STACKHOUSE’S 10 THOUGHTS

1 – BRYANT WIDOW SUING – The widow of Kobe Bryant is suing the owner of the helicopter company alleging the pilot was careless and negligent and should have aborted the flight.  We will never know what communication transpired here, but my guess is that if Kobe wants to go, then Kobe goes and the pilot isn’t the decision-maker. Kobe is the boss and what he says goes. But, that’s pure speculation. I did wonder at the time of the crash about the accountability factor. I know I have traveled with young athletes in my vehicle. If I opted to ignore a highway being closed for weather and then crashed my vehicle and all of us end up dead, am I remembered for being whatever amount of good I was or am I criticized for poor judgment that costs everyone their lives?  I have felt that while this was tragic, the alarming disregard for human life was appalling. Those non-celebrity passengers are relying on Kobe and the pilot, both of whom travel in a helicopter with great frequency, to make the right decisions. They had to know it was dangerous before they took off. Did Kobe think he was invincible? We will never know.

2 – NHL TRADE DEADLINE – It’s time for those day long television shows on TSN and Sportsnet to go by the way of the dinosaur.  Trades are made for days leading up to the deadline and there is no real drama in waiting to hear where Jean Gabriel Pageau is going to be moved. Yawn. If you are a sponsor and sink valuable dollars into this, shame on you.

3 – AMBULANCE CHASING MEDIA – I won’t name them, but they know who they are when they make phone calls wanting interviews with regards to the SJHL and a suspension that was handed down.  We have seven legit contenders for a league title and are about to embark on one of the most hotly-contested playoffs in history while only one Saskatchewan-based WHL team looks to be going deep into the postseason.  The SJHL should be in all provincial media sportscasts on a daily basis. We also have a player who has enjoyed one of the most dominating statistical years in recent memory, but all that certain outlets are interested in talking about is a suspension. 

4 – FURTHER ON SUSPENSION – Here’s what I told one media outlet and I’ll repeat it here – behaviour from players on the ice has never been better than what it is in 2020.  The outrage from people on social media, especially from those who have no interest in watching hockey, has never been more fierce. Leagues everywhere are not sure how much weight to give social media and so they react accordingly and it almost always means stiff penalties. Furthermore, Hockey Canada and Saskatchewan Hockey Association have certain guidelines and it’s easiest to just follow those for the most part.

5 – ZAMBONI GOALIE – The greatest sports story of the year is Dave Ayres beating the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday night after both Carolina goalies were injured. I found it somewhat interesting that there has not been a peep about the hit delivered by Kyle Clifford on Petr Mrazek that resulted in Mrazek leaving the game. While not identical, there are some similarities on this play with the well-publicized SJHL suspension from this past September.

6 – KESSY FIGHT – The reaction from a minor league hockey fight on social media that shows Kale Kessy being knocked out and, apparently, seriously injured is very strong. The cries for an outright ban on fisticuffs are once again being expressed strenuously by many. Yet, none of those same people seemed to have a problem with the combat fight last weekend where Deontay Wilder was bleeding from the ear, apparently suffering from a ruptured eardrum. He fought with it for several rounds. That sounds perfectly safe.

7 – SHOT BLOCKING – One of the big arguments I hear for wanting fighting outlawed in hockey is because of the injuries sustained. I don’t know about you, but I see far more injuries as a result of shot blocking than I do fighting. Let’s put in a rule that bans shot blocking. It injures players and stifles offense. Lots of good reasons to get rid of it.

8 – XFL ATTENDANCE – The XFL has gone three straight weeks with attendance increases, starting with 69,000 total fans in week one to 76,000 in week two and 82,000 in week three.  Admittedly, I haven’t spent a lot of time watching it, but this is a good sign for it surviving beyond one year. St. Louis, the one team without an NFL franchise, has drawn the most with 29,000 showing up for their home opener. I don’t know what the impact will be for the CFL, maybe none at all but it’s worth watching to see and I think the CFL and their fans play a dangerous game simply sitting back and hoping for the XFL to have a short life span.

9 – ALBERTA DECIMATED – There is no argument to the contrary that I would even listen to when it comes to the economy of our neighbors to the west.  The federal government is out to purposely and completely annihilate them and they are succeeding in easy fashion. To me there is nothing left for Alberta to do but withhold their equalization payments as leverage. If it ends up in court, so be it. Even if Alberta loses, maybe they can tie up the proceedings long enough to disrupt the geographical areas that are relishing in Alberta’s demise, yet depend on it so much for their well-being.

10 – PROTESTS – I once met a guy who ran a pizza parlour who was from Beirut and he told me what a terrible image the news media portrayed by always showing the civil disobedience and violence that went on in the Lebanese capital.  I had a hard time seeing his point of view, but now with what’s going on in Canada, I think it’s safe to say we’ve become our own version of Beirut.

BONUS – Special thank you to UNIFOR for blocking my cardlock in Yorkton earlier this week.  All you did was send me to a different Co-op location for gas and then I went and bought a few groceries from them too even though I didn’t need any.

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