Stackhouse’s 10 Weekend Thoughts

1 – RIDERS DOMINANCE – The Saskatchewan Roughriders are 5-and-1 and while it’s open for debate, they are the top team in the CFL as we hit the ⅓ point after they dismantled the BC Lions 33-27 in a game that will go down as close because it was decided by one score but it was never actually close at all.  The Riders came out with Trevor Harris slinging the ball all over the field and they jumped in front early and were never, ever in danger of losing the game.  From here, they’ll host Edmonton and will be 6-and-1 by the time I write next week’s article.  Yes, I know Calgary beat the Riders a couple of weeks ago.  Yes, I know Calgary beat Winnipeg this week.  But, my eyeballs tell me the Riders are the top team.  They are well-coached enough that if the two teams played again next week, Calgary isn’t winning.  Yes, the Stamps are better than we all thought but no they are not the best team.  Depending on the injury situations in Montreal and Winnipeg, it’s possible the Riders are going to roll the rest of the way.  Enjoy the ride.

2 – ROURKE HYPE – Nathan Rourke had a nice scramble where he alluded some Rider defenders and then completed a pass to Ayden Eberhardt for a touchdown.  The usual CFL ‘analyst’ types on social media went all gaga over it and I even saw one silly comment that was along the lines of ‘this is why he’s the highest paid player’.  I’m sorry but I don’t even have Rourke in the top five at his position and this is only a 9-team league.  If these analysts are all sitting at their computers and are confident that they’d rather have Rourke over Harris, then they and I are not watching the same games.  Harris would have had his second straight 400 yard passing game if not for the fact the Riders were way ahead and they kept it on the ground for the last 10 minutes.  I get there is hype surrounding Rourke and the CFL NEEDS a marquee face but it’s not who everyone is trumpeting.  He’s had more than enough time to look like a man amongst boys and he’s not up to the task.  Quit insulting us by exaggerating every time he does something decent (which isn’t often enough).

3 – QB RANKINGS – The best quarterback in the CFL by a country mile is Davis Alexander but he’s going back to the injured list for 5-6 weeks after he tried to return from a hamstring injury too soon.  Alexander led the Als from a 25-7 deficit to win 26-25 over Toronto on Thursday night.  The second best quarterback is Zach Collaros but he was injured on Friday night and Winnipeg, clearly, is not a Grey Cup contender without him.  I have Harris and Vernon Adams 3rd and 4th, followed by Bo-Levi Mitchell.  Then, I suppose I have to put Rourke in ahead of Dru Brown, Nick Arbuckle, and Tre Ford.  Wouldn’t it be something if Cody Fajardo gets into that game with the Riders next week and makes things interesting.  Fajardo is probably better than Rourke too but I totally get Edmonton wanting to give Ford the runway to prove whether he is or isn’t the answer long term.  

4 – BUYER BEWARE – I am seeing fans calling for a sold out stadium next week but I would remind you that if you buy a ticket it’s possible the game could be cancelled for any reason that Big Brother deems necessary to protect everyone’s health and safety.  It’s funny.  I was in a conversation with a non-sports person this week and we were talking about how it’s not good for society when a liquor store is offering delivery service until 3am.  We also talked about how gambling has ruined a lot of lives and then I said, “If you follow the money it really isn’t all that difficult to discern which things are crucial for your health and safety and which things aren’t.”  We care so much about professional football players that we can’t possibly allow them to go out and play in smoky conditions.  However, here’s a delivery service so you can drink yourself into a coma–in some cases I mean this literally.  And, people wonder why I have a disdain for certain rulers/politicians/experts.

5 – ONLY SOME BAD GUYS ARE BLACKBALLED – Former Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Julio Urias will be done serving a two year suspension for violating MLB’s Domestic Violence, Sexual Assault, and Child Abuse policy at the end of 2025 and he’s already making it known he intends on resuming his career.  Unlike the situation with Trevor Bauer, there is a great deal of interest in Urias and it’s said as many as five teams are willing to give him a contract.  It is further evidence that Bauer is being blackballed for his outspoken criticism of Rob Manfred rather than a unified approach by teams to only have players of high moral standard on their rosters. 

