STACKHOUSE’S 10 THOUGHTS

1 – WHAT AILS RIDERS – Penalties.  They’ll never have any amount of success as long as they continue to give away close to 100 yards a game in flags.  Yes, Cody Fajardo is struggling.  Yes, the receivers haven’t been great (although I thought they were better this weekend than at any point the last month).  Yes, the offensive line is making it very difficult for Fajardo to make plays.  There is a lot of blame to go around and they still have plenty of time to fix it although there has been no indication for two years that they have any inclination of having improved discipline.

2 – ATTENDANCE – The announced crowd at the Rider game was over 27,000.  A number of those who went tell me that number is, in fact, accurate.  Screenshots and pictures taken by fans on social media have me not so sure but the official number is the official number even if there were a few thousand freebies for healthcare workers and a special promotion for group purchases.  At the end of the day, the amount of money in the bank will be reflective on how much fans are spending and I’m still extremely nervous about it all.  I think we should be really concerned and worried.

3 – OTHER ATTENDANCE FIGURES – As I browse through some of the early season junior hockey attendance counts, I am a bit perplexed that with no hockey for almost two years we aren’t seeing greater numbers.  Regina had 3900 announced on the weekend.  This is with Connor Bedard as a ‘must watch’ player on the roster.  The season average for Regina over the last two years has been just under 5000 per game.  Swift Current has had just 1300 for a pair of home games so far.  Typically, they’ll draw between 2000-2400 for a season average.  In the SJHL, Saturday night was a mixed bag.  Yorkton had less than 500 for an archrival game against Melville.  Flin Flon was under 600 when they’d normally be around 1000 on a Saturday night.  However, La Ronge drew 400 (only down slightly), and Humboldt was at 650, which I would say is an average crowd for them.  I understand we are divided on the political issues we face when it comes to our convictions and that may be a reason some are staying home but in the end we all are going to lose no matter our beliefs.  I mean you can go and send the message you are okay with all of this or you can stay home and risk losing valuable local community teams.  It sucks.  Quite frankly.

4 – REAL BASEBALL – I harp about how baseball analytics has destroyed the starting pitcher in today’s game but what I watched on Monday was how baseball really should be played even though it resulted in two starters leaving the game prematurely.  It was a National League playoff game between Atlanta and Milwaukee.  Brewer pitcher Freddy Peralta and Atlanta’s Ian Anderson were dominating hitters through four innings.  The Brewers did get a couple of runners on base but Peralta’s spot in the batting order was due up.  Rather than watch him mail-in the at bat, Craig Counsell pinch hit for him.  Daniel Vogelbach got out and the Brewers failed to score.  Enter reliever Adrian Houser for the bottom of the fifth, who let the first two get on base.  Cue Atlanta manager Brian Snitker to pinch hit for Anderson by entering Joc Pederson, who homered off Houser in game one.  Pederson goes yard for a three run jack and the Braves win the game and take a 2-1 series lead.  That, my friends, is how baseball is supposed to be managed.  Counsell’s decision didn’t work out.  Snitker’s did.  Both managers based their choices on the fact that the starting pitcher on the other team was dominating and the chances to score were going to be few and far between.

5 – KEVIN CASH DOES IT AGAIN – Kevin Cash cost his team the World Series last year with his mishandling of Blake Snell and he is the one who deserves the blame for his team’s ouster this year too.  Cash went with Collin McHugh as an opener for game four against the Red Sox Monday night and then took him out after 18 pitches and 2 scoreless innings.  If that wasn’t bad enough (McHugh has plenty of experience starting so there is no reason to think he couldn’t go, at least, one more inning and maybe two), he brought in Shane McClanahan to pitch the third.  McClanahan figured to be the game five starter but since the Rays were prepared to use him in game four, why not just start McClanahan instead of McHugh?  Pitching in an unfamiliar role, McClanahan gave up 5 runs in the third inning and although the Rays did mount a comeback, they are on the sidelines way too early for the amount of talent they have.

6 – ODD GROUND RULE DOUBLE – The whining and complaining after Sunday’s extra-inning oddity involving Tampa Bay and Boston is laughable.  People are screaming for a rule change after a deep fly from Kevin Kiermaier hit the outfield fence then struck outfielder Hunter Renfroe before rebounding and going over the low fence for a ground rule double.  Yes, the runner (Yandy Diaz) who was on first when Kiermaier got the hit would have scored but we’ve seen countless ground rule doubles where a runner on base would, ordinarily, score but doesn’t because the runner is only permitted to run the same number of bases (2) as the hitter.  The only difference here is that the ball hit Renfroe, which I’ve never ever seen in my 40 years of watching MLB.  Someone mused about what would stop Renfroe from realizing he isn’t going to prevent the run so why not just throw the ball into the crowd?  Well, there’s a rule for that.  Kiermaier would get his double as well as an extra base, which would allow Diaz to score.  So, no.  Renfroe doesn’t have any motivation to throw the ball into the seats.

7 – ASTROS STILL CHEATING? – On Sunday, after Chicago defeated Houston 12-6 to stay alive in the other ALDS, former Blue Jay and current White Sox reliever Ryan Tepera suggested there may still be some cheating going on in the Astros dugout/clubhouse.  “They’ve obviously had a reputation of doing some sketchy stuff over there.  I think you saw the swings and misses tonight compared to the first two games at Minute Maid.”  It’s interesting to note Game 1 starter Lance Lynn has been quite unhittable all year long but the Astros jumped on him early en route to getting ahead in the series.

8 – NHL PREDICTIONS – Admittedly, this is the least amount of attention I’ve paid to an NHL offseason in a very long time but I’m going to go out on a limb and try to predict the outcomes of each of the Canadian teams.  Starting in the east, I think Montreal is headed for a letdown and Toronto is going to disappoint (shhh, don’t tell Sportsnet Facebook readers as I enjoy being sarcastic bragging up the Leafs whenever I can).  Ottawa is going to challenge for a spot but I think they’ll come up short.  Winnipeg is on the bubble but I think they may squeeze in.  Calgary, Edmonton, and Vancouver are in a weak division and I think all three will find a way to qualify for the playoffs.

9 – BRANDON SUTTER – Vancouver Canucks forward Brandon Sutter is not close to being able to play and has gone on Injured Reserve.  His General Manager says Sutter is suffering from Long Covid but it’s not myocarditis.  What’s interesting here is that Sutter missed from March 20-April 20 as a result of the Covid outbreak the Canucks went through but then managed to suit up after the team was given the go ahead to resume their season.  He even scored two goals in the team’s first game, a 6-3 win over Toronto.  He finished with 3-goals and 1-assist in his last 7 games, which is pretty good when you consider he had 9-goals and 3-assists for the entire season.  Nevertheless, Sutter (who is vaccinated) started to feel ill in August and we know it’s Long Covid.  Amazing.

10 – BRANDON GOODWIN – Meanwhile former Atlanta Hawks guard Brandon Goodwin is blaming the vaccine for ending his season and he says his career may even be over.  Officially, the Hawks say Goodwin had a minor respiratory condition.  Goodwin sings a different song and said as much to his Twitch audience.  “Bro, I was so tired.  I felt like I couldn’t run up and down the court.  My back was hurting bad.  Then, I’m like, ‘Ok, I need to go to the doctor’.  That’s when I found out I had blood clots.  All within the span of a month.  I was fine until I took the vaccine.  I was fine.”

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