Stackhouse’s 10 Weekend Thoughts

*BONUS – RIDERS DOMINATE – Most of my article was written before Saturday;s game, so I’m starting this week with a bonus point. The Riders made a major statement by blowing out the BC Lions 39-8 on Saturday night, which assures them of a home game in the playoffs. I think it’s actually going to be better than that. I see no reason to think Saskatchewan loses at home to Calgary in two weeks and I have every reason to believe Winnipeg will lose to Montreal in their final game. That would mean the Riders clinch first and home field advantage in the West final. I’d also say with how the season has unfolded, ranking the Riders any lower than first overall at this point is doing them a disservice. The Bombers are coming off a loss and whoever else you may have as a top team simply isn’t consistent enough. Nevertheless, let’s say the Riders finish second and play BC in the West semi-final.  It’s going to be an uncompetitive game unless the Lions decide to play a quarterback based on results as opposed to reputation. Their season went down the drain the moment Nathan Rourke returned and, by now, Rourke should have turned things around. He’s been unsuccessful at doing so and the only chance they have to salvage their year is to reinstall Vernon Adams as their starter. I was in Rourke’s corner when he returned from the NFL and I was excited to watch him excel, but he’s been a colossal disappointment and it’s time the Lions cut bait for this year and see if he’s got anything left next year.

1 – RIDERS RENT FREE – Rather than criticize the story that broke this week over the Saskatchewan Roughriders owing rent to the City of Regina, I’d rather just ask questions because there are quite a few tidbits surrounding Rider financials that have made me ask questions in recent years. Nobody has been able to answer them or even acknowledge that they have merit so I will go through this again. After a modest profit of about $20,000 in 2019 and a loss of $47,000 in 2020, the Riders announced a loss of $8.3-million due to the Covid pandemic. However, they rebounded with two straight seasons of making $3-million plus another $3-million in Grey Cup revenue and so the team was declared recovered. I was blown away at how the team was able to record such huge profits coming off the pandemic and having to deal with smaller attendance numbers in a rough economy but I give the folks in charge a lot of credit for making it happen. We are talking financial figures in the millions rather than the tens of thousands. However, now we learn the Riders owe the City of Regina $3.6-million in pandemic rent and are asking for $1.33-million to be forgiven entirely. The numbers don’t add up. It’s possible I missed it in the media reports or it’s possible the media simply didn’t have anyone astute enough to look into the numbers with more depth but why are we just finding out about this now? Why didn’t the Riders acknowledge in a more public way that unpaid rent isn’t included in the financials?  Nevertheless, the most recent financial report from 2023 isn’t as good as 2022 and the team has even gone so far as to blame ticket holders for part of the reason why as various promotions were cited as a factor in reduced revenue.

2 – TICKETS FREE – This leads us to today (Saturday’s) and the game against the BC Lions where it’s being widely reported by fans that thousands of tickets are being offered up for free to ensure a full stadium in a crucial game that is, likely, to determine who gets a home playoff game. Heck, I’d even go so far as to say if the Riders win this game they may very well end up in first place when all is said and done. It hardly screams of a game where tickets should be given away in order to entice people to go. Here’s another problem with giving away tickets: you devalue the entire product and risk upsetting those who pay face value for game admittance.  I feel like I’m qualified to speak on this. It was over 25 years ago and I was way before my time. I had launched a website called Prairie Sportslink but I had no clue how to harness it as a money maker. The site is long gone and while I had thousands of people checking it out several times a day, it made no money in advertising because the ads that I did have—I gave them away for nothing in an effort to show potential buyers how successful the ads would be. The opposite occurred. What I did was show the buyer what I had to offer wasn’t worth anything because I didn’t put a price on it. After I gave it away for free, it was a lot more difficult to walk into someone’s office and then explain why it’s now time to pay for it. If you believe in your product, no matter what it is, put a price on it and stick to your guns.

3 – COMMENTS NOT FREE – Being right can be expensive. Edmonton QB McLeod Bethel-Thompson has been fined for a third time for bringing the CFL into disrepute after he, correctly, pointed out that a video review that overturned a call on the field was ‘bogus’ and a ‘ridiculous call’.  The league really has no choice but to bring the hammer down on him as it tries to fend off an increasing number of allegations from fans on social media that certain calls are made on purpose to serve ulterior motives (possibly with regards to sports betting) rather than being chalked up as continuous incompetence.  The CFL has a problem here and while it’s one thing to blame on-field officials who only get one look in real-time at getting the call right, it’s an entirely different story when there are those watching film and are interpreting what they see rather than just going with the basic evidence in front of them.  

