STACKHOUSE’S 10 MONDAY THOUGHTS

1 – RUSH GAME RECAP I – Saskatchewan Rush fans supported their team with the largest attendance of the season and the players reciprocated by winning a 17-14 barn burner over the San Diego Seals in what has to be the second most exciting game of the year (I have the late February overtime win over Colorado as the number one game this season).  This game had everything.  The fans were engaged, the place was loud.  The Rush trailed by as much as 7-3 in the second quarter.  It was as rough as rough gets.  There was a fight.  And, down the stretch in the fourth quarter the Rush got clutch netminding from Adam Shute for the second game in a row despite Shute struggling mightily in the first half.

2 – RUSH GOALTENDING – I wrote a little bit about it last week and the fact that lacrosse teams need their goalie to make big saves at the right time, not so much a lot of saves over the course of the game.  You can have a decent save percentage but if you melted down in the fourth quarter what good is it?  Shute allowed seven goals on the first 22-shots and was even pulled in favor of young Cam Dunkerley for a minute or two in the second but then returned re-focused and stopped 22 of the next 29 and only allowed two in the final quarter as the Rush came back from 12-11 down to win by three.

3 – GAME RECAP II – Jeff Shattler’s last home game was a memorable one as he scored two goals and four assists.  Robert Church had a couple of beauties amongst his four (eight points) and Mark Matthews scored once and had a hand in eight others.  Defenseman Bobby Kidd even got in on the act scoring twice (he has three on the season).  What does GM Derek Keenan do with this team in the offseason?  At 4-and-10 there was every reason under the sun to mail in the remainder of the year but the players have rattled off three wins in a row.  They’ve outshot the opposition in 15 of the 17 games this season so there still is a lot of talent here. However, the record isn’t good enough.  Shute has surely given them something to think about as far as goaltending is concerned with two clutch performances and Eric Penney, before going down with appendicitis, also showed flashes.  The team has Dunkerley and Laine Hruska also in the wings.  I maintain they never effectively replaced Ben McIntosh and Ryan Keenan hasn’t had a great year.  With Shattler retiring I think the onus to find a prolific forward, who can challenge for a 100 point campaign, is the number one priority.  Those players don’t grow on trees.  Rookie Jeff Teat (New York Riptide) has 100 points and Patrick Dodds of Panther City has 81 so you can get it from a rookie but it’s exceptionally rare.

4 – SHATTLER HONORED – Before the game, the team honored Shattler, who is fully expected to retire his storied career at the end of the season.  The fans gave him a much deserved send off.  The fans also did the same for the Hulk mascot (Kelvin Ooms), who is packing in his costume after being a very impactful figurehead in the Saskatoon community since the Rush moved to Saskatoon in 2016.

5 – FANS THROW FOOD – An MLB game between Cleveland and the Yankees turned ugly after the Yanks walked it off on Saturday as moronic fans in right-centre field threw debris at Myles Straw and Orlando Mercado.  Apparently, there had been some verbal sparring between Straw and immature, classless fans throughout the game and, at one point, Straw ended up scaling the wall to get at one of the mouthpieces.  When the game ended, people threw their $20 pizza slices and $25 cups of beer at the two outfielders.  For me, there is a very easy way to deal with this.  You go back and look at the video and then the ticket brokers get together and you lifetime ban the names and email accounts associated with the seats in question.

6 – MEANS SURGERY – Baltimore Orioles pitcher John Means is set to undergo Tommy John Surgery this week.  He threw a grand total of 146 innings last year, so I would like all the baseball people who preach pitcher coddling to preserve health to explain to me what more could have been done in this situation.  Speaking of coddling, it used to be that rehab from Tommy John took about 12-14 months.  It now seems to be 15-18 months.  The advances of medicine.

7 – HEXTALL INTERVIEW – NHL commentator Leah Hextall, who was located between the benches at ice level during a recent game, was privy to an exchange between Wayne Simmonds and Patrick Maroon where Maroon called Simmonds ‘soft’.  The first question Leah asked him was ‘are you in fact soft’ after also stating that Simmonds and Maroon have a history of dropping the gloves with each other previously.  Simmonds responded he’s never actually fought Maroon but the criticism of Hextall seems to be centered around whether or not asking him if he’s soft is a good question.  Here’s what I will say:  defending or criticizing Hextall because she’s a woman (which has been the common refrain of most) makes you look like a moron.  For me, I loved the question, minus the part where she didn’t look good saying she ‘knows’ Simmonds and Maroon have a history.  I hate canned questions followed by canned answers.  And, maybe the question is stupid but do you know how many stupid questions I’ve heard come from the mouths of male Winnipeg sports reporters just in the last six months?  Too many to count and too many of them to mention by name.

8 – CLASSLESS DEPARTURE – Speaking of Winnipeg announcers, the tweet from the guy that used to do radio play by play for the Saskatchewan Roughriders who said ‘today is a good day for workplace bullies’ on the same day Michael Ball was announced as the new voice of the team is the epitome of classless and it’s how this individual should always be remembered.  I can’t say I ever listened to him to offer an opinion on his ability to do the job but a few of the tweets I read from him had an aura of superiority about them and that will never sit well with most Roughrider fans.  Some like Michael Ball, some don’t.  What I can tell you is I find him to be authentic and he’s more than earned this opportunity.  I hope he nails this.

9 – BEN SIMMONS – When the Brooklyn Nets traded James Harden to Philadelphia for Ben Simmons, one has to think they banked on Simmons contributing this season.  Well, Simmons hasn’t suited up for a single game and the Nets are on the brink of being swept in four straight at the hands of the Boston Celtics while Harden (who actually continues to underwhelm with his playoff performances) and the Sixers are about to eliminate the Toronto Raptors.  Simmons hasn’t played at all since last June and even refused to play for Philadelphia.  Simmons has been dealing with some mental illness, a bad back, possibly a bad knee, I’m not sure anyone really knows the actual reason why he’s not on the floor and his NBA future is completely up in the air at this point.

10 – USFL – I watched Friday night’s week two USFL game between New Jersey and Michigan and I can tell you without a shadow of a doubt that it was unwatchable.  I’ve been talking about the level of play amongst CFL quarterbacks for a couple of seasons and how concerning it is that there seems to be a talent drain on the position and the teams’ scouts need to search deeper for diamonds in the rough.  Well the CFL is in great shape compared to what the USFL is putting out there under center through the first two weeks.  

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