STACKHOUSE’S 10 THOUGHTS

1 – TAUNTING – If you watched the MNF game between the Bears and Steelers, I don’t need to go into detail about what happened towards the end of the fourth quarter. To be clear, this did not cost Chicago the victory but it, very easily, could have. It’s why I do not seriously bet on professional sports. I’m way too suspicious about the fix being in. There is no other way to explain that level of incompetence that gets a pass in the form of that official getting to work another game. I do participate in a simplistic weekly pool of picking one winner a week and I lost a couple of weeks ago when the Jets defeated Cincinnati, partially because the Bengals weren’t great but also because of a horrid call by the officials towards the end of the game that changed the course of the score.

2 – FURTHER TAUNTING – I’m going to draw the ire of some of you for this, but I have no problem with taunting for the most part. It adds to the entertainment value. Is it classy for Terrell Owens to celebrate on the Cowboys star logo at midfield? No, of course not. Did I laugh myself silly when he did it? Absolutely. I understand you have to have some rules in place because if you don’t, we will have that kind of ridiculousness after every touchdown but I think there has to be a balance of allowing players to be themselves and show emotions and also not lessening the integrity of the game. Owens celebrating on The Star is worthy of a penalty to be sure. A linebacker flexing at the opposition sideline? I have no issue with it and it’s harmless.  

3 – EICHEL SURGERY – Jack Eichel’s dispute that, eventually, got him traded from Buffalo to Las Vegas revolved around how to treat his neck injury. It’s in the collective agreement that a team can overrule the player on what is the best medical procedure. However, and I shouldn’t quote someone when I didn’t hear this myself but I don’t watch intermission shows anymore, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman apparently said he sided with Eichel on this because as a player you should have autonomy over what happens with your body. I bet Friedman would have a different opinion if Eichel was refusing a Covid vaccine. Meh, it’s just hypocrisy.

4 – AARON RODGERS – Whether I agree with him or not doesn’t matter. He lied. He should be punished for it. In the NHL, Evander Kane got 21 games (25% of the season) for misleading Covid police within the league. So maybe Rodgers should sit for 4 games? I don’t think it’s about to happen but there is a precedent in sports for it. The reality is that unvaxxed players are supposed to conduct themselves differently than vaxxed players and Rodgers, on the surface, appears to have broken just about every one of those rules and with the Packers blessing.

5 – MORE RODGERS – We could learn something from Rodgers’ disobedience but we won’t. He’s not seriously ill and there is no evidence he has caused a fatal (or even serious) case to any of his friends or acquaintances yet we will treat him and people like him as though they are carrying something radioactive.  There hasn’t been a single instance of a pro athlete passing away from Covid. There have been a handful of myocarditis cases and a few more ‘Long Covid’ situations but I think we should be careful here because there have been several myocarditis cases connected to the vaccine too amongst pro athletes and even a few ‘mysterious’ deaths. People die mysteriously every year but there does seem to be more of them this year, especially amongst very healthy people. But this could just be news sensationalism. I’m open to a number of arguments on this and am taking no position either way, I’m simply pointing it out.

6 – BRADSHAW/DUNGY – If you think this is as simple as Rodgers having a goofy opinion, I present to you analyst Terry Bradshaw and analyst Tony Dungy. Bradshaw ripped into Rodgers and maintains Ivermectin is a horse dewormer. That’s like saying water is a hydration product for dogs. I’m not arguing with any of you on this but Ivermectin has, essentially, cured River Blindness in human beings. Yes, horses use it.  Yes, humans use it. People like Bradshaw are not helpful when it comes to narrowing the divide. Just tell the truth. Dungy, on the other hand, was very measured with his words and said he was aware of more NFL quarterbacks who aren’t vaccinated and it should be a personal choice. By pointing this out, Dungy is hoping the viewer draws the line from A to B about this issue being far from clear cut.

7 – MEND FENCES – Competitively, Rodgers missing a game is the best thing that could have happened to Green Bay.  It’s as obvious as the blue sky the Packers do not have Rodgers’ heir apparent in house. It’s time to end the dispute between Rodgers and suits in the front office and make Rodgers a Packer for life. Finding franchise quarterbacks is a hard enough job so there is no reason to continue to chase this one out of town.

8 – PSYCHOLOGICAL COUNSELLING – The NHL continues to get in its own way on the matter involving the Chicago Blackhawks and the cover-up of sexual assault on a former player from 2010. Earlier this week, the mom of a 16-year-old boy (in 2013) victimized by the Hawks’ former video lackey was interviewed by Rick Westhead and her words bring tears to the eyes of any human with a soul. Yet, the NHL head office has said they will let the Blackhawks decide whether or not she and her family will have psychological counselling covered. To this point, it doesn’t sound as though any individual or organization has stepped up but this would be a great opportunity for Kevin Cheveldayoff and Mark Chipman to set the example they promised last week at their press conference. Even though the Jets aren’t directly involved, it would be a wonderful gesture for Cheveldayoff to come forward and pay for it himself or have the Jets do it.  In fact, any NHL player or executive person could do it if they were truly sincere yet this is like pulling teeth because too many people are still too busy covering for someone else and/or worried about legal fallout.  Doing what’s right shouldn’t be this hard.

9 – ATTENDANCE – I wrote my own blog about Rod’s commentary on Thursday concerning low attendance for various sports leagues across the country. For the most part, we tend to be in denial about the impact of the V-pass but here’s what I will say: the Rider game for Labour Day was full and the attendance for the other games prior to the V-pass coming into effect was better than any game since. Restaurants across this province were doing just fine and then noticed a drop in revenue as soon as the V-pass became a thing. I’m not singling anything out but I’m aware of a few events where Covid rules were lax and they did just fine as far as turnout (they weren’t super spreaders either). Sure, disposable income is also a factor and I think when it comes to junior hockey there is a bit of a battle with new habits that have been formed by customers as well as a downturn in attendance that has been an issue for many years now but was, perhaps, escalated with the pandemic. It won’t happen, however I’d guess that if there were no Covid rules for the final Rider game this weekend, it would be sold out. Then again, it may not be because there are a lot of people who are upset and will need to be lured back.

10 – SENATORS – Everybody on the Ottawa Senators is vaccinated yet they canceled their skate on Tuesday because of, a minimum, of three positive Covid cases. The Chicago Blackhawks and San Jose Sharks have also had Covid issues in recent days, as have the Winnipeg Jets and I’m maybe leaving out a team or two but the reality is this – NHL teams had Covid issues last year without vaccines being available and they have Covid issues this year with them being available. You can argue the cases this year aren’t as serious as they were last year but we have no idea of knowing if that’s true or not and that’s why some of us struggle with mandates when you look around and don’t really see much has changed because of them.

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