Stackhouse’s 10 Weekend Thoughts

1 – RIDERS WIN – The Riders are just 3-and-3 in their last six and don’t exactly look like the class of the CFL despite their 20-13 win against Ottawa on Friday.  The Redbacks, frankly, are not a watchable football team.  That was nothing short of gross on Friday night but a win is a win as they say and the Riders can’t be faulted for who they play.  Having said that, Saskatchewan has been on coast mode for almost two months and it’s shown in their play.  They’ll need to summon some desperation in order to be better prepared for the playoffs.  They are home to Toronto, at Winnipeg, and home to BC to close out the schedule so it’s set up nicely for them to get better focused as the Bombers are a credible team if Zach Collaros plays and the Lions have emerged big time with Nathan Rourke, seemingly, rediscovered his pre-NFL form.  

2 – WHAT TO DO AT PK – Kicking is still a dilemma.  Newcomer Campbell Fair missed two extra points on Friday and to make matters worse was that he was back in the city where he played his college ball.  My guess is the leash on Fair is short and Brett Lauther is going to get another chance.  Those of you calling for former Atlanta kicker Younghoe Koo are bananas.  Koo was making $5-million a year in the NFL and is going to get another chance eventually.  The fact this even gets brought up shows how ignorant some CFL fans can be. Give your head a shake and come to grips with reality.  Sorry to be so harsh on this but it’s laughable.  

3 – RIDERS NOT ON TV – I spent this weekend at a work conference in Toronto and the hotel I was at had one TSN channel (the local one).  The Rider-Redblacks game wasn’t even on.  TSN deemed a top ten list show was of more interest in the Toronto market.  Only fans in the Ottawa/East region were able to see the game unless you are someone who subscribes to all five TSN channels.  You have to understand that in Toronto, there is no reason whatsoever to have more than one channel.  Most of the sports community in Canada’s biggest city had no idea there was even a CFL game being played on Friday.  TSN and the CFL can’t be bothered to tell you the television ratings because the news isn’t good.  This could be part of the reason why they are in the gutter.  It’s, obviously, too late but CFL games need to be on a channel that everyone has access to.

4 – UFC 320 – This was an excellent card with the main event seeing Alex Pereira reclaim his light heavyweight title with a dominating first round knockout win over Magomed Ankalaev.  It was the second time these two have fought and Pereira was adamant that he was nowhere near 100% in the first fight, which Ankalaev won via unanimous decision.  In the co-main event it was Merab Dvalishvilli taking a unanimous decision from a very game Cory Sandhagen, who defended Dvalishvilli’s takedowns very well but he was almost knocked out in the second round and was unable to mount enough offense to make it a close fight.  I see nobody even close to being able to seriously challenge Merab so I wouldn’t mind if these two went at it again.  The most exciting match featured light heavyweight Jiri Prochazka coming from behind to brutally knockout Khalil Rountree in the third round after Roundtree had clearly won the first two.

5 – FUTURE IN LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT – What’s next for Pereira will be interesting going forward.  The Brazilian is immensely popular with the crowd.  He’s already beaten Prochazka twice and Rountree once.  Carlos Ulberg could be next in line but an Ulberg-Prochazka fight also makes a lot of sense, especially for Prochazka, a former champion.  What’s next for Ankalaev?  He will need to rebuild his status and perhaps a fight with Rountree could be in the offing.  

6 – JUNIOR OPPORTUNITIES – I understand that the grass is greener when it comes to junior hockey players, but if you are a family with a junior player in your household, please please please resist the temptation to go somewhere ‘better’ after you have established roots and a track record with your current team.  When it comes to major junior players leaving for the NCAA, it can be a shock and stunt your value as a prospect when you aren’t ready to play against 22-year-old men.  If you leave the SJHL for the BCHL, the same thing can happen.  You are going to a new organization with a new coach who has a new system and has to earn trust in you all over again.  I will use Jadon Iyogun as a recent example.  Iyogun was the top player on the Melville Millionaires heading into the season but he opted to try his luck in the BCHL.  He was cut at the end of training camp and the Mils had already made a decision to not welcome back players who choose to leave.  So he was dealt to Bonnyville, who then quickly shipped him to Lloydminster.  Iyogun has been held off the scoresheet in his first two games with the Bobcats.  

7 – MORE ON SCOUTS – If a scout tries to strongarm a junior player into trying a ‘better’ league in order for that scout to get a better evaluation, the player should simply reply back that loyalty to teammates and organization outweighs a desire to jump from one team or league to another.  If I was searching for a player and got that kind of a reply, I’d sign the player on the spot because any shortcomings he may have in skill and ability are going to be made up for in intangibles.  It’s also the scout’s job to determine how good you are rather than your job to do a scout’s bidding that could, conceivably, make his job ‘easier’.

8 – KAPRIZOV SIGNS – The Minnesota Wild signed Kiril Kaprizov to a $17-million a year contract earlier this week.  It’s an overpay to be sure but the Wild were faced with no alternative.  They aren’t a team that attracts superstars on the free agent market so their best chance was to retain one they’ve developed.  The problem with Kaprizov isn’t so much that he isn’t good enough but that he doesn’t play enough games.  $17-million is going to be more like $30-million when you consider his per game wage.  When he was in the lineup during the first half of last season, the Wild were a top team so his value isn’t questioned.  Longevity, on the other hand…and, no…the Kaprizov contract has no bearing on Connor McDavid’s potential contract.  McDavid, apparently, is still trying to figure out if Edmonton is a team he can win with.  The answer, of course, if he takes $20-million a season is no.  But that’s the answer no matter where he goes if he hogs up that much of the cap.

9 – QUARTERBACKS – NFL teams give up on quarterbacks way too quickly and easily.  Mac Jones looks like a world-beater as a San Francisco 49er, under the tutelage of Kyle Shanahan.  Jones was tossed aside by New England two years ago and Jacksonville gave him a one year contract to back up Trevor Lawrence (who ironically is a rare breed in that he’s been given plenty of opportunities to succeed) last year and now he’s in San Francisco, where there could soon be a quarterback controversy if Brock Purdy doesn’t come back from injury sooner rather than later.  Purdy makes $265-million.  Jones makes $7-million.  It doesn’t seem to matter who Shanahan has as a QB.  He figures out a way to get maximum performance out of him.  Some coaches are like that and there are other instances where the match between quarterback and coach seems to click.  More than ever, I’m convinced that failure at the quarterback position is more based on incompatibility with the coach than it is based on pure ability.  I don’t wish injury on anyone, but my guess is if Charger QB Justin Herbert goes down, we are going to discover Trey Lance may be a capable pivot too.  We’ve also only seen glimpses of it, but if Josh Allen was to get sidelined, my guess is Mitchell Trubisky would be fine in Buffalo.  

10 – PANTHERS PODCAST – Bryce Young hasn’t been a total failure in Carolina, but the Panthers are a bad football team so we can’t really do a proper evaluation of Young.  Having said that, the hosts of a popular podcast called Meow Mix have decided to pack it in, saying it is too hard to try and stay interested in the team because they are so bad.  If this is what determines whether or not podcasts are active, I’m going to guess the Ottawa Redbacks one shut down three years ago.

BONUS – Who is more well known, Michael Buffer or Bruce Buffer?  Which one is more tolerable?

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