MIKE STACKHOUSE’S 10 THOUGHTS

1 – DOUBLE STANDARD – Dane Evans is drawing rave reviews for his impressive second half performance against Toronto on Monday, and rightfully so.  However, Cody Fajardo was 24-of-31 for 430 yards and a pair of scores against the Argos and the narrative was that we need to wait until Fajardo plays a good team.  That was on July 1st. It’s post-Labour Day and Fajardo has led the Riders to six straight wins and I’m still hearing ‘Wait until Fajardo plays a good team’ comments.

2 – HARRIS AND NICHOLS PLAY DEFENSE? – Some folks, several of whom profess to be Rider fans, say Sunday’s victory proves nothing as the first place Blue Bombers were missing their number one quarterback and number one running back.  Okay, but the Bombers are built around their defense and Fajardo passed for 300 yards and led a game winning drive from his own five yard line to secure the win. I think we can let him off the hook and if there is a player more deserving of the MOP through the 10 game mark of the season, I’d like to know who it is.  I’m not saying he’s clear cut, but I’d have him in front of Trevor Harris by a nose.

3 – SAME RESULT – We will never know and have no way of knowing, but the stat line (aside from two interceptions that ended up being harmless) of Chris Streveler wasn’t a lot different than what Nichols puts up on a normal day.  The rushing totals for the Bombers were in line with what Andrew Harris does on a weekly basis. Saskatchewan dominated this game and played terribly with missed tackles and penalties. They still won. I don’t see any reason why they don’t sweep this home and home unless the same problems from Sunday rear their ugly head this weekend.

4 – SPORTSNET EXODUS – NHL analysts Nick Kypreos, John Shannon, and Doug MacLean have been ousted by Rogers Sportsnet in a cost cutting move designed to stop financial bleeding from their 12-year, $5.2-billion dollar broadcast deal with the NHL. It’s ironic they would spend that kind of money to have NHL rights and they’ll spend the last 6-years of this deal pinching pennies and providing budget coverage for the viewer, making the product unwatchable for those who value broadcasting within their sports telecasts. Edmonton games (play by play) have been unwatchable for years and now the intermissions on Hockey Night In Canada and their other magazine style sessions are going to be brutal because there is no credibility. Sportsnet does the same thing with junior hockey. They, basically, throw it away by using amateur talent.  If you can’t afford to broadcast sports, then don’t.

5 – FURTHER – Which brings me to my next point on this. I think we aren’t that far off from there being only one sports network in Canada. Both Sportsnet and TSN have all these channels and the majority of them are just repeating content on other channels and there just isn’t enough out there. I could be wrong, but I thought the intent with Sportsnet when it was divided up into regions as for each regional channel to provide content that is of interest to people who live in that area. So, for Sportsnet West shouldn’t that mean an added focus on the Roughriders? Maybe a half hour show on the Rush? Perhaps added coverage of university sports or the WHL? How about airing The Rod Pedersen Show across the prairies? I realize all this costs money, but I go back to my original point: if you can’t afford to do sports broadcasting, then don’t. Heck, I’d actually be on board with a Sports Central show based out of Calgary or Edmonton where the focus is on the prairies instead of having Toronto shoved down my throat every night. But, I realize we are all captivated by the Maple Leafs not having a captain.

6 – SPORTS JOURNALISM – I can’t speak for everyone, but I’d watch more Sportsnet and TSN if I got content along the lines of what Rick Westhead was doing on TSN with concussions and the Joe Murphy story. Westhead also did a podcast on Steve Durbano that was amazing. He’s one of the only true sports journalists left. Everyone else is just a glorified marketing, public relations official. The NHL doesn’t want Sportsnet talking about issues that could be critical, so it’s cheerleading all day every day. Even Bob McCown became a kitten on his NHL critiques once Rogers got the contract to broadcast the rights.

7 – FURTHER ON SPORTS REPORTING – Last week, an anonymous (surprise, surprise) poster criticized me and said I’d not stand within three inches of a person I’m ripping apart in these columns.  Whether I would or not is not my argument here, but this is why you don’t get real critical reporting anymore. If a Winnipeg Jets beat reporter calls out Paul Maurice for questionable lineup decisions, it puts a cozy relationship at risk. It used to be that these types of relationships weren’t cozy, but respectful. But, in today’s world we are all so sensitive about what someone else says about us that it’s easier to just avoid it all and in the case of sports reporters, they mail in their interviews and comments so that there is never ever a confrontation; but you almost always see reporters kick the coach or the player after they leave town. 

8 – GREAT RADIO PLAY BY PLAY STORY – When I was a child, I had the pleasure of going on the road with the AHL’s Fredericton Express.  A local pharmacy ran a contest for a youngster to travel with the team for a weekend and when I was 12 years-old I got to go to New Haven and Springfield over a three day period. While I was exposed to all of the players, it was play by play man Dave Morell who I was most drawn to. I recall Morell telling my Big Brother (who accompanied me on the trip) about an instance where the coach was in a fight at a strip club and received a black eye but Morell was able to provide cover for him the next game by saying what was a routine icing was instead a puck fired into the bench and it struck the head coach and hopefully he’s okay but it looks like he may have suffered some sort of laceration on his face.

9 – SMALL WORLD – The player who made the most impact on me during that trip was enforcer Richard Zemlak. Keep in mind I was 11-years-old and this was Fredericton, New Brunswick. Little did I know that close to 20 years later I’d end up in Yorkton doing morning radio and a 75 minute drive away from Zemlak’s small hometown community of Wynyard. My first trip to that rink was surreal for me. I told a story on the air one day about how most people have Mario Lemieux, Wayne Gretzky, and Mark Messier as their favorite players, I had Richard Zemlak. One of Zemlak’s relatives ended up calling the station and Zemlak, himself, even sent me a couple of messages through email after hearing about my story. Turns out he recalled the weekend (or so he said lol). Zemlak also played for the Melville Millionaires, an SJHL team I have come to work close with over the years.

10 – PLAYERS ON THAT TRIP – Aside from Zemlak, other players on that trip in 1986 that took time out of their schedule to make a youngster feel important included Frank Caprice, David Bruce, Claude Julien, Gary Lupul (rest in peace), and former Regina Pat Taylor Hall (also a very nice guy I recall at the time),  Regina native Mark Kirton was on the bus that weekend as was Alain Lemieux, Mario’s brother.

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