Stackhouse’s 10 Weekend Thoughts

1 – RIDERS PLAYOFFS – The Saskatchewan Roughriders trailed for most of the game to the Montreal Alouettes’ second and third stringers and they didn’t exactly inspire confidence that they’ve corrected their leaky pass defense, but they still got a late touchdown to beat the Als 16-12 in a rather boring affair yesterday to ensure their spot in the playoffs.  It’s likely the Riders will come third in the West and head to BC for an October 31st playoff date.  While the Riders haven’t been playing like champions for the last six weeks (or more), the fact of the matter is that they are the defending champions and the playoffs are a different season and a chance to wipe the slate clean.  I wouldn’t write them off despite plenty of evidence to suggest the contrary.

2 – DALKE REPORT – The RCMP, unfortunately, have made a mess of the tragic July accident that claimed the lives of Rider Jayden Dalke and Bhishma Rajyaguru.  By being secretive about toxicology reports and further feeding rumours and innuendo, the police have managed to make this a multiple day news story months after the fact and I don’t think that’s something anyone wants.  From people I’ve discussed this with, my take on it is that the public does deserve to know more details as to what happened.  One of the things that has bothered me is that when you read the media reports, it’s easy to assume Dalke was driving for some time in the wrong lane and I’ve seen a few folks openly wonder why Rajyaguru wasn’t able to avoid the collision.  I’m not saying this is what happened, but if Dalke was actually driving in the ditch in between the north and south lanes and then was only driving in the south bound lane for a split second, then Rajyaguru has no opportunity to react.  Any information that could be used to help people be more attentive or sharpen their defensive driving skills when you see something unusual on the highway would be very valuable but the matter smells of dirt being swept under the rug and the information that was released leads one to easily speculate on the state of Dalke at the time of the crash and that’s not fair to his memory.  The fact they didn’t clear him of impairment speaks volumes here and I believe if the RCMP had just revealed more information, as a whole, the entire topic goes away a lot quicker.  

3 – NAME CHANGE PLEA – The owner of the Edmonton Elkimos (Deb Thompson) has made a public plea for fans to put their name grievances aside and come out to support their team in the playoffs as they are going to win the West and host the West Division final.  I find this to be a weird way to cater to your customers, who have been telling you for years what to do in order to draw more people.  It’s easy for her to say put the grievances aside but fans could say the same thing to her and simply change the name back.  She’s not about to do that, so why should the fans cave in to her?  Nevertheless, the mere fact that she’s talking about the name and begging for fans to ignore the grievance tells me the long standing organization denial that the name of the team had very little to do with the diminished fan attendance was a big fat lie.  On the topic of lies, why are we totally fine with these authority figures going on tv and lying to our faces when we and they both know the diarrhea that comes out of their mouths is nowhere close to the truth?

4 – HELLEBUYCK – This entire situation with Connor Hellebuyck, the Winnipeg Jets, and their delusional fans will come to a head this week as we have learned that Hellebuyck actually wanted to report for the season’s opening game but the Jets suspended him instead and that suspension ends October 23rd.  One of three things will happen:  he gets dealt, he returns to the team, or he stays home but starts getting paid.  Coming back, in my mind, doesn’t seem all that crazy.  The players can relate to this being a business so as long as he’s on board to try and win for however long he’s there it shouldn’t be an issue.  Fans, who have been downright gross to him ever since he won a gold medal and made the cardinal sin of attending the White House, are a different story.  There appears to be no signs of contrition from them as they continue to call him names and even deny committing the harassment that the Jets, themselves, have admitted to have happened and was severe enough that police and team security were involved.  The entire ordeal makes Winnipeg look even less attractive than it always has been.  My guess is that Hellebuyck gets paid to stay home…for now.  

5 – TKACHUK FLORIDA – Brady Tkachuk took a passive aggressive swipe at Ottawa this week after back to back three goal performances for his new team, the Florida Panthers.  Tkachuk was being interviewed at ice level and without being steered in the direction of the topic, Tkachuk talked about what a great place Florida is to live and how wonderful the fans are there and despite being there just a short time, he recognizes them as the best fans in the league.  Back to the Hellebuyck and fans situation just for a second.  Those of you saying he just wants to go play with his American buddies, which team would that be then?  They are scattered all over the league and there is no single team that has a monopoly or a lion’s share of them.  At least make your argument make sense.

