Stackhouse’s 10 Weekend Thoughts

2 – LAST NIGHT UNDER THE NEW RULES – I’m on record as saying I support most of the rule changes put forth by CFL Commissioner Stewart Johnston earlier in the week. I know Rider fans loved watching their team almost come back from being down 24-12 late in the game, but running eight plays in a minute is ridiculous. Lauther’s two field goal misses last night probably aren’t even attempted under the ‘new’ rule proposals. Perhaps with the shorter field, the Rider coaches would have elected to keep the offense on and go for six instead of the three so I understand that rationale. And if you are going to move the goalposts back, you pretty much have to reduce the length of the field too.   

3 – NO CONSIDERATION – I support the changes but I’m going to sound critical because of how this was done.  It’s so typically Canadian. Put someone in charge and have that person remake the culture he’s been put in charge of without any consultation from the citizens and do it in a shroud of secrecy to prevent any possible resistance that may crop up before the changes are complete and then make sure your sponsored media parrots all the proper talking points, telling the citizens what a great deal it is. Football fields all across the country will have to be modified at great expense to non-profit organizations because it wouldn’t make a lot of sense to grow up playing a 110-yard game with goal posts near the goal line, not to mention the fact that some junior and university teams play on CFL fields as it is. Make no mistake, just like everything else in this country, we will do what Toronto wants and that’s just the way it is.  You can bet your bottom dollar these changes stem from a push by MLSE as a result of their love affair with the NFL and it’s as simple as that. In a league where you can be fined for criticizing a fine (also typically Canadian), is it any wonder those in charge of CFL teams in Saskatchewan and Winnipeg are also voicing support for the changes?

4 – WHY NOT ADDRESS STAKEHOLDERS – Every other professional sport will use minor leagues as a test before implementing change. Why the CFL didn’t go to U-Sports or the CJFL first and ask them to play a season under the modifications is beyond me. The NHL will always try tweaks in the rules at the junior or AHL level first.  MLB has been toying with robo-umps for a couple of seasons now in the minors. The NCAA changed overtime rules before the NFL did. The way this was done springs major surprises on minor football organizations across the country. It won’t be cheap to change the layout of football fields and the CFL isn’t exactly in a position to help pay for it. Furthermore, once this is done there really isn’t any going back. MLSE could destroy the CFL with their grand plan that has been forced on everyone and they’ll have destroyed the uniqueness of Canadian football all the way down to the grassroots along with it. Again, I support changing some of the rules and trying to fix what’s clearly broken as evidenced by diminished fan interest. Reading the room, however, I am not so sure my opinion is that of the majority and if I was in charge of minor football I would be holding off for a few years, even after the CFL changes, before going lockstep.

5 – MORE ON RULES – The 35-second clock is a no brainer, as I mentioned earlier. Tweaks to the rouge are needed but it remains to be seen if they got it right or not. I remember watching a game with heavy legged Eddie Johnson being asked by Ken Miller to launch a punt through the end zone late in the fourth quarter of a tie game many years ago because the field goal kicker didn’t have the leg strength or accuracy to make the three. Johnson failed on the attempt but just having that play in your arsenal is part of what makes the Canadian game a bit different without it being ridiculous. Getting points for screwing up is something I have never and will never be in support of.  In junior football a few years ago, the London Beefeaters opted to punt through the end zone instead of kick a short field goal to break a 14-14 tie late in the provincial championship game simply because a punt goes through fewer hands and there is less of a chance of an error.  

