STACKHOUSE’S 10 THOUGHTS

1 – 2 FOR HOOKING: I disagreed with the decision to pull Cody Fajardo on Saturday night. He’s not good enough to warrant a mercy hook and let someone else mop up. He’s also earned enough credence with me that he should be allowed to be handed control of the offense for a prolonged stretch to see what he’s capable of doing.  Maybe he figures something out in the fourth quarter. The reality is that no quarterback is as good as what Fajardo showed in his first two starts. It’s reasonable to assume there will be bumps along the road, but let’s take a step back and look at the big picture.  Having he and Isaac Harker in some sort of competition isn’t helpful at this point. To me, you have seen significant upside with Fajardo and he’s the man until Labour Day. I’m not even thinking about Harker or Zach Collaros. This is Fajardo’s team until he proves it’s not.  It’s just way too early to open the door to see if Harker can walk through it.

2 – RIDER FANS!: I’ve enjoyed engaging with fans on social media over the last few days who are ready to throw Fajardo out to pasture. I guess you need to be the best quarterback ever for 17 straight games in order to get some respect with this fan base? One fan even told me Darian Durant was a fluke. The most successful quarterback in franchise history wasn’t even good at the position according to some. I’ll never forget Kerry Joseph’s magical run in 2007, winning a Grey Cup and CFL Most Outstanding Player. However, more than one fan will tell you he was nothing special either.  

3 – 9-MAN: The first ever 9-Man Challenge Cup football game was held in Melville over the weekend. It featured the top graduating players from Saskatchewan against those from Manitoba. Swan River was heavily represented for the Manitoba side, while Lumsden sent quite a few players to team Saskatchewan.  Saskatchewan won the game 22-0 with hometown boy Colby Osika-Schick racking up four interceptions. Wadena’s Brody Rumbold, who plays for Foam Lake, hauled in a pair of long passes, including one for a touchdown.

4 – FOOTBALL IS FAMILY: Melville’s John Svenson was the head coach, while former Melville player and current Fort Qu’Appelle head coach Craig Geisler was the defensive co-ordinator.  Svenson actually coached Geisler and refused to let the latter quit when he was in grade nine back in 1992. Geisler went on to a four year career at Mayville State and has parlayed playing football into his full-time employment in administration with the Town of Balcarres and now in the area of economic development. Geisler was the keynote speaker at Friday’s banquet and talked about how the game can open a lot of doors for young men, including those that aren’t football related. It was a great message. Geisler, himself, has helped open doors for my son, who is continuing football beyond grade 12 in a few weeks. He’s made quite an impact on him over the last three years and has really helped nurture his love of the game.

5 – SCHOONERS: As far as a CFL team in Atlantic Canada goes, Moncton is the right location more than Halifax.  In Moncton, you have a population of close to 110,000 people, if you include Dieppe and Riverview.  Within a two hour drive, you have Fredericton and Saint John, which provides another 150,000 people.  Halifax is a three hour drive away and close to 300,000 people. If Haligonians like football, they will still go to Moncton.  The trouble with Halifax is that it’s too far for Saint John and Fredericton travelers to go and PEI football fans would have a much shorter trip going to Moncton.  You are talking about another 150,000 fans. So, a team in Halifax is reliant almost entirely on the Halifax area for support. A team in Moncton makes it a true Maritime team and allows for, approximately, 750-thousand fans to get there without much hardship. 

6 – BEEN THERE, DONE THAT: As a person who grew up in the Maritimes, I can tell you the area was very indifferent to the CFL and if the attitude hasn’t changed a whole bunch in the last 20 years, then it doesn’t matter what the population base is, it’s not going to be sustainable. I’d like to think it could take on a Rider type following being the lone professional franchise in the area. When I lived there, the American Hockey League had a nice foothold in Fredericton, Saint John, Moncton, Cape Breton, and Halifax. Those are all major junior centres now, except for Fredericton–which has a new Junior ‘A’ hockey team starting up this Fall.  Otherwise, the big game in town is university hockey.

7 – KAWHI-IT: Kawhi Leonard is joining the Los Angeles Clippers and is taking Paul George, who finished 3rd in NBA MVP voting this year, with him. I am in the minority in that I love super teams and don’t care if only five or six clubs have a shot at the title before the season starts. Competitive sports should be about trying your best and I have no respect for teams that don’t. Leonard’s decision on whether to join the Clippers or stay in Toronto hinged on the Raptors’ ability to acquire George in a trade, which they couldn’t pull off.  The word is that Oklahoma City also dangled Russell Westbrook, but wanted Pascal Siakim as the centre piece going back and Toronto said ‘no’, which is wise. There is a reason why these alliances are formed amongst NBA superstars and none of them have included Westbrook.

8 – SAINTS GO MARCHING IN: The St. Louis Blues winning the Stanley Cup is exactly why I like teams who go for it.  It would have been easy to sell everyone off in January when they were in last place overall.  Instead, they made a change at coach and in goal and the rest is history.  

9 – BINNY: If you don’t think goaltending is the be-all end-all for hockey teams, then how do you explain what the Blues did?  I don’t know why more teams don’t just roll the dice until they get what they want between the pipes. You don’t have to spend big money on the position, you need to get lucky.  Jordan Binnington was a third round pick and is 25-years-old. Petr Mrazek played bad for two teams and was, suddenly, a star in Carolina. The Deven Dubnyk story is well documented.  Robin Lehner was unsuccessful for two organizations before figuring it out this season. Jack Campbell was given up on by Dallas before the Los Angeles Kings found a suitable netminder.  There are other examples of goalies who were good and then just lost it. It’s a volatile market and, for me, it’s difficult to spend long term big money on the position because of that, however you can’t win if you don’t get it.  I think it needs to be treated like a closer in baseball. Just keep trying someone until you go on a run and be thankful for however long it lasts.

10 – SJ GOALTENDING: I think back to the last SJHL season and the goaltending issue couldn’t be more pronounced. The Nipawin Hawks had the best netminding during the regular season (Declan Hobbs and Patrick Pugliese) and they were the top team.  In the playoffs, they weren’t the top goaltenders and the rest of their team was exposed for what it was. Meanwhile, Joel Grzybowski went through an average regular season and got hot in the playoffs, leading his team to the Canalta Cup and winning the Playoff MVP Award.  Without giving too much away, I think you can expect to see a lot of new goaltenders in the SJHL this season as more than a couple who are eligible to come back, are not.

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