STACKHOUSE’S 10 WEEKEND THOUGHTS

1 – TREVOR HARRIS – I have to give the Roughriders full marks here.  I don’t think Harris is who the Riders wanted to be their starting quarterback, but they’ve fallen into him and as of this writing, I have him ranked as the second best starting QB in the CFL, right behind former Rider Zach Collaros.  Who else would you put above Harris?  You can make a case for McLeod Bethel-Thompson, but there is nobody else currently lined up to start that I’d rather have.  I think Harris is better than Bo-Levi Mitchell and Jake Maier will have to show me more before I anoint him the next great CFL pivot.  Harris is also an upgrade from Cody Fajardo’s last two seasons.  The knock on him is that he’s a bit of a difficult teammate. We shall see.  Now, let’s get him an offensive line.  At 36, he’s not a safe bet to stay healthy if he’s getting drilled every time he drops back.

2 – SUPER BOWL SUNDAY – I’m picking the Kansas City Chiefs to roll to victory on Sunday with the main reason being the Philadelphia Eagles have had the easiest run to the title game than any other team, perhaps ever.  Here are the last 14 quarterbacks they have faced:  Cooper Rush, Kenny Pickett, Davis Mills, Taylor Heinicke, an over-the-hill Matt Ryan, Ryan Tannehill, Daniel Jones-3 times, Justin Fields, Andy Dalton, and Josh Johnson.  The two best QBs they faced were Dak Prescott (34 points scored) and Aaron Rodgers (33 points scored).  If Prescott scored 34, Rodgers scored 33…what is Patrick Mahomes going to score?

3 – RUSH LOSE – Christian Del Bianco was outstanding, Alex Buque was not and that’s why the Calgary Roughnecks emerged as 13-6 winners over the Rush on Friday night.  The Rush didn’t play all that poorly, they just couldn’t get anything by Del Bianco.  It was the first time the Rush have lost by more than one goal all season.  With the standings close, it will be interesting to see at the end of the year how big Saskatchewan’s meltdown against San Diego was, especially when you factor in Calgary’s late rally last week at Halifax that saw them come from 11-7 down in the fourth to win 12-11 in overtime.  

4 – RUSH HALFTIME – The Saskatchewan Rush generated more publicity than they’ve ever had this week by announcing a drag artist for their halftime show at the next home game on February 25.  It remains to be seen how this translates as far as ticket sales go.  Here’s what I will say when it comes to these social issues that have caused tremendous division in our society:  would a Right To Life group ever be featured during halftime?  We all know the answer to that but as I said last week, hypocrisy is recognized. It’s, also, simply ignored.  Certain social causes are going to be jammed down our throats whether we like it or not.  Your response can only be heard through the amount of money spent in return.  Personally, I’m going to the game on the 25th.  Maybe I reach a point where I will have had enough and I stay home, but I’m not there yet with the Rush.  The NHL Jets and CFL Roughriders, on the other hand, haven’t seen a dime of my money since before the vaccine passports.  I’m not saying I’ll never go again, but for now I am content with my couch and the television.  We all have our limits.  Personally, a drag artist doesn’t move me in either direction other than I would not bring my kids to such an event and my daughter, who sometimes accompanies me, will not be going to the game on the 25th.

5 – NHL CHICKEN GMs – Did you see what happened at the NBA trade deadline this year?  Teams moved out as many as four first round draft picks to get what they wanted in an attempt to go for it all this season and win a title.  Can you ever see an NHL team doing that?  We live in a world where Sammy Blais and a first rounder for Vladimir Tarasenko is considered crazy for the team getting the best player.  The Winnipeg Jets have a ton of cap space as we hit the trade deadline.  They wouldn’t even need to go this far, but they should offer up their next four years of first round draft picks to Chicago for both Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews and put them on their third line.  They are a team contending near the top of the league.  Go big or go home.  Especially in a league where nobody ever goes big when you compare trades to what’s going on in the NBA.

6 – CHANGE MIND – I had a ‘friend’ chirp me on Twitter this week reminding me that I said the Jets were not even a playoff caliber team a few short months ago.  He’s right. I did say that.  Based on the fact they were icing nearly the exact same roster that was horrible last year, there was no reason for me to think they’d be any better this season.  However, the coaching change from Paul Maurice and a player’s father to Rick Bowness has made a world of difference.  We live in a time where people are often embarrassed to change their mind or admit to being wrong and I don’t understand it.  The smartest people on the planet are ones who change their mind when they are presented with additional information and are open about accepting such new knowledge.  In sports, you can always pick out the dumbest of analysts when someone says, “Well, I picked the Avalanche to win back in October and even though they are not looking too good in February, I have to stick with my pick.”  

7 – LEBRON – Lebron James passed Kareem Abdul-Jabbar this week to become the NBA all-time leading scorer with 38,390 points as of this writing (three more than Kareem).  Lebron, who may be one of the best ever to play basketball but is one of the worst role models, dropped 2237 three-pointers on his way to becoming the best.  Kareem, meanwhile, nailed 1 three-pointer over his 1,560 game career.  That’s right.  1.  Also, Michael Jordan played 338 fewer games than Lebron and would only need to have averaged 17-ppg in order to score at the same pace as Lebron.  So, yes, Lebron is great at basketball.  But, he’s not the best.  And, he’s far from being the most likable, which also should count for something.  I’ll take Jordan every day and twice on Sunday.

8 – WRONG WITH BASEBALL – Former MLB second baseman Jeff Frye had a lengthy Facebook post this week that really resonated with me as far as the state of baseball is concerned.  He pointed out the sport has partnered with gambling entities yet has banished its all-time hits leader (Pete Rose) because he bet on his team to win.  He also made very strong points regarding ‘new’ statistics and how it’s made the game worse because those ‘new’ metrics are embraced by nerds who actually don’t understand baseball as well as they understand math.  Perhaps his most meaningful jab was at the Commissioner, who has changed the rules to make the game easier for the best players because those players refuse to make adjustments (such as hitting to the opposite field for a hit) on the premise that it’s more productive to hit the ball hard in the air and a strikeout is just another out.  

9 – HANLEY RAMIREZ – Hanley Ramirez is the only player in MLB history to hit 25 home runs, steal 50 bases, and hit as high as .343 in a single season; yet his WAR was modest because he was a below average defensive shortstop in the same year.  Nerds will twist themselves into mental pretzels trying to tell you he was so excruciatingly bad in the field that his monster offensive season wasn’t much of a benefit.  That notion is, obviously, insane and shows how little some people know about baseball.  Heck, if Hanley never took the field and the shortstop position had nobody stationed there at all there is still no way that would come close to negating the year Hanley had at the plate.  And, that, my friends, is the single biggest thing that is wrong with baseball (outside of the fact pitchers aren’t allowed to pitch anymore).  

10 – WOMEN’S SOCCER – Canada’s National Women’s Soccer Team is taking job action in response to budget cuts and issues with regards to pay equity.  The National Men’s Team say they support the women, but no word on whether or not they will also walk off the job.  You know what they say about talk and actions and which one is more powerful, but glory be to the men anyway, I guess.  On one hand, I get the women’s perspective here.  Their program is much higher profile than the men and they are a far more competitive team on the world circuit than the men. Yet, if the governing body is cutting the budget, how can the women expect to get more pay?  I’d be curious to know if the men also had their budget cut or not.  Keep in mind Canada Soccer has made a public commitment to gender equity.  Therefore, it doesn’t matter what you or I think about whether or not women should get the same pay and the same budget.  They are the ones who painted themselves into the corner.  So either make it equal, or admit your misogyny.  

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