MIKE STACKHOUSE’S 10 THOUGHTS

1 – RIDERS FINALLY LOSE – It’s important not to overreact to the Roughriders loss on Saturday.  It was an impossible situation for them. If they beat the Bombers, the critics would be out reminding us they still haven’t beaten a good team that’s at full strength and if they lose, well that must be proof the Riders can’t beat a good team.  Neither argument holds any weight to me. This is a quality team that is a Grey Cup contender as long as they correct the abundance of penalties they seem to be taking.  

2 – MIKE REILLY – Is it fair to question if Mike Reilly is overrated?  When was the last time a top paid quarterback was at the helm of a sad sack team?  Usually, teams are bad because they don’t have a quarterback not because their quarterback is great and the rest of the team sucks.  In the case of the BC Lions, they have supposed top skill, not only at QB, but also at receiver in Duron Carter (although I’m in the minority here and think Carter is one of the most overrated players in the history of the league).  I’m hearing coach DeVone Claybrooks should be given a pass because the state of the roster is one of sadness due to the fact they forked over a ton of dough for Reilly and a couple of others and it’s caused them to have to release a number of other really good players to make things work under the cap.  So, here we have a team with a good coach, the apparent top quarterback in the league, and an elite receiver. They have one win.

3 – ANTONIO BROWN – If you believe these antics about helmets and then the social media videos he posted weren’t all carefully orchestrated actions to get himself released and signed in New England, then I have a very expensive bridge to sell you.  I suspect Brown will, magically, go on good behaviour now and help the Patriots win the Super Bowl; but I’d love to see this backfire. There is no disputing the greatness of the Patriots, but they’ve been the most unlikeable sports team in my lifetime. 

4 – NFL PRESEASON – As I watched the first NFL game of the season on Thursday night, I noticed Aaron Rodgers needed a quarter to get himself ready as he didn’t play in the preseason.  Meanwhile, Mitchell Trubisky was garbage and maybe he isn’t a very good quarterback, but I wonder why a guy like Trubisky gets a pass on the preseason. I think I heard the announcers say he threw one pass in the four weeks of exhibition.  Here’s a guy that is the clear weak link of his team, needs to improve in order for the Bears to have success, and his team decides he doesn’t need the reps before week one? Chances are that if even Rodgers needs a full quarter to get settled, odds are Trubisky is going to need a week or two and maybe won’t ever get himself in a position to lead this team.  If you look back at the Trubisky draft in 2017, where he went second overall, the next two quarterbacks chosen were Patrick Mahomes and Deshaun Watson. Ouch. Anyone who passed on Mahomes should fire their entire scouting staff. If there is a pro athlete in sports who has a chance to be the next Michael Jordan or Wayne Gretzky of his era, it’s Mahomes.

5 – NHL RFAs – It’s really irresponsible for both player agents and General Managers to be sitting on the sidelines and not working feverishly to get these players signed and in camp on time.  There is overwhelming evidence that teams who don’t have their full complement of players in camp never recover and end up having disappointing seasons and there is similar evidence the player also has a disappointing season and never really gets on track.  The fundamental number one job of a player agent is to get the best possible deal for his client. Not negotiating doesn’t accomplish this. The number one job of a manager is to put the best possible product on the ice. Not locking yourself in a room with the agent to find some sort of common ground, essentially, sabotages your team before you even begin. 

6 – SETTING THE MARKET – What I’m constantly hearing is that the RFAs are all waiting on Mitch Marner to ‘set the market’.  Well, the market has already been set, but it’s been set by Timo Meier of the San Jose Sharks, who inked a $24-million deal over 4-years.  Go look at his production and age and then tell me Kyle Connor should get more. He shouldn’t. It’s the most no brainer decision ever if you are going to negotiate based on comparables. I’d also argue negotiating on comparables is a lazy way to do business.  Make a determination as to what the player means to the team and what the team means to the player and get the contracts signed. While Marner may sign for a big number, his importance to the Leafs isn’t as great as Brock Boeser’s is to Vancouver. He also doesn’t play the same game as Matthew Tkachuk in Calgary, so there is no point in using Marner as a comparison on him.  I also look at Sebastian Aho’s $8.45-million per year contract and all of these guys, aside from Marner, should fall in that $6-$8 million per year mark. The only issue is term. That shouldn’t be something that is preventing agent and manager from sitting down and getting deals done.

