STACKHOUSE’S 10 THOUGHTS

1 – RIDERS RECAP – I thought last week’s game against the BC Lions was the best game of the CFL season so far.  It was very entertaining and it was nice to see the Riders write a happy script for a change instead of some sort of competitive sports tragedy that they are famous for over the years.   As far as the rankings are concerned the Blue Bombers remain the class of the league with Saskatchewan second and BC third.  Hamilton would be a strong fourth if they had one of their two quarterbacks playing regularly and they may even be fourth as it is.  Toronto, Edmonton, and Montreal are fairly interchangeable at 5, 6, and 7.  Calgary is eighth and the Ottawa RedBlacks are ninth.  

2 – RIGHT/WRONG – Colin Cowherd has a segment that he calls ‘Where Colin Was Right and Where Colin Was Wrong’.  I can offer up a similar comparison after week three of the NFL.  I was wrong in writing off Green Bay after the week one disaster against New Orleans.  Having said that, beyond winning the division I don’t see them winning a single playoff game.  I was right to be concerned about the Kansas City Chiefs after their lucky week one victory over Cleveland.  They are fortunate to not be 0-and-3.  Super Bowl runner-ups always seem to have problems the following season and the Chiefs are in a division with the Chargers, Raiders, and Broncos (all of which appear to be better and there are now games to make up).

3 – MANNING BROADCAST – This, simply, is the best thing to happen to sports television.  I say this as a play by play guy myself – watching two former elite athletes talk as though they are beside you on the couch eating popcorn and having a drink while offering hot takes is nothing short of fantastic from an entertainment point of view and way better than the traditional alternative of calling a game.  The only play by play guy I’d rather hear than the Mannings is Joe Buck.

4 – EKELER – Here is what else that’s great:  Austin Ekeler’s Twitter account.  Ekeler knows football fans are usually also big in the world of fantasy football and he offers up prizes every week to fantasy football fanatics who tweet him with a screenshot of him in their line-up showing a win.  Usually I see something like that and I feel good that the athlete has found a creative way to engage his fans and I move on.  But I admit to being caught up in it this week.  I screen shotted my win to him.  He didn’t pick me.

5 – BEARS OFFENSE – Chicago Bears fans have been clamouring for Justin Fields to start over Andy Dalton and we saw on Sunday why head coach Matt Nagy wasn’t having any part of it.  The Bears just don’t have the offensive line in front of their rookie QB to protect him from disaster.  It even sounds like Nick Foles will start this week over Fields and the still-injured Dalton.  It would be a wise choice.  Nagy takes a ton of heat for his game calling and I’m not, necessarily, saying he doesn’t deserve the criticism but putting Fields out there in a position where he is guaranteed to fail is also the wrong decision.

6 – JAYS/RED SOX – What a shame it would be for the Boston Red Sox to make the MLB playoffs.  The Red Sox were 50-31 at the halfway mark but have fumbled along to a 38-38 record ever since (as of Tuesday night).  Meanwhile, the Toronto Blue Jays have gone 46-32 since the end of June.  I guess that’s why you have a full season and not just a half but the second half is always more indicative of how truly good a team is and the Red Sox are anything but good while the Jays are as good as any one.

7 – DOOLITTLE AFFECT – I’m not saying this is the only reason but I find it curious to see the Cincinnati Reds have gone 13-and-16 since releasing Sean Doolittle while the Seattle Mariners have gone 18-and-11 since claiming him.  Chemistry matters.  I have a lot of friends, some of whom are in the team building business, who downplay this intangible and I find it hard to wrap my head around how this very important ingredient is often overlooked.

8 – MACKENZIE BLACKWOOD – The New Jersey Devils goaltender admits he’s the lone unvaccinated player on the team while Edmonton’s Josh Archibald is in a similar situation.  Sportsnet then published a story Tuesday night about an Islanders player who isn’t vaccinated being loaned to a team in Europe.  I’m not sure why the general public needs to know these things.  It just seems like we go further and further and further into a pit of trash journalism each and every day.  It actually feels like doxing to me.  Is that okay?

9 – ATTENDANCE – In Manitoba, vaccine passports have been a thing for weeks now.  I was curious to see how the attendance is going in the MJHL and I would say overall the numbers are down just slightly but in Winkler, where the entire community has bucked government orders almost from the get go, there were just 218 out to watch the Flyers last weekend.  In the SJHL, Humboldt had an impressive 1252 and Kindersley drew over 1000 for its home opener.  Flin Flon, which was subject to passports, recorded 623.

10 – NBA EXCEPTIONS – While our frontline healthcare heroes are being fired for refusing to get vaccinated, the federal government has decided it would be in our best ‘national interest’ to allow unvaccinated NBA players to fly into Toronto to do their ‘jobs’ of playing a sport.  Just remember.  This is for your safety.  I often wonder if the embarrassment citizens feel for being wrong over the last 18 months overrides one’s ability to see clearly.  I can only speak for myself.  I hate being right when it comes to this issue and I wish I was wrong a lot more often than I have been.