4 – VINTAGE NHL – At the time of this writing, it’s Saturday morning and I’m watching a rerun of NESN’s first ever hockey broadcast.  It’s from October 11th, 1984 and it featured the Boston Bruins against the Pittsburgh Penguins in what was Mario Lemieux’s first game as a pro.  I won’t be able to articulate this properly because the athletes today are in so much better physical condition than they were back then but as far as entertainment value is concerned there is no comparison.  1984 hockey blows 2024 hockey away.  I’m not saying the players are better.  I’m saying I enjoyed it more.  The players weren’t as fast, there was more space on the ice, the scoring chances were more frequent, the goalies wore less equipment making for less predictability with shots on net, the overall play was more physical but I never saw a fight, the goals were all the result of actual designed plays rather than deflections off a guy’s leg trying to block a shot, and the play by play announcer (Fred Cusick) was better than any single play by play voice you will hear today (more on that next point).  We aren’t ever going back to that and I’m not advocating as such.  I’m merely pointing out that the game used to be a lot different and if you are younger and can get over the bad video quality, you should watch a game or two from 30-40 years ago.  You’d be doing yourself a favor.

5 – BRUINS ANNOUNCER – Fred Cusick was the Bruins play by play voice for over 40 years and his involvement in sports broadcasting spanned seven decades.  He passed away 15 years ago at the age of 83 and while I don’t often hear his name associated with the greatest of all-time, there is no doubt he belongs there.  It could be that I’m older and I just don’t have the same respect for the younger announcers, but I feel like there is a major dropoff here when you look at the more famous play callers from yesteryear and compare them to today.  This goes for all major sports (hockey, football, baseball, basketball).  I think what’s happened is we have people doing games who are looking to be a part of an historical call and their enthusiasm is manufactured rather than natural.  Cusick, it’s easy to tell, was enjoying the game just like a fan in the seats.  He just also happened to be describing what he saw.  Announcers, today, sound like they are trying to be a part of the overall package and they seem to feel as though their call is just as important as a walk-off homer, overtime goal, touchdown pass, etc. 

6 – DON’T VOTE – By accident, I clicked on a social media post from one of Saskatchewan’s sports talk radio programs earlier this week and while I only listened for about 120 seconds, I was floored at the level of indifference expressed by one of the hosts surrounding the elections.  While it’s a stretch to suggest as much, one could make the argument there was a subtle promotion to listeners to not waste their time casting a ballot.  On one hand, I think sports announcers are lucky that what they do for a living is actually quite detached from society and, therefore, there are a number of them who have no sense of true real life.  Policies that are put in place don’t matter to them and, as such, they exhibit no actual knowledge about anything aside from who holds the record for rushing yards in a season.   

7 – NHL COMMERCIALS – I’m not sure if these television ads have been shown on Canadian tv or not, so forgive me if I’m talking about something everyone has already seen but the NHL gets an A+ from me on two ads that I’ve noticed so far. The first one promotes the Minnesota Wild and has the team impersonating a Squirt level team by enjoying hotel life through pillow fights, water slides, mini sticks in the hallway, etc.  The other plays off the typical complaints of Generation Z and shows players in that age bracket performing at peak levels.  Both are extremely well produced.

8 – FREEMAN HEALTH PARANOIA – A photo on social media of Los Angeles Dodgers first baseman Freddie Freeman that showed his ankle being heavily bandaged seemed to indicate Freeman is playing through a major injury.  However, it’s worth pointing out that Freeman isn’t the sharpest knife in the drawer and he may be going the extra mile protecting his ankle.  Remember, he believed he was on the verge of passing away in 2020 when he registered a fever and even went so far as to tell the media he prayed to God to spare him.

9 – HARKLESS NBA – Former Saskatchewan Rattler guard Elijah Harkless, who played 10 games for the team this season, made his NBA debut Friday night during a preseason game with the LA Clippers.  I believe Harkless is the first Rattler to make the NBA after seeing time as a Rattler.  Harkless finished with 3 points (1 for 2 shooting) and two personal fouls in seven minutes of action.  Overall, the CEBL continues to gain steam as being a strong option for players looking to build their professional resume with the ultimate dream of making the NBA.  The challenge, especially for the Rattlers, is ensuring minimal roster turnover during the regular season, which runs from late May to early August.

10 – DODGERS BULLPEN GAME – At the start of the season, the Los Angeles Dodgers were consensus favorites to win the World Series and they still very well may do that but not because of the reasons most people assumed.  The Dodgers spent almost $500-million on Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Tyler Glasnow, and Clayton Kershaw to go along with the likes of James Paxton, Walker Buehler, Gavin Stone, and Bobby Miller.  They also added Jack Flaherty at midseason to give them eight options to start games.  You could make the argument that all eight are ‘opening day’ level pitchers.  However, with the Padres leading the NLDS 2-games-to-1, the Dodgers opted for a bullpen game to stave off elimination.  It worked, by the way.  Then in game five, Yamamoto got the ball despite allowing 11 runs in his last 11 innings and he delivered 5 shutout innings in the game that mattered most.  The point here is that starting pitchers should soon realize they aren’t worth 10–cents on the open market.  The Dodgers innings leader was Stone, at a paltry 140.  He also cost them the least as far as salary but he’s been on the shelf since late August and won’t pitch in the playoffs.  Kershaw, Miller, and Glasnow are all hurt too and also not on the roster.  Paxton was released.  The evidence has never been stronger that you can build a pitching staff with a bunch of journeymen and all you need them to do is pitch 1-2 innings at a time and you can win a title.  Exciting.  Who wanted to watch Nolan Ryan anyway?      

(Mike Stackhouse is a freelance writer/broadcaster)