitive rules while the elites actually are not, for the most part.  Again, if you are a frequent reader of this column you know my stance on a lot of this.  We aren’t coming back but the truth is this – people in charge of hockey have done more to make it unpopular with participants and fans alike for the last 30+ years.  Go look at enrollment numbers and attendance numbers to games that are not NHL and I rest my case.  I do wonder about more private hockey organizations cropping up but that takes a lot of money.

9 – SHOWER IN A SUIT – Apparently, if you want to shower after the game you will need to wear a bathing suit if the showers are communal.  Showering in a bathing suit is just plain stupid because a lot of the area covered is where you should pay the most attention to when cleaning.  Furthermore, how are you getting into the bathing suit?  Private bathrooms again?  Then stand in line for the private bathroom to slip back into your street clothes after the shower?  So what’s the point of this base layer?  It’s all nonsense, but Canadian corporations are uber-focused on things that, ultimately, don’t matter and it’s not changing.  Ever.  We’ve let people who should never make decisions create crucial policies for the rest of us and almost nobody speaks up because to hurt someone’s feelings would be worse.

10 – DECISION-MAKERS – Here’s an example of the type of people you are dealing with when it comes to making rules for hockey in Canada:  during the Covid craziness when we couldn’t figure out how to put participants on the ice despite games being played (safely I might add) to full arenas as soon as you crossed an imaginary line called the Canadian/American border there was a serious consideration given to forcing referees and linesmen (oh sorry, linespersons) to wear full facial shields (bubbles) when officiating games.  It was only stopped when the revelation of it being impossible to blow the whistle was exposed as a major hurdle.  

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