6 – MLB SALARY CAP – The Los Angeles Dodgers are gone from the MLB playoffs and we are supposed to accept that as proof we don’t need a salary cap.  The Dodgers paid $433-million to their players this season, a near $100-million more than the second highest payroll.  While much has been made about Cleveland and Tampa Bay being in the ALCS with bottom five payrolls, it’s still worth mentioning that Sacramento, Miami, and Pittsburgh were also in the bottom five and nowhere near the playoffs.  The fact of the matter is that $433-million allows you to cover up a lot of mistakes.  If Kyle Tucker signs a $240-million contract with almost any other team and then proceeds to hit .230 with 17-homers, the fact of the matter is that team is completely screwed for the duration of his deal.  With the Dodgers, it just doesn’t matter and they’ve been to the playoffs 14-straight years because they can roster anyone they want and bench anyone they want.  What chances do San Diego, Arizona, San Francisco, and Colorado have (the teams in their division)?  The Padres have been competitive but despite the size of their market, they’ve had to commit to being in the top 10 of MLB payrolls in order to do it.  If the Dodgers weren’t so far and away ahead of even the second richest team, I wouldn’t be in favor of a cap but enough is enough.  It also hasn’t been discussed enough how the Dodgers have been able to do this and that their empire is, quite possibly, a house of cards.

7 – OHTANI – Shohei Ohtani was banged up pretty good and it showed with his play down the stretch and into the playoffs.  There is significant chatter that the Dodgers are going to ask him to retire from pitching and become a one-way player only.  Again, only the Dodgers can do this.  Ohtani is paid $70-million per season, mainly because he’s an elite pitcher and hitter all in one and so when you factor in $35-million as a hitter and $35-million as a pitcher, he’s pretty much on par with what the current market dictates for a hitter and pitcher of this stature.  Had he signed with the Blue Jays, there would be no pressure to give up pitching because the Jays (and every other team in MLB) need a return on that hefty investment.  Ohtani, for what it’s worth, told the media this week that he has no plans to give up pitching.

8 – UFC EDMONTON – UFC Fight Night made a stop in Edmonton last night and Ontario native Mike Malott headlined the main event with a second round knockout of Joaquin Buckley as he fed Buckley with a heavy knee to the face that sent Buckley’s mouthpiece flying and Buckley buckling to the canvas.  Malott is in the ultra-competitive welterweight division so where he will slot in the rankings and who his next opponent will be is anyone’s guess.  UFC336 is in Toronto in late January and it makes sense for Malott to be on that card.  Belal Muhammad would make a lot of sense.  The former champion is ranked 7th but has lost his last three (Jack Della Madalena, Ian Machado Garry, and Gabriel Bonfim).  

9 – LACROSSE STREAMING – The National Lacrosse League has made a broadcast deal with FloSports, so you have yet another streaming service you will need to subscribe to if you want to watch the NLL along with the NHL, NFL, NBA, etc.  This is a miscalculation by the NLL as, other than people like me who are serious lacrosse fans, nobody is going to sign up for this.  FloSports, again for people like me, is a great platform.  In addition to watching NLL, it carries a ton of junior hockey (including SJHL), Saskatchewan AAA Midget (sorry I still use the old name), as well as minor pro hockey, and a plethora of college sports.  I could easily lose an entire day watching it but I also recognize most sports fans will have no use for it and so the NLL, which badly needs the exposure, will go to the back burner of many sports fans’ minds. I wish FloSports would also get Canadian University sports and junior football.  Those are the missing elements for me.

10 – FIRED FOR WINNING – A high school football coach in Oregon has been fired after he called for two onside kicks in the first half of his team’s 63-0 win.  The game was actually called off, mercy rule, at halftime.  The school, Catholic based, claims the coach wasn’t representing them in the way their mission and values represent.  I’m guessing the onside kicks had a lot to do with this decision but if high school football plays by the same rules as the NFL, the losing team knows before the kick that the winning team is going to attempt the onside kick.  Onside kicks, also, are not often recovered by the kicking team so it would give the losing side great field position if they can recover.  I also can’t think of a better time to practice an onside kick for when you really need one.  Oh well, losing sucks and winning big also sucks and people’s feelings are hurt so fire the guy who has a great program and excuse the ones who don’t.

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