Stackhouse’s 10 Weekend Thoughts

2 – SWEARING AND DRINKING – I don’t watch any non-game play sports coverage so I probably shouldn’t comment too much on the Karens who were upset over some public drinking and swearing during Rider parade day.  Without truly knowing how vulgar the swearing was or how bad the drinking was, it would be nice if we could untie our collective panties and not be so stuck up when it comes to having a beer in public. There is a big difference between enjoying a celebratory alcoholic drink and public intoxication.  If you don’t know the difference, I can’t help you and don’t want to help you. As far as the swearing goes, I am not offended by any concoction of swear words that one may strew together but I can pass judgment on you as a person if you can’t express your excitement without relying on cuss words. I get that a swear word slips out every once in a while but when it is used because you just don’t know any other word to substitute, you need to read a book.

3 – FAKE CANADIAN CARE – These fans who are screaming from the rooftops about ‘Canadian this, Canadian that’ when it comes to the CFL need to start putting their money where their mouths are. With all due respect to the CFL, there is no truer form of Canadian football than U-Sports. Regina was blessed with the Canadian University championship game on Saturday (otherwise known as the Vanier Cup but most Canadians don’t know what that is) and it barely registered at all on the awareness of public events happening in our province this week.  Attendance was announced as 8896, which is about 1200 less than the Huskies season opening homecoming game in September. Embarrassing. In case you were unaware, Montreal won for the second time in three years as they downed the Saskatchewan Huskies 30-16.  

4 – MAYBE AXE USPORTS – As times get tougher financially, one has to wonder if university sports in Canada don’t soon hit the chopping block. The only people who seem to care are the gifted athletes who play and their coaches. Fans don’t care, broadcast networks don’t care, so-called athletic directors don’t care, school administrators don’t care, and people who sit in offices somewhere who have been tasked with being the management of university sports don’t care. So, why are we doing this? As a sports fan, I am truly saddened to see how many gifted athletes go unnoticed and unrecognized in this country. We have sports fans who are committed to certain NCAA schools and don’t miss a second of college football on Saturdays and yet those same people haven’t the faintest idea what goes on right in their own back yard and how great the calibre of play is. So, when I hear all this national pride coming out over moving goal posts in the CFL …. please.

5 – JETS CAROLINA GAME – I went to my first Winnipeg Jets game in about a year this weekend and it was a dandy as they fell 4-3 to Carolina on Friday night in what was Eric Comrie’s first game as the Jets’ number one goalie for the next 4-6 weeks. Comrie was hardly the problem as he made several quality saves. One goal he allowed was from a rebound to Seth Jarvis on a breakaway where he made the original save but the back checking effort from Mark Scheifele and Kyle Connor was near zero. In fact, Scheifele and Connor have never been known to excel in their own end but nobody seems to hassle them over it the way Evan Bouchard and company are constantly criticized in Edmonton. Could it be because of the goaltending nobody notices?

6 – NOT CASHLESS – What I did appreciate in Winnipeg was that they had two dedicated food/beer counters that would accept cash as a form of payment.  We live in a time where people are being forced out of carrying dollar bills and in typical Canadian fashion, we go right along with it wondering what ‘freedoms have we lost’ so it’s just nice for the few ‘cash is king’ people (like me) to have somewhere they can go to buy a beer and a Jets Dog and use actual money to complete the transaction. If you care, it’s sections 116 and 103 on the lower level.  I’ve been to NHL games in Calgary and Toronto in the last two years and, to my knowledge, neither place offers a vendor that accepts cash.

7 – OILERS – The criticism of all Edmonton players outside of the goaltending is way too old. Evan Bouchard is not Chris Pronger. He’s an offensive standout, probably in the top five in the NHL at his position. I would love nothing more than for fans to chase him away and to see him be regarded for what he is somewhere else rather than vilified for what he isn’t. Brett Kulak doesn’t contribute offense and he was on the ice for 15 straight even strength goals against at one point. But, Bouchard is the problem? The goaltenders have save percentages of .880 and .854. I’m sorry the skaters aren’t all Bob Gaineys. At some point the goalie has to make a save. In Edmonton, it’s been years of this. Remember when Taylor Hall got dealt for Adam Larsson? Hindsight hasn’t been kind to that trade but it’s exactly what all the fans wanted at the time. I say give them what they want again. Trade Bouchard for a box of pucks and keep the goalies. Watch Bouchard put up 90 points on a winning team and you can keep cheering for whatever you call this. Put a top fifteen goalie on this roster and they win the Stanley Cup as easily as the Riders just won the CFL Grey Cup.

8 – NLL PRESEASON – Robert Church scored five goals in an 11-10 loss to Calgary in a preseason NLL game Saturday night. The Rush open the season December 6, at home, to the Roughnecks. For the Rush, literally, everyone is back that was on the league runner-up team from this past Spring so expectations are going to be high.  Nevertheless, the Rush are 0-and-2 in the exhibition season and being a year older doesn’t always mean a year better. A concerning move this week was seeing faceoff specialist Jake Naso go to the injured list. Hopefully he’s okay in two weeks.  My guess is that he won’t be out long term as the team had an opportunity to maybe bring back former Rush faceoff man Jeremy Thompson who was a free agent after getting dropped by Georgia. He has since signed with Rochester.  

9 – UFC FIGHT NIGHT QATAR – Arman Tsarukyan submitted Dan Hooker in the main event of UFC Fight Night on Saturday. One day earlier, he just about caused the fight to be canceled when he head butted Hooker during the pre-fight hype press conference. Tsarukyan was the heavy favorite but I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t rooting for Hooker to turn his lights off. From here, Tsarukyan probably deserves a shot at Ilia Topuria for the Lightweight Championship but I say Topuria wins that easily.  The undercard bout saw Ian Machado Garry win a decision over Belal Muhammad. Following the bout, Garry called out Islam Makhachev for a title match and it’s hard to argue with him. Garry is now 17-and-1 and while the welterweight contenders are plentiful and there is no clear consensus on who’s the best, I’d like to see if Garry can defend the takedowns and if he can, he has pretty good odds at pulling off an upset. The other possibility for Garry is to move up to middleweight and tangle with Khamzat Chimaev, who fights a similar style to Makhachev.  Chimaev was in Garry’s face at the end of the broadcast on Saturday so maybe the stage is being set for that.

10 – STABS TEAMMATES – Not that you needed more proof that we live in the most bizarre time ever, but UAB offensive lineman Daniel Mincey is facing charges of aggravated assault and attempted murder in connection with an incident where he is alleged to have stabbed two of his teammates.  The incident occurred on Saturday morning, hours before they went out and lost 48-18 to USF. Obviously, some players chose not to play in light of the incident and the team was given the option to cancel the game but most wanted to play in what was their final home game of the season to honor the seniors.  

(Mike Stackhouse is a freelance writer/broadcaster)