STACKHOUSE’S 10 THOUGHTS

1 – GREAT GREY CUP GAME – All in all, that was an excellent Grey Cup game.  It was a close affair with a little bit of everything.  It appeared as though former Bomber Henoc Muamba was going to be the spoiler for Winnipeg’s dynasty, but a blocked field goal gave the Bombers life, only to have their own field goal blocked in the dying moments.  It doesn’t get any closer than a one point game and the Grey Cup game itself almost never disappoints.  Well done.

2 – ATTENDANCE – Where do we start with this?  First of all, the constant fudging and outright lying of attendance numbers isn’t good for business.  Any sponsor that is paying half attention to this is going to think twice about dropping money into the league because you can’t trust what league sales officials may tell you with regards to reach.  Secondly, in the event the CFL comes with its hand out in need of money, a detractor can simply point to the wonderful attendance figures that are announced weekly and ask how there could be financial issues when everything is so rosy?  As I type this, I know the Riders and the CFL will claim a sellout and that’s wonderful, but the empty seats in the league’s most popular market for the Grey Cup should be, at minimum, a concern.  Pretending there isn’t a problem doesn’t mean there isn’t a problem.  But, maybe they don’t need fans.  If there was one thing that did surprise me during the pandemic with regards to professional sports, it was how small a value there is placed on bums in the seats.  It’s not nearly what fans think it is.  

3 – HALFTIME – I did not watch the halftime show as Canadian non-sports game action television is becoming more and more unwatchable with each passing week.  Having said that, how can you botch a country music concert?  Personally, I’m not a country music fan but their performers typically don’t lip sync and almost always have a good sound.  If you like country, you probably liked the halftime show.  By the way, halftime acts for Grey Cup and Super Bowl are both vastly overrated.  I’ve never tuned in to either of those games and been on the edge of my seat waiting for the music.  In fact, the longer halftimes sometimes are a drag on the actual game itself. 

4 – BO LEVI TO HAMILTON – Grey Cup Week kicked off with the Calgary Stampeders trading Bo Levi Mitchell to Hamilton, briefly, settling down the hysteria that Mitchell coming to Saskatchewan is a foregone conclusion.  Mitchell still intends to become a free agent but it’s looking increasingly likely the TiCats will find a way to get a deal done as they are hosting the Grey Cup next year and most teams that host Grey Cups pull out all the stops to give themselves the best chance to be there as one of the participants.  I say most.

5 – RIDER QBs – CFL history indicates the Roughriders’ chances of landing the big quarterback fish in free agency are long, to say the least.  When was the last time the top player available chose Saskatchewan as the place he wanted to play?  I’m going back through the list of quarterbacks the Riders have used in the last 30 years and can’t find a single one aside from, maybe, Henry Burris.  Darian Durant was developed by the Riders, Kerry Joseph was picked in the dispersal draft, and countless others were reclamation projects or fliers.  

6 – QB CAROUSEL – If the TiCats do sign Mitchell, that frees up Dane Evans to sign somewhere.  Could he be a future Rider and would he be an upgrade over Cody Fajardo?  I don’t believe he would be.  Or, here’s one that you can chew on for a while – how about Jeremiah Masoli as a Rider in a comeback from his season ending injury at the hands of Garrett Marino in what, for me, is the single biggest symbol for the beginning of the end of the 2022 Roughrider season.  If Nathan Rourke ends up in the NFL and if McLeod Bethel-Thompson decides to pack it in, the Riders will have plenty of competition finding a quarterback and I don’t have a lot of hope for them in the event this scenario is the one that develops.  Remember, we chased Fajardo out of town so whoever they get needs to be better than that or it’s a failure of epic proportions on the GM as well as the fans, who wouldn’t have stood for a Fajardo return anyways despite the words of Craig Dickenson, recently, who seemed to leave the door open for Fajardo to come back.  Should Bethel-Thompson come back, what happens to Chad Kelly?

7 – DON’T TRASH TALK BOMBER FANS – I can appreciate those who do the hiring and firing with the Roughriders have different perspectives than fans do but here we have a team that didn’t make the playoffs and not only didn’t make the playoffs, but is watching its arch rival use a number of former Riders that the current GM let get away play for its third straight title on our home field.  If that’s not the biggest competitive insult possible then I’m not sure what is.  As one friend said to me this week, Rider fans just need to shut up when they trash talk Blue Bomber fans for the next 20 years.  It will take, at least, that long to do what Winnipeg has done before we have a leg to stand on.  That hurts.

8 – NFL POWER RANKINGS – I’ve got any one of Kansas City, Buffalo, Miami, Baltimore, and Cincinnati coming out of the AFC.  The NFC is even more wide open, but also not nearly as strong.  The 49ers are going to make a push as they are stacked everywhere except at quarterback.  You can’t count out Tampa Bay while the Eagles lost for the first time all season just last week.  Then you have the Giants, Cowboys, and Vikings all in the mix as well.  If you forced me to pick today, I’m going Kansas City against Dallas.  Patrick Mahomes is the best quarterback in the NFL at the present time.

9 – RUSH UPDATE – The Saskatchewan Rush have now played two preseason games as they prepare for the regular season opener December 3rd versus Colorado.  The brass knows they have to start to sprinkle in some youth on offense and the early returns are promising.  Austin Madronic, the sixth overall pick in this year’s draft, has had a bit of success (he scored twice in a 16-14 win over Toronto on Saturday) while D-Transition Jake Boudreau, the 2021 first rounder, scored four on Saturday to lead the way.  Other goal scorers were Mark Matthews (2), Mike Messenger (2), Robert Church, Dan Lintner, Marshall Powless, Ryan Keenan, Marty Dinsdale, and rookie defenseman Ryan Barnable.  Inconsistent goaltending was a problem for the Rush last season, but failing to replace Ben McIntosh up front was, probably, a bigger issue and now they also have to fill the shoes left vacant by Jeff Shattler’s retirement.  So, there are opportunities to be seized.

10 – COTE SELECTS – I watch games in the SaskEast Hockey League and do so without picking favorites but I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t cheering for the Cote Selects in their contest against Canora Saturday night.  The Selects, outmatched on paper, could have canceled their game after 17-year-old RJ Stevenson was tragically killed on Friday night.  RJ was projected to be the Selects goalie of the future and, Cote being a small community, was well known to the current players but they took the ice with heavy hearts and battled back from a 7-4 deficit only to give up a goal with five minutes remaining in the third to lose 9-8.  The Selects did score three shorthanded goals in this one.  I can’t remember the last time I saw a team do that.

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