Stackhouse’s 10 Weekend Thoughts

1 – RIDERS PERFECT – For the second straight week, the Saskatchewan Roughriders launched a second half comeback and defeated their opposition and they now sit 2-and-0 heading into their home opener this weekend in what will be a rematch with the Hamilton Ti-Cats. They say winning brings out the fans, so I’m expecting a sell out this Sunday despite the backhanded slap that MVP package holders are to blame for some of the financial losses reported a couple of weeks ago (the free ticket given to them was listed as a reason for a decline in revenues). Last week, Trevor Harris threw for 390 and two scores and showed his ability to come through in the clutch.  I have thrown out the notion that Harris is the best quarterback in the CFL to more than a few people and I have yet to be met with any opposition to that suggestion. If I was to rank the league’s top signal callers, I’d go 1) Harris, 2) Cody Fajardo, and 3) Zach Collaros. One is a Rider and the next two are former Riders. Collaros, through the early going, hasn’t played like a top QB but I will give him the benefit of the doubt. Dru Brown is one to watch and Jake Maier is poised for a breakout.

2 – FAJARDO BACK – It’s quite evident after winning a Grey Cup and following it up with three excellent performances to start the 2024 season; that the Saskatchewan Roughrider organization can take full credit for wrecking Cody Fajardo. Fajardo played like a league MVP upon taking over the starting position in Riderville but started to fall out of favor and was eventually chased out of town due to continuing decline in performance.  Some blamed the offensive line, some blamed offensive coordinator Jason Maas, some blamed the overall atmosphere of the locker room, and some felt Fajardo was just plain lucky and the clock finally struck twelve on him. Fajardo, after carrying himself like a true professional for most of his tenure, didn’t handle his end days and weeks very well in the public eye and the organization never came to his rescue, basically, letting him hang himself. Fortunately, the Riders are just fine with Trevor Harris and hopefully this particular marriage has a happy ending.

3 – LIONS BIG CROWD – The BC Lions announced a home opener crowd of over 53,000 last week but critics pointed to a pregame concert put on by a musical performer as the main reason why this number was so high.  Half of the 53,000 left before the game even started and then nearly half of what was left was gone by the third quarter. I’ll give the Lions credit for doing whatever is necessary to fill the stadium so 53,000 is 53,000 regardless of why the people are there. I just hope the expense of bringing in the musician didn’t cut too much into the profits and the Lions still made decent money on the game.

4 – CATERING TO NON FANS – I’ve seen a few people this week comment that they’d rather see solutions to the attendance issue and that continuing to point out the problem isn’t helpful.  I’ve written many times over in this space that the CFL doesn’t get anywhere by continuously proving how woke the league is or by trying to appeal to those who hate the sport. In fact, I’d submit the league chases fans away when it goes down this path.  Try listening to the REAL fans and I will wager a bet that while the criticism from the media will be louder (because most of the people that cover the league don’t really like it anyway and are just searching for reasons to be upset over something), fan interest will start to go back up. Don’t hold your breath on the CFL or any of the teams taking my advice on this. They’d rather go completely out of business first.  

5 – CFL FINES DISSENTERS – On Friday, the CFL announced it was levying fines against four of the league’s kickers for speaking out in opposition of microchipped footballs. The microchips are used to generate real-time advanced statistics through Genius Sports, the league’s stat provider that took a full season to get its program functional. For now, the microchipped footballs will be optional for the kicking game as they’ve succumbed to the kickers’ complaints but the league does get the last laugh by fining them an undisclosed amount for violating the code of conduct. It wouldn’t be a truly Canadian league without an authority figure somewhere putting the boots on the throat of the common man. Shame on the kickers for expressing their thoughts. This is Canada, keep your thoughts to yourself.

