STACKHOUSE’S 10 WEEKEND THOUGHTS
1 – REILLY SUES – BC Lions quarterback Mike Reilly has filed a grievance against the team citing language in his contract that assures him of $250,000 guaranteed regardless of his playing situation. Whether I think he has a good case or not is irrelevant because if the team has no money any judgment in his favor isn’t likely to result in him getting paid unless there happens to be a 2021 season and they end up having to top him up with an extra $250,000. This has high potential for public ugliness between the two sides and you have to wonder if there happens to be professional football in Canada again at some point in the next few years whether Reilly would be playing for the Lions or some other club.
2 – MAJOR JUNIOR SEASON – I don’t have any inside knowledge, but based on what we are seeing in Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and Alberta this week how are we feeling with regards to a WHL season at this point? The MJHL is done until January 1st, at the earliest. So, I think the writing is on the wall for the Winnipeg Ice and Brandon Wheat Kings in that regard. The SJHL is going but there hasn’t been any loosening of the restrictions. Alberta does appear to be more in line with where Saskatchewan is at as far as the AJHL goes although most of the rest of their hockey is under a two week pause.
3 – MJHL RULE BREAKERS – As I mentioned, the MJHL is shut down until January 1, at the earliest, as part of the new Covid restrictions in Manitoba but the two Winnipeg teams were shut down prior to the rest of the league because the capital city was in a more restrictive state than the rest of the province. That didn’t stop the Winnipeg Freeze and Winnipeg Blues from travelling to a part of the province (Warren) that didn’t have restrictions to hold a practice. It was a clear violation and it remains to be seen what sort of penalties may be levied by the government. I do feel for all the MJHL teams who have abided by the rules and have gone to great lengths to ensure everyone is doing their part and yet they are still shut down despite not having any amount of serious cases to speak of. It does become more challenging to get people (especially the young) to maintain the straight and narrow path when you realize that it doesn’t even matter whether you do or not.
4 – SEATTLE YOUTH HOCKEY – In Seattle, a youth hockey team ended up in temporary isolation after 10 players received positive Covid-19 tests. None of the players showed symptoms so they all got re-tested and it was determined that all ten were false positives. Crisis averted.
5 – NHL LABOUR DISPUTE – It’s not major news yet, but there are rumblings of a labour dispute between the players and owners with regards to how they’d be paid this upcoming season and it looks a lot like the one Major League Baseball went through. According to Elliotte Friedman, the players are of the understanding that they will get 72% of their gross pay and that this number is set in stone whether they play 1 game or 70-something games. However, owners feel those salaries should be pro-rated, especially if there is no clear path to attendance (and there isn’t) which would create losses higher than anything 20-percent escrow would withstand. Even if the two sides sort this issue out, the NHL is headed for a market correction and what that looks like when a salary cap is lowered instead of maintained or raised will be something to behold.
6 – FREDDIE FREEMAN – You may remember Atlanta Braves first baseman Freddie Freeman praying to God not to take him as he battled a Covid-19 fever prior to the start of the Major League Baseball season. Freeman managed to recover from the virus and not only play but he also just won the National League Most Valuable Player Award. This needs to be pointed out anytime you hear stories about Covid long haulers. I’m not saying people don’t suffer long term effects from a viral infection because they do. That isn’t a ‘Covid only’ thing. It is a possibility if you are stricken with any virus, but it’s also worth noting that an elite athlete can get this virus, suffer from bad symptoms for multiple days, and then return and perform at a level greater than the rest of his very gifted peers. I know. It’s good news and not a lot of fun for mainstream media to report.
7 – GOLDEN STATE FANS – Golden State Warriors owner Joe Lacob has been working on a project called Operation Dub Nation. The intent is to invest $30-million so that 10,000 fans can be rapid tested for Covid on game days that is 99-percent accurate. Dr. George Rutherford, a professor of epidemiology at UCSF, has reviewed the Warriors plans and says, “I don’t think anybody else could do anything more than they’ve done. This is as close to making it as close to perfect a plan as I’ve seen for anything reopening.” Lacob is maybe the only owner living in reality. “I not only want to get this done and show the world how we can do it now, I’m willing to spend the money to do it. This is a serious, serious problem. It cannot go on for multiple years because if this were to go on for several years, the NBA is no more.”
8 – NBA OUT OF THE GATE FIRST – The smorgasbord of sports that we had through the summer and early fall is gone with just the NFL as the lone major pro team sports league still going. That will change in a month as the NBA will be firing up camps in a couple of weeks and they’ll begin regular season games (without fans) on December 22nd. It’s apparently viable to play the World Junior Hockey Championship without fans and that will begin a few days after that (notice I didn’t say Boxing Day as I’m assuming that’s canceled this year since Christmas likely will be…but shopping for deals at major franchise outlets seems to not spread the virus so you never know) and then the NHL has a soft start date slated for January 1st. By the New Year, when it’s -30 outside, there will be plenty of options for sports fans if they wish to plant themselves on the couch. For those that don’t, another fun winter sport actually began about a week ago – snowmobiling. Especially in Saskatoon, North Battleford, Swift Current, and Maple Creek areas.
9 – NFL POWER RANKINGS – 1) Kansas City, 2) Pittsburgh, 3) New Orleans, 4) Seattle, 5) Tampa Bay, 6) Green Bay, 7) Tennessee, 8) Buffalo. I left out Baltimore as Lamar Jackson is teetering on ‘one year wonder’ status. Arizona is close. Chicago would be in there for sure with a better quarterback. The Rams are a bit under everyone’s radar but could sneak in over the coming weeks. I’m bullish on the Titans as I feel Mike Vrabel is a top coach and can get maximum results from his talent despite the disappointment on Thursday. Drew Brees has his weapons back. Russell Wilson is the undisputed MVP in the NFL this season although Patrick Mahomes is still the most electrifying, most exciting, and probably the best QB overall. Just imagine what Aaron Rodgers would have done with a better head coach six or seven years ago.
10 – HEALTH OFFICIALS/COACHES – Each province’s top health official really could be looked at in much the same way as you’d look at a hockey coach. What happens to the hockey coach when the players are no longer listening? You fire him. This doesn’t mean the coach doesn’t know how to do his job anymore, but the message isn’t being adhered to anymore and since you can’t fire 20 players, you fire the coach. I’d make the same argument for some of the provinces when it comes to their top health official. It’s clear that in some provinces the health official has ‘lost the room’. I admit to being a little bit concerned that maybe our health leaders are too stubborn to admit they have been wrong and are willing to go down a destructive path a second time rather than offer a different approach. For me, saying sorry for a wrong health order carries a lot more credible weight than simply trying what failed before a second time. Replacing a health leader and bringing in someone new who maybe says similar things in a different way may end up having more of an impact. Let’s be honest: There has been a tremendous amount of contradiction delivered to the general public and it’s no wonder you have a hard time getting your entire population to follow the orders 10 months later. And, there are differing opinions from experts out there. In Manitoba, the person who held the job prior to their current top health official has been in the news with philosophies that are quite a bit different than what are being prescribed.
(Mike Stackhouse is a freelance writer/broadcaster. Follow him on Twitter at @Stack1975)
