STACKHOUSE’S 10 THOUGHTS

RATTLERS – An incredibly disappointing effort on Friday by Saskatchewan’s pro basketball team as they got blown out by Guelph (the final score actually flattered the Rattlers). This is a poor shooting team and every time they launch three balls, they are at a high risk of losing points on turnovers. When they focus on getting the ball under the basket to D’Andre Bernard, things go a lot smoother. Even some good-look jump shots aren’t going in and while some of that can be attributed to a cold spell, these types of outings are too frequent. After their loss to Niagara on Tuesday, I think it’s safe to say this team is looking at a winless season and they’ll need to regroup in a big way for 2022.  

DEION – Deion Sanders, the head coach of Jackson State, walked out of a media day this week after someone in the media called him ‘Deion’. Apparently, he wants to be referred to as ‘Coach Prime’. Sanders says if you called Nick Saban, ‘Nick’, he would cuss you out on the spot. “Treat me like Nick”, says Coach Prime. I’m all about the flair when it comes to Deion Sanders. He’s great for sports and great for entertainment even if he is a bit self-conscious.

NFL REPLAY – The National Football League has entered a business agreement with the same replay company that handles line calls in tennis. The goal is to shave a few more seconds off the time it takes for video reviews. I used to be a major proponent of video replay but I’ve done a complete 180 on it. If it’s not an egregious offense easily spotted with the human eye at regular speed, then leave it alone. 

TECHNOLOGY – If you think about it, technology probably hasn’t been a good thing when it comes to sports over the years. The bat swung by Vladimir Guerrero today isn’t the same bat swung by Willie Stargell in the 70s. The golf clubs and golf balls used by Dustin Johnson today aren’t the same as what Jack Nicklaus used. Did football receivers wear gloves at all in the 70s?  The gloves used today, it’s a wonder anyone drops a pass. Don’t even get me started on hockey sticks or the weight of goalie equipment. Athletes are in much better shape in 2020 than what they were fifty years ago, to be sure.  But, they also have a lot more artificial help than athletes from fifty years ago.

LOGAN MAILLOUX – The potential first round NHL pick has renounced himself from the draft in light of publicity surrounding a moral/legal issue whereby he was convicted in Sweden of sharing a sexually explicit photo of a woman without her consent. Let this be a lesson to all potential professional athletes who stray off the straight and narrow. If the general public finds out about your transgression, you run the risk of watching your career go up in smoke. So be on your absolute best behaviour. I’m not excusing Mailloux but I’m aware of similar or worse characters getting drafted and even playing at the highest level and the fact they were not publicly ‘caught’ is probably the main reason why they got through.

CAREY PRICE – I understand Carey Price makes a lot of money and the cap hit is enormous. But he’s also very good and probably has three excellent seasons left in him out of the five remaining on his contract. I think Seattle should have selected him instead of trying to get good goaltending through dumpster diving but that’s just me. There are always ways to get out from bad contracts so don’t worry about the worst case scenario. Edmonton just took Duncan Keith. I believe Pavel Datsyuk has been traded two or three times since he went back to Russia.  Marian Hossa is still allergic to his equipment. Andrew Ladd has joined the Coyotes.  Joffrey Lupul is….well…I don’t even know but he’s not costing anyone any money either. Shea Weber is also out for next season due to injury despite finishing this one a few weeks ago.

DEMELO – Winnipeg Jets fans feel as though they got off fairly easy in the expansion draft as Seattle opted for speedy forward Mason Appleton instead of analytic darling Dylan DeMelo. Here’s the only thing I will say when it comes to DeMelo: the Jets have a very bad defense and still have three players better than DeMelo that they’d rather protect. So, how good is DeMelo really? 

OHL STIPULATION – The Ontario Hockey League has announced all players will need to be double vaccinated or they won’t be able to play in the league. This is the problem when something is declared to be ‘not mandatory’. Many people believe that means they can just walk through society normally and it doesn’t matter if you are vaccinated or not. What it really means is that a government official isn’t going to restrain you and stick a needle in your arm. However, if you want to enjoy life beyond existing….you need to get a vaccine. Again, I don’t advocate either way as far as safety and effectiveness is concerned. We all have our own choices to make and lockdowns, for me, are worse than dying. So that’s the basis on which I made my decision.

MERCEDES DONE – Early season rookie phenom Yermin Mercedes has retired from baseball. You may recall Mercedes drew the ire of his manager for teeing off and blasting a homer on a 3-0 pitch, at 47 miles an hour, from a position player in a game where the White Sox were winning 15-4. Mercedes also started the season going 8-for-8, becoming the first player to begin his career accomplishing such a feat. Well, Mercedes ended up in the minors last month and he, apparently, doesn’t like it there so he’s all done.

BLAST OFF – I just want to make sure I understand correctly. Me driving a Silverado for work is a real threat to the environment but Jeff Bezos sending a rocket into outer space for a lark is no problem. I guess we will just continue to pretend all of this is about climate and not about transfer of wealth. Suit yourselves. I didn’t really follow this but did Bezos himself go in the rocket? Is he coming back?

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