Stackhouse’s 10 Weekend Thoughts

2 – SOLD OUT – In typical CFL fashion, the attendance was inflated if you are one of those weird folks that likes to count actual people who go to the game.  However, the CFL’s method of counting is more about tickets distributed.  You have to tip your hat to all the fans who purchase tickets just for the sake of buying and don’t go to the game.  There are thousands weekly.  No other sports league can boast about this.  It’s definitely not 2013 as ticket resellers a dozen years ago would have made money on such a practice.  In today’s sports climate, the Riders needed to run numerous promotions to reach ‘sellout’ status and good on them for doing it.  You do what you need to.

3 – GREY CUP – The emergence of Nathan Rourke in the second half of the season provided a bit of drama and had the BC Lions in the mix but the Grey Cup game will feature the two teams I picked very early on in the year.  Davis Alexander, to my knowledge, has never lost a CFL game and that alone gives Montreal a puncher’s chance to win the title match but I’ve been a proponent of this being the year of the Riders and I’m not about to change my mind today, especially with word coming out that Alexander may have aggravated his hamstring injury there is no assurances he gets through the entirety of the game.  

4 – HARDY BOWL – It was an exciting end to the Hardy Bowl in Saskatoon as the Huskies rallied in the fourth quarter from a 24-9 deficit to beat the Regina Rams 25-24.  Liam Piccinin hauled in a 20-yard pass from Jake Farrell to complete a 101-yard drive to make it 24-16 and then Farrell threw another TD to Mason Grabowski to narrow the gap to 24-22 (two point attempt failed).  Lukas Scott kicked a 25-yard field goal in the final minute to put Saskatchewan on top and earn them a berth in the Mitchell Bowl against Queen’s next Saturday at Griffiths Stadium.

5 – DETERIORATION OF SPORTS COVERAGE – Former ESPN analyst Merril Hoge is quoted in The Sporting News as saying the network is about ‘debate and argue’ rather than providing its viewers with actual information.  I don’t know if I would agree with that fully but I do know the quality of non-game play television has been on the decline for years and is at the point where I just won’t watch it.  ESPN’s morning football preview show is, honestly, unwatchable if you are a person who grew up on Chris Berman and Tom Jackson.  There are some really good podcasts out there but there’s also a ton of trash so it’s difficult to sort through it all.  Feel free to comment below on some of your favorites and I’ll give them a try.  For hockey, I’ve been listening to Ice Guardians with Brett Hull and Kelly Chase and have found it entertaining. 

6 – QUENNEVILLE COMPLIMENTED – I caught a few minutes of the Vegas-Anaheim game on the radio last night and I was stunned at the Golden Knights’ color commentator’s suggestion that the person mainly responsible for the Florida Panthers winning back to back Stanley Cups is Joel Quenneville.  What an incredibly ignorant thing to say and a total slap in the face to Paul Maurice.  While it’s true Quenneville could be credited with establishing a culture of winning and he helped mold a few of their players into playing a more complete game, the reality is that they needed a couple of significant moves from the General Manager and a coach like Maurice to get them over the hump.  I’m not sure if the so-called analyst felt as though he needed to suck up to Quenneville or maybe he’s butt hurt over something involving Maurice from his Winnipeg days but the remark is both laughable and insulting.  Fortunately, not that many people would listen to a Golden Knights radio broadcast that would be exposed to such nonsense. 

7 – RUSH PRESEASON – The Saskatchewan Rush dropped a 17-10 decision to the Toronto Rock in their first preseason game on Saturday.  Brock Haley scored three while Zach Manns and Bobby Kidd III each had two. Singles came from Robert Church, Matt Acchione, and Ryan Barnable.  The Rush play two more exhibition games before opening the season, at home, on December 6th.

8 – UPCOMING UFC – The best UFC card of the year takes place next Saturday as it will be headlined by welterweight champion Jack Della Maddalena as he faces Islam Makhachev, who a lot of people forget, may be the best pound for pound fighter in the sport but he is moving up from Lightweight, some say in an effort to avoid Ilia Topuria.  The undercard features Valentina Shevchenko against Zhang Weili, the top two female fighters in the sport.  Two other significant welterweight fights are on the slate with Sean Brady going up against Michael Morales and Leon Edwards facing Carlos Prates.  Brady defeated Edwards earlier in the year and is 18-and-1 overall, losing only to Belal Muhammad back in 2022.  Muhammad has beaten everybody in the division except for Della Maddalena, who took a decision from him in May this year.

9 – KNEELAND SUICIDE – Dallas Cowboys defensive end Marshawn Kneeland killed himself this week with a shotgun blast after saying his good-byes to loved ones.  The 24-year-old had just scored a touchdown on Monday Night Football.  The official cause was deemed ‘died following a mental health episode’, which just goes to show that no matter how much more better off people are than you, those same people may still be living in their own version of hell.  I often wonder how much more happy I’d be if I was a successful pro athlete with an infinite amount of money available to me.  Turns out, most of us (likely) wouldn’t be any happier than we are now. 

10 – GUNS – I don’t like guns.  Never have, never will.  I don’t own one, but I do have my PAL as I view that as being a life skill everyone should know (like swimming, driving a standard, riding a motorcycle, etc).  I used to be an advocate of banning guns but then when I saw how governments want to use that issue to disarm people so that they can run roughshod over everyone, I changed my mind.  This situation where a woman was shot and killed while sitting in a car with her friend near Weyburn has me beyond infuriated and so I can’t imagine how her friends and family are feeling.  You never know what to believe, but now there are reports out there of someone coming out and saying he was shot at on the same highway a week earlier.  If you fire a .22, that bullet will travel three football fields before losing velocity and could go up to 3km before it drops to the ground.  I guess I write about this today because you folks who love hunting and love your guns are greatly outnumbered by those who don’t.  I respect your right to own one and I don’t want to see it taken away so please, please, please make sure you are policing one another accordingly to be responsible firearm owners.  

(Mike Stackhouse is a freelance writer/broadcaster)