6 – ATTRACTING FUTURE NFL STARS – Like it or not, the Canadian game is not taken seriously by American fans and players because of the quirks we have. The size of the field and the number of players on it contributes to this. I know there is a segment of the fan base that doesn’t care what Americans think but if we want to attract top talent, we have to have a game that is regarded as credible on a mass scale. When Doug Flutie was setting records there were many south of the border that doubted he could translate that to the NFL despite obvious evidence to the contrary. If we want to ever have a hope of seeing another Flutie (a good player who wants to actually play and use the CFL as a springboard) the league has to be more ‘American’. With most of the teams bleeding money, there is also really no chance that a team could pay an NFLer looking to prove himself. Most players get $1-million a year to sit on a practice roster. Nathan Rourke is the highest paid CFL player at $600,000.  The money has to get closer between the two leagues. Even if you hate the changes announced this week, surely you can admit the status quo isn’t working and hasn’t been working for years. For the most part I chalk that up to poor overall league management but it’s too late to fix it. So here we are with major changes as a hail mary to save it.  In a way, it’s a snap shot of our entire country. 

7 – BRINGING OUT EMOTIONS – The enthusiasm and passion from fans this week that are opposed because they want to protect what is ‘Canadian’ is something I wish we would see in all walks of life in this country.  But the fact remains the league has been broken for years and largely ignored while most just hoped for it to get better.  Well just like everything else in Canada, hope isn’t going to cut it and now it’s too late. It’s not unlike wanting to ‘protect’ a healthcare system that requires you to wait all day in an Emergency Room or die on a gurney in a hospital hallway all because the perception is that it’s ‘free’ to suffer and that’s better than blowing it all up and making wholesale changes that could lower taxes and just pay an invoice through insurance and receive top notch care. My guess is that because the CFL fan base is, widely, made up of what you may call a cult following, this is going to be rejected and the league will be in even more trouble than it is now but for the sake of everyone, I hope I’m wrong.

8 – VIDEO REVIEW INCONSISTENCY – Tuesday night, Blue Jay George Springer appeared to hit a fair ball down the third base line that would give the Jays the lead in a crucial game with playoff implications, but the umpire ruled the ball as foul (video replay showed fair, but apparently fair and foul calls aren’t reviewable).  On the next pitch, a different umpire called strike three on a ball clearly out of the zone. I don’t understand why certain rulings are reviewable and certain ones aren’t. It’s like that in every single sport and makes no sense. Next season, balls and strikes will be on the list of calls that can be challenged but fair and fouls won’t be? In hockey, it’s even worse. You can challenge whether a puck crossed the line and when it’s reviewed, if the referee spots goalie interference, he can’t do anything about it. However, if the coach wants to challenge goalie interference, they will delay the game even further to humour the coach and then determine whether or not goalie interference was committed. Normal interference isn’t reviewable. Just make it make sense.

9 – UFC FIGHT NIGHT – Carlos Ulberg threw some drama into the UFC Light Heavyweight Division on Saturday night with a first round knockout of Dominick Reyes in the main event of Fight Night. Ulberg has won nine in a row and, surely, is in line for a title fight the next time he steps into the octagon. Next Saturday, the headline of UFC320 is Magomed Ankalaev against Alex Pereira. It’s the second time these two have met in six months with Ankalaev winning a unanimous decision back in March. Ulberg is, likely, to face the winner and is already on the record as saying he will be in attendance next Saturday.

10 – SMAAAHL – I have to give a shoutout to my local SMAAAHL team, the Yorkton Maulers. The organization has been in the cellar regularly for a decade (or longer) but they are off to a 2-and-0 start after winning at Notre Dame and then at home versus Prince Albert this week. The Notre Dame win is all the more impressive when you consider the Maulers didn’t get to Wilcox until half an hour before game time due to bus trouble. Jeremy Palaniuk is in his first year as General Manager and has made a commitment to our community by selling his Regina home and moving to Yorkton. Jason Gordon is in his second season as head coach with former Terrier and WHLer Josh Garbutt in his first as an assistant. I know I can be ultra critical but I see no reason why a Yorkton AAA U18 team can’t be near the top of the standings regularly and, hopefully, this is the start of a new pattern. Meanwhile in Regina, both Maddox Schultz and Liam Pue had big games in a 5-3 win over Estevan. Schultz had a goal and three assists while Pue added three helpers. Playoff games in this league drew big crowds this past Spring and I expect more of the same as the profile increases.

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