6 – UFL TITLE GAME – The UFL championship game was broadcast on Fox and while the quality of play in that league pales when compared to the CFL, the overall package is way superior. Birmingham blew out San Antonio 25-0 and hats off to Stallions Defensive Coordinator Corey Chamblin for pitching a shutout but the game was not enjoyable to watch. Attendance for the UFL title game was 27,396 (in St. Louis) and that raised the average league per game attendance to 22,000. That is down, slightly, from the XFL’s per game average and it may be even more challenging next year as the league is at the mercy of Fox and Disney when it come to scheduling as the American networks simply plug in the games wherever they need to fill content and next year it’s believed Friday nights are going to be prominent. Speculation is Friday night isn’t going to be an easy sell to draw people in-person. Despite the negatives, if you watch the game you get a feeling you are watching something big league. The graphics, the quality of the announcers, the camera angles, everything is hands down better than the, seemingly, local community cable quality that TSN gives the CFL. I know some of you will say it’s not fair and that Fox has deeper pockets than TSN and I say that’s a bunch of nonsense. The difference is that the Canadian media powerhouses simply don’t invest in content. They do the bare minimum and charge advertisers a premium for it.  

7 – TEDDY ALLEN SHOCKER – Two weeks ago the Winnipeg Sea Bears stunned the CEBL by announcing the signing of Justin Wright-Foreman, the best scorer the league has seen in its short six year lifespan. Wright-Foreman was expected to pair up with last year’s MVP, Teddy Allen, to form the most dynamic duo in the league but that only lasted two games as the Sea Bears issued their second shocker in as many weeks by announcing they were releasing Allen because of an attitude and approach Coach/GM Mike Taylor felt couldn’t be rectified. “For the last ten days, we have had several circumstances arise. He’s been fined by the league.  He’s been fined by the team internally.  Our organization has done everything we possibly can to try and help him. Unfortunately, here we are today.” My guess, in hindsight, is that the Sea Bears knew the situation with Allen was coming to a head and they wanted his replacement in town before making a final decision. On another note, though, I’m not a fan of the CEBL keeping league discipline under wraps. I can appreciate not wanting bad publicity but it’s part of the business.  

8 – SEA BEARS DISCIPLINE – I give full marks to the Sea Bears for doing something not many professional sports teams would do, and that’s apply the rules to all players regardless of stature. The Sea Bears were floundering in the standings at 3-and-5 in a very tough West Division (at the time of the Allen release) so it’s not like they are risking the destruction of a good season. They were also 0-and-2 with Allen and JWF both in the lineup. I think if you saw more teams take this approach with their star players and not just their fringe ones, you’d see far fewer issues. The simple reality is that the primadonnas know they can get away with just about anything because their skill set gives them a pass. For what it’s worth, the Sea Bears emerged victorious over the league’s top team, Vancouver, in their first game without Allen. Wright-Foreman dropped a season high 32 in the process.

9 – RATTLERS AWFUL – The Saskatchewan Rattlers were so bad on Thursday night at Sasktel Centre, I got up from my seat and left a couple of minutes into the fourth quarter with the score 83-58 for the Calgary Surge.  The Rattlers, hard to believe, led the game 24-13 at one point, but ended up losing 105-77 as they were outscored 92-53 the rest of the way. They couldn’t shoot, couldn’t pass, couldn’t rebound, couldn’t organize a one car parade. After starting 3-and-0, the Rattlers have gone 2-and-4 since and with the Surge (who are 2-and-0 against the Rattlers) and Sea Bears turning their seasons around, the Rattlers are in danger of falling in the standings and losing out on a playoff spot.

10 – BAD NHL CONTRACTS – I look at the NHL salary cap and some of the albatross contracts that are bogging down teams and I don’t know why they don’t just send players to the minors. I know some of them have language in their contracts that prevent that but teams should pit in on this.  I’d love nothing more than to see Pierre Luc Dubois toiling for the Ontario Reign for the next 7 years and living the minor league lifestyle despite his $8-million a year salary, but alas the Washington Capitals seem to think they can get what Columbus, Winnipeg, and Los Angeles couldn’t get out of the big centre–which is an actual effort that comes close to matching his superstar salary. I think the Rangers did this with Wade Redden a dozen years ago as a means to avoid having his salary count against the cap. I believe the rule was changed so that sending a player to the minors doesn’t absolve you of a cap hit and I am not sure why they made that change. Play well and you don’t have to worry about getting banished.  

(Mike Stackhouse is a freelance writer/broadcaster)