7 – PROJECTING DEALS – We will see how far off I am and I know some of you will love to pounce and point out my stupidity, but what the heck.  Rantanen $8.5-m per over 5 years. Point $8-m per over 4. Marner $10.25-m per over 5. Laine $6-m per over 2. Connor $6.5-m per over 4. Boeser $7.5-m per over 3.  Tkachuk $7-m per over 4. Krug $5.25-m per over 2. Konecny $4-m per over 2. McAvoy $5m per over 2. Provorov $4.25m per over 2. Fiala $4m per over 3. Werenski $7m per over 5.

8 – RED SOX FIRE DOMBROWSKI – 108 wins and fielding one of the best teams last year wasn’t enough for Dave Dombrowski to survive less than a year later.  Fans are blaming him for not assembling a bullpen, but Brandon Workman looks like a legit closer and he, along with Marcus Walden are a combined 18-3 with an ERA 2.80.  Matt Barnes has been steady, Darwinzon Hernandez has posted a 2.83 ERA in 25 games since his recall, and Josh Taylor has been a nice find with 57 strikeouts in 43 innings and an ERA of 2.91.  Meanwhile, their starting staff of Chris Sale (4.40), David Price (4.28), Rick Porcello (5.83), and Nathan Eovaldi (5.77) has gotten a free pass despite being all kinds of brutal. While it’s true the Red Sox bullpen has blown their fair share of leads, they also have been asked to pitch 4-5 innings a game, which is too much despite the modern day thought in baseball that pitchers should be used like mosquito house league pitchers.  It’s also fair to say Mookie Betts has had a down year although Boston’s offensive production has been near the top of the majors. The Red Sox are 58-64 in games not decided by Workman and Walden. Say what you want about wins not meaning a whole bunch anymore to a pitcher’s ledger, but that tells me more than I need to know.

9 – SJHL SEASON STARTS FRIDAY – I have season previews of each SJHL team on the league website and it’s difficult to pinpoint a favorite, but I’ll go with Battlefords as a good bet to repeat.  They have a strong nucleus coming back; but they’ll need to identify a strong number one goalie. Kindersley, Flin Flon, Nipawin, and Melfort would be my other favorites at the moment. The Klippers also have a strong group back from a competitive team last year; while Flin Flon has completely reloaded with a brand new cast of prolific forwards who will fill the net.  Melfort is good in goal and their defense is strong, but they’ll need to secure some scoring. The Hawks have a hole in net, but otherwise appear to be solid and are well coached.

10 – PFC UPDATE – The Calgary Colts launched a fourth quarter comeback on Saturday and defeated the Edmonton Wildcats 17-12 to improve to 1-and-3 after they endured an 0-and-8 season last year.  The Saskatoon Hilltops completed a sweep of the Regina Thunder as they move to 4-and-0 while the Thunder fall to 2-and-2. The Edmonton Huskies and Winnipeg Rifles were off. The Huskes are 2-and-1, the Rifles 1-and-2.  The Hilltops, while not blowing teams out, are the class of the league once again but it’s a real horse race between the Huskies, Thunder, and Rifles for second and very little to choose between the three squads. All three have electric quarterbacks who can make a lot happen (Riley Naujoks in Winnipeg, Blake Scherle for Regina, Declan O’Flaherty with the Huskies).  Having watched all three, I’ll give the slide nod to O’Flaherty but Scherle is fun to watch and Naujoks passed for almost 600 yards in a game a couple of weeks ago.

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