6 – ALLSTAR GAME – I don’t watch All-Star Games in any sport but baseball was the last professional entity in which the actual game was played with a semblance of seriousness.  That has changed in recent years and especially this year when the game, which was tied 6-6 after nine innings, was decided by a home run-off (similar to the hockey shootout I guess but worse) as a batting coach and a protective netting was brought out onto the field and balls were lobbed in to a power hitter and the team that hit the most bombs was declared the winner.  Kyle Schwarber, who didn’t have a hit in the actual game, was declared the MVP.  The losing ‘pitcher’ was the coach who didn’t appear in the actual game.  I’m sure some of you watched and thought it was great but this is a farce.  Having said that, it’s only a matter of time before real games are decided in this manner.

7 – UFC 318 – Max Holloway defeated Dustin Poirier in a unanimous decision to cap UFC318 in what was Poirier’s final fight of his career.  Best known for defeating Connor McGregor, Poirier was able to go out by putting on a solid performance as he won two of the five rounds last night and Holloway showed a lot of class postmatch by saying very little in the interview and turning over the microphone to Poirier so he could enjoy the moment.  Overall, it was a good fight.  Both combatants were in trouble, at least, once over the five rounds but there should be no debate Holloway was better on this night, the third time the two had gone at it with Poirier winning the first two.  

8 – MORE UFC – The Lightweight Division is the most captivating for me with Ilia Topuria sitting on top and he does appear to be unchallenged at the moment but there is a long list of interesting potential match-ups after him amongst contenders Holloway, Justin Gaethje, Paddy Pimblett, Arman Tsarukyan (who hasn’t fought in over a year), and possibly Islam Makhachev depending on which weight class he picks.  Overall, I would say UFC318 was not captivating although Patricio Pitbull, at 38, won his first UFC match by taking a unanimous decision from Dan Ige but Pitbull was underwhelming for the second fight in a row.  Daniel Rodriguez and Kevin Holland had the most entertaining fight of the card.  Both should have been knocked out a couple of times throughout the match but Rodriguez emerged 29-28 on all three judge cards.

9 – RATTLERS SEASON – There are just six games remaining in what has been a torturous season for fans of the Saskatchewan Rattlers.  The Rattlers got blasted twice this week to fall to 4-and-14 and the roster changes keep on coming too as Nate Pierre Louis didn’t dress on Friday (injured?), paving the way for Alex Garcia to make his first start as a pro and he did his part by dropping 25-points and going 10-of-21 from the field.  Tevian Jones, released last week by Winnipeg, has become the alpha, scoring 31 and 21 points respectively in the two starts he made this week since joining the Rattlers.  Team defense has been a problem all season, in addition to line-up continuity, but the real glaring weakness has been the lack of contribution from the bench and the obvious lack of confidence the coaching staff has in the reserves through their minimal minutes played.  

10 – UNFORTUNATE NEWS – A radical left wing commenter on my write-up last week, sarcastically, mentioned that I hadn’t written about any deaths for awhile but I figured I should point out that I didn’t stop because the deaths are no longer happening.  I just wasn’t putting them in week after week after week anymore.  But, I believe in giving the people what they want, so here we go with a couple from this week:  2018 Super Bowl champion Bryan Braman, a linebacker for the Philadelphia Eagles, passed away at the age of 38 this week after battling a rare form of cancer.  Unfortunately, we have seen a lot of instances where a ‘rare’ cancer has claimed the life of a person.  At what point is it not ‘rare’ anymore? Meanwhile, 20-year-old South Dakota State RB Nate White passed away this week from a very normal but tragic health event that disrupted his breathing and caused his heart to stop.  There were more than these two that I saw but what’s the point?  It’s depressing and sad for all of us regardless of the reason.  Trust me, I take no satisfaction in writing about these but unless you are an elite politician you can expect life to be a shorter span than it used to be.

(Mike Stackhouse is a freelance writer/broadcaster)