STACKHOUSE’S 10 THOUGHTS

1 – CHIEFS WIN SUPER BOWL – I have been trumpeting Pat Mahomes as the next Gretzky, Jordan, Tiger type of professional sports athlete and there was nothing on Sunday that occurred that would make me reconsider that thought.  We are witnessing greatness. Sure, Tom Brady has a bunch of titles and he’s probably the best-ever just based on how many titles he’s won. But, Mahomes is a thing of beauty and he is going to be doing this for the next dozen years, God willing. 

2 – SUPER BOWL COACHING – The game didn’t come down to the final minutes, so we never got to see Andy Reid botch clock management; but we did get to see Kyle Shanahan ignore his running backs in the big game for the second time in three years.  I think if they had stayed committed to the run there was a better chance of the Niners hanging on to that lead, but let’s not forget it was the Chiefs’ run defense that stopped Derrick Henry in the AFC title game so maybe Shanahan saw something the rest of us didn’t.

3 – JIMMY G – San Francisco is more than fine with Garoppolo as their franchise quarterback.  For three quarters, he outperformed Mahomes. I’d like to see them give him some more weapons.  Deebo Samuel is going to be a good one, similar to Tyreek Hill is my guess. They need someone else to go with him.

4 – STREVELER NFL BOUND – Chris Streveler has been released from his Winnipeg Blue Bombers contract in order to pursue NFL opportunities. Admittedly, I am skeptical on his chances however there does exist some potential for him to carve out a Taysom Hill type of role with some club who has an innovative offensive mind who knows how to best utilize his skill set.  

5 – BOMBERS DECISION – It’s a tough call to make after just winning the Grey Cup, but the Winnipeg Blue Bombers were in a no-win situation on having to choose between Zach Collaros and Matt Nichols as their quarterback. For me, this is where elite organizations are able to ignore their heart and go with their head. The smart thing to do would have been to cut bait on both of them and go after Nick Arbuckle, but it’s a little late for that.

6 – ALL RISE – Cameron Judge is back with the Roughriders and I’ve seen media outlets refer to him as a ratio-breaker and that assessment couldn’t be any more accurate.  It’s a huge move for Saskatchewan as they prepare for what is hoped to be an historic season.

7 – HOCKEY FIGHTS – I’m in the minority here, but that brawl or whatever you call it between Calgary and Edmonton over the weekend was silly.  I’m pro-fight as a fan but I’m anti-stupidity and having the two goalies go at it was nothing short of dumb. You can’t tell me emotions between the two netminders were so heated that Talbot had to skate to centre ice and get a licking from Mike Smith.  That was for nothing more than show. To me, the irony in all this is that if the NHL had looser rules on fighting none of this would have happened because Tkachuk would have been either taken care of in the first game in which he cheapshotted Kassian or he would not have cheapshotted him at all because he knows in advance that he’s going to get tuned in.  

8 – KOBE TAKE – What happened last Sunday was stunning. An unbelievable tragedy involving a human being many of us view was invincible as you can possibly be. Of course we know there are no guarantees for any of us in life to live beyond the present, but there is a certain amount of surrealness and shock when it happens to a person like Kobe Bryant, who appeared to have the entire world by the tail. Let’s just remember the others who died had lives just as valuable as the Bryants and this is an awful tragedy for all involved.  

9 – COOP REFINERY TAKE – UNIFOR President Jerry Dias has spent gobs of his union members’ money on fighting conservative governments and now his Executive Assistant has the audacity to call for Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe to intervene in the Co-op Refinery dispute. To this I say ‘pound sand’. Dias and Doherty haven’t been off the job for the last 2 months like these very dedicated workers and haven’t missed a paycheque. Maybe they’d work a little harder for the membership if they also had to live off strike pay the way the workers do. Maybe employees should look a little closer at their union and perhaps they’d see their employer isn’t so bad after all while Dias and company continue to take their dues without producing any tangible results aside from a poor public perception of them.  Looks like winter is back too. Could be a cold week out there.

10 – TAXES – No political Party would ever take me on because, at times, I get very frustrated with all of them.  There has never been a point in history where citizens have paid all levels of government more money and yet we are dogged with social problems and poverty is more of an issue in 2020 than it ever has before.  So, paying government your hard earned dollars isn’t helping a thing. We are in serious need of tax reform in Canada but how do we go about really forcing change?

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