STACKHOUSE’S 10 THOUGHTS

1 – RATTLERS MONDAY – I got to experience my first ‘crowd’ in 18 months as the Rattlers played host to Edmonton in front of, approximately, 1000 fans.  The official boxscore says 175 but there was a lot more than that there.  It was wonderful.  Easy to social distance at Sasktel Centre, very few fans in masks, and the people I interacted with never even mentioned the word Covid.  It was great.  There was some cosmetic theatre with the dance team in masks, serving staff in masks, referees in masks only as they walk from the dressing room to the court (very safe!), and I noticed some hand sanitizer stations upon entry and exit of the building.  Otherwise, it was normal.

2 – GAME REVIEW – The Rattlers are, glaringly, weak in a number of areas.  Namely size and shooting accuracy.  That means they aren’t likely to get many wins and, so far, have none.  More on that in the next point.  Having said that, if you like entertainment the CEBL has it.  There are dunks, great plays, lots of athleticism on display, and the cost of a game ticket is reasonable even if the $8.50 beer isn’t.

3 – STINGERS COMPARISON – I’ve watched one game in person and two online so I feel like I can offer a bit of criticism based on that.  I like Davonte Bandoo as a player but if he’s your best shooting option you are in a lot of trouble.  He’d be a great complementary player and is definitely a starter but if your offense goes through him he just isn’t on the same level as Xavier Moon (nobody is though) or even Mathieu Kamba.  The Rattlers also don’t have anyone near the ability of Jordan Baker, a former U of A standout, who does everything well.  Shoot, block, rebound, distribute the ball.  D’Andre Bernard had a nice game with 13 points, but I think he had 11 in the first quarter.  Bandoo (who finished with 17) didn’t get going until the third quarter.  From three point land, the Rattlers were just 8-for-34, which means you are likely to turn over possession far too often.  Meanwhile, Edmonton was 11-of-22 from the same distance.  Nevertheless, the Rattlers led this game 42-40 at halftime and stayed with the Stingers for three of the four quarters.

4 – RIDERS INJURIES – I don’t really understand all of this and haven’t paid super close attention but it’s my understanding the coaches weren’t allowed to be involved in the workouts where four players suffered season ending achilles injuries.  My assumption is that because of Covid, this was deemed to be a health and safety rule.  Yet, four players are done for the year.  So much for health and safety.  But, hey.  Nobody got Covid.  I can tell you from personal experience this is a risk when you start engaging in high level workouts when you’ve been off for so long.  A couple of weeks ago I took my son to Calgary for his first PFC practice in over a year and by the end of his second session he was dealing with a sore achilles as well as some other things that trainers chalked up to an athlete maybe not listening to his body and trying to do too much after being off for such a long time.

5 – DUNCAN KEITH – I’d love to find a way to defend this trade for Edmonton but I can’t.  Keith will bring some intangibles that are hard to come by but at a cap hit of $5.5-million for each of the next two years?  Ryan Suter just got released, he’s not better than Keith and available for less money?  What did Corey Perry cost Montreal this season?  I know the Oilers are looking for that calming, stabilizing influence from a veteran player who knows how to win.  This just seems like a very big reach.

6 – MLB CHANGES – Major League Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred says not to get used to the extra innings rule that sees a runner on second base to start the tenth.  He also says the seven inning double headers are going to go by the wayside too.  Both rules were brought in because of the pandemic and it was, generally, thought the runner on second extra-inning rule would definitely stay but it appears not.

7 – CONOR MCGREGOR – I don’t mind watching him lose at all.  Didn’t feel sorry for him after his gruesome injury.  Hardly ever listen to him when someone puts a microphone in front of him unless it happens to be by accident.  Someone sent me one of his tweets before his fight with Dustin Poirier and I would say that goes way over the line as far as what’s acceptable banter back and forth.  His overall record is 22-and-6, and maybe I’m used to boxing, but that doesn’t strike me as all that dominating.  But he still draws eyeballs and makes scads of money.  I just don’t get it.

8 – MMA NOT FOR ME – I also don’t get MMA, as a general rule.  I know that’s going to put me at odds with some of you that I usually agree with but I just can’t bring myself to sit down and enjoy watching people, willfully, get their heads bashed in and their limbs snapped like twigs. In fact, I really get cranky when people tell me the reason why this type of violence is acceptable in the UFC but isn’t in hockey or football anymore is because when fighters sign up for MMA, they know what they are getting into.  Hockey and football players sign up not knowing they may be on the receiving end of a vicious hit or be in a situation where they may have to fight.  This, of course, is nonsense but is also the acceptable reason why we’ve removed a lot of the physical aspects to football and hockey while turning a blind eye to someone getting punched four times in the head after he’s out cold.

9 – ESPN DRAMA – I wish the personalities who grace the television screens weren’t part of the everyday stories.  ESPN’s Rachel Nichols was taken off her NBA finals sideline reporter job after she was recorded voicing concerns over the network’s poor record on diversity but adding that she didn’t want ESPN to become even more diverse at her expense.  Too bad.  She’s gone and a female of color is in.  This has become the single biggest problem with the media today.  Whether it’s sports or ‘news’.  We really shouldn’t know who most of these talking heads are.  Whether it’s Stephen A Smith, Tucker Carlson or Chris Cuomo, none of them should be larger than life celebrities. 

10 – MENTAL HEALTH – For me, attending a sporting event with other like minded people did a lot for my personal well being.  I can’t even explain it.  It just felt good to sit there and forget the world for a couple of hours.  There’s also something to be said for seeing happy faces.  I have days where I can feel my personality coming back.  Visiting with a stranger who sits next to me at a sporting event is one of my favorite aspects of attending games and I did that on Monday just like ‘the old days’.  There are also some other emotions that came over me too.  As I sat there and watched warm-up I shed a few tears as I considered what it would be like to never be able to do this again.  I never considered being a live sports fan to be a privilege.  I never considered being amongst a crowd of people and visiting with other fans to be a privilege.  We can talk all day long about ‘human rights’ but when it comes right down to it, none of us have any ‘rights’.  Waking up every day from the previous night’s sleep is a privilege.  We are entitled to nothing.  Be thankful for everything, even the little things.  I learn more and more every day that what makes me happy is all that counts and what society says should make me happy really doesn’t matter.  One of my all-time favorite quotes is from the series 24.  “Don’t wait around for your life to happen to you.  Find something that makes you happy, and do it, because everything else is all just background noise.”

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