STACKHOUSE’S 10 THOUGHTS

1 – RUSH BLOWN OUT – Missing Marshall Powless and Marty Dinsdale because of injuries, the Saskatchewan Rush were embarrassed 16-10 in northern Texas Saturday night at the hands of Panther City Lacrosse Club. The Rush led the game 3-1 through the early going but were outscored 15-7 the rest of the way in what appeared to be, largely, a listless effort. Robert Church led the offense with 4 goals and 3 assists, while Mark Matthews scored one (late, garbage time) and added 7 helpers. It was one of those, proverbial, four point games as the Rush fell to 5-and-5 while Panther City moved to 7-and-5. Saskatchewan is tied with defending champion Colorado for fourth in the West and are still in a playoff position as of today, but hopes are fading fast after two disastrous weeks. With Dinsdale and Powless out of the line-up, more was needed from Ryan Keenan (0 points) and Austin Madronic (0 points). Clark Walter got a chance to play with the top unit and finished with a goal and an assist, but the transition game was again absent and there was no help for Matthews and Church.

2 – RUSH RETURN HOME – The Rush are back home next Saturday to West Division-leading San Diego, so the task doesn’t get any easier. With the team in a tailspin and with some fans feeling alienated by recent marketing tactics, the organization does have a bit of an uphill battle in the next six days to sell tickets.  Personally, I will miss next week’s game. It will be only the second time in the last two years I have not been at a Rush home game.

3 – WINNIPEG JETS – The last few weeks of play is exactly why I didn’t get over-excited about the Winnipeg Jets. Yes, it did appear as though Rick Bowness had corrected some things with regards to structure and defensive play. They seemed to be on the right track as the season hit the midway point. But, here we are now with 20 games left and the Jets have the same problems they’ve always had: if Connor Hellebuyck doesn’t steal the game, the Jets probably aren’t winning. In addition to that, the dressing room appears to be split, and they have a General Manager who couldn’t give two bits about where the team finishes in the standings. When they were near the top of the division, Kevin Cheveldayoff didn’t make any moves because things were going well and it was only a matter of time before those on the injured list returned. Now, the argument seems to be that because they are losing more than they are winning, it’s not worth making an impactful move. Judging by the return received, the Jets could have added Jacob Chychrun without sacrificing a lot. Tyler Bertuzzi would have looked good in a Jets uni too. Yes, they added Nino Neiderreiter and Vladislav Namestnikov; but they hardly move the needle especially in light of Cole Perfetti’s long term injury. It looks like another squandered year from the Jets.

4 – KANE RETURN – The Chicago Blackhawks, basically, gave away Patrick Kane to the New York Rangers as they received just a couple of conditional draft picks. On one hand, you could argue the Hawks were at the mercy of Kane because the only team he said he would play for was the Rangers. So either take what the Rangers are offering or don’t. I would have erred on the side of ‘don’t’. If Kane wants to sit in Chicago and lose, that’s up to him. If the Rangers don’t want to pay what Kane is worth on the open market, that’s also up to them. There is just as much to lose for Chicago to hang on to him as there is to be held ransom by Kane and the Rangers. For those of you who say the Hawks owe it to him to send him to a contender .. no, they actually don’t owe him anymore than Kane owes it to Chicago to give them a chance to rebuild their roster through a fair trade.

5 – XFL – Criticize all you want, but the XFL has produced some exciting football through the first three weeks of action. The highlight this weekend was a late touchdown thrown by Ben DiNucci to Josh Gordon, the former Cleveland Browns standout who hasn’t been able to keep his head screwed on straight over the years, to give the Seattle SeaDragons a 30-26 win over the Vegas Vipers. Sunday afternoon, I tuned in to watch AJ McCarron’s St. Louis BattleHawks to see if McCarron could build on his impressive start. For the most part, McCarron was upstaged by former Ole Miss QB Jordan Ta’amu and the DC Defenders as St. Louis’s comeback bid fell just short. McCarron still threw for four more touchdowns and looks solid but his age (32) probably works against him as far as another NFL chance is concerned.

6 – XFL/CFL – This will be a very unpopular take, but the quality of football from the XFL through the first three weeks is better than what we’ve seen from the CFL in the last two seasons. That’s not to say it’s overall better, but the CFL does have some work to do in order to get back to where it was half a dozen or so years ago. I don’t think it will be easy now that there is all sorts of competition but the CFL does offer a unique brand of football and the league needs to continue to capitalize on that. I can’t help but wonder how good the CFL would be if McCarron, DiNucci, and Ta’amu were in our league instead of the XFL.

7 – BASEBALL RULES – Major League Baseball says they’ve banned the shift, but a loophole in the rule allows for the left fielder to move to right field and clog up the right side of the outfield, thus resulting in a similar defensive alignment as the shift. So, there goes that rule out the window already. I understand baseball purists railing on the new clock rules as ridiculous but they are needed in order to get baseball back to the point where it’s played in the way it’s intended to be played. What we’ve seen for the last number of years isn’t baseball. If you need more than a few seconds to get set in the batters box or deliver a pitch, the problem isn’t a clock. It’s you.

8 – JA MORANT – There are some concerning allegations surrounding Memphis Grizzlies star Ja Morant.  The latest is a social media post from Friday night/Saturday morning where Morant appears in a video shirtless (not the problem) in a strip club (still not really the problem) brandishing a gun (a problem). There are other concerning allegations involving Morant and none of them should be glossed over as nothing.  According to a report in The Athletic, members of Morant’s inner circle got involved in an altercation with members of the Indiana Pacers traveling group last month and it’s being suggested that someone with a gun in an SUV that had Morant in it, was pointing a laser at someone in the Pacers’ vehicle. Morant says the allegations are just an attempt to smear his good name. A good name that is attached to an incident at a shopping mall involving his mother from last July when Morant showed up with 9 friends and was accused of threatening a security guard when he got off shift. Four days after that, Morant was hosting a pick-up basketball game at his house and ended up punching a teenager a dozen times in retaliation for a ‘hard pass’.  It’s also being reported Morant had a gun in the waist of his pants during that episode too. Then, in January, Morant’s dad got into it with NFL legend Shannon Sharpe during halftime of an NBA game. Yeah, this is all an attempt to smear Morant’s good name.  

9 – RAPTORS SORRY – The Toronto Raptors have issued an apology after posting a video on social media that was intended to honor Women’s History Month. The 13-second clip, which is apparently highly offensive, features three players who explain why they think women rule the world. Precious Achiuwa answered, “They birth everybody.” Malachi Flynn said, “They are the only ones who can procreate.”  Scottie Barnes replied, “All women are great because they’re all queens.” And, that’s it. I could write a punchline, but the jokes write themselves now.

10 – NAIG VAX – The North American Indigenous Games are slated for July in Halifax and despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary, organizers are insisting on a proof of Covid vaccine in order for athletes to participate. Discrimination remains alive and well. The claim here is that NAIG Council feels this is the best way to protect elders based on consultation with medical ‘experts’ (who aren’t experts at all if they are still latching on to this ridiculousness). There does appear to be blowback from teams and coaches so we will see if anything changes between now and then.

NICE PERSON MENTIONS – Robert Menzies, Ivylynn Delorme, Carla Karkochuk, Dean Brockman, and Jordan Schindel.

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