Stackhouse’s 10 Weekend Thoughts

1 – RIDERS WIN AGAIN – The Saskatchewan Roughriders further solidified themselves as legitimate Grey Cup contenders by defeating the has-been Winnipeg Blue Bombers 19-9 on Friday night.  The Riders have to be in a small group with Montreal and BC as the only teams that have a realistic shot at winning the Grey Cup.  This game pretty much put an end to the glory days of the Bombers.  They are washed up and may have a hard time even making the playoffs as they sit 2-and-5 and are just a shadow of what we’ve come to expect from them over the last five years.  Not many will feel sorry for them. While I like coach Mike O’Shea, some of the key players didn’t always win with class.

2 – PLAYCALLING – There has been some debate on the play calling of the Riders at the end of the game as Adam Bighill took liberties on Shea Patterson on the final play as Patterson dropped back to pass.  Some are saying Bighill should be subjected to massive fines, but I’m wondering why Patterson was taking a shot downfield.  I get the notion of there being a few seconds left on the clock so they wanted to kill that extra time but it was also a two possession game.  If the Bombers figure out a way to score 10 points in 3-4 seconds, then you tip your hat to them.  I’d much rather that than another quarterback injury.

3 – LAST OF CHRIS JONES? – The Edmonton Elks have fired Chris Jones and if they really wanted to capitalize on the rapidly changing world around us over the last seven days, they also would have announced a freeze on their team name and started going by Edmonton Football Club with a thorough review of the matter commencing immediately.  As far as Jones is concerned, one has to think this was his 9th and final life as a CFL coach.  He’s enjoyed ultimate success but he’s also been at the controls during some real tumultuous and horrifying times too.  You could also make the argument he wouldn’t know a good quarterback even if he had Doug Flutie on the top of his depth chart.  Darian Durant was a bit more than ‘moderately successful’ and the last I checked, Jones’ best run as coach in Edmonton was with Tre Ford as his QB, but Ford is rotting on the bench today and the team is an outright disaster.  Rumors of off-field chaos amongst his coaching staffs weren’t good for the image of his teams within the community either.  On a personal note, I stopped going to Rider game when Jones was the coach and I haven’t gone back.  

4 – ANOTHER ORTIZ ON THE RED SOX – Last week, I wrote a bit on the nepotism that exists in pro sports after reading so much of the criticism surrounding Bronny James getting a spot on the Lakers because his dad is an NBA legend.  Well, this week, the Boston Red Sox drafted D’Angelo Ortiz from Miami-Dade Community College.  D’Angelo’s father is former Red Sox DH David Ortiz, who just happens to be the best clutch hitter in modern baseball history.  Miami-Dade Community College isn’t exactly a baseball hotbed.  You’d have to go back to 2016 and Santiago Espinal to find the last alumni to make the big leagues.  The most famous would be Steve Carlton (early 60s) or Mike Piazza (late 80s).

5 – RATTLERS NIGHTMARE NEARLY OVER – The Saskatchewan Rattlers had their playoff hopes, officially, come to an end on Saturday with a loss in Winnipeg against the Sea Bears.  This will go down as a massive disappointment of a year for the Rattlers, who started 5-and-2 but have gone 1-and-10 ever since.  Four of their five starters either left for better pro opportunities or were outright released and then an impact player brought in midseason only lasted for a few games before he, too, saw greener grass somewhere else.  I don’t follow the league closely enough to know whether this is a CEBL problem or a Rattlers problem, but it soured me on the product as a whole.  I familiarized myself with their roster at the start of the year and had very high hopes and while you always expect a roster change here and there, I don’t think it’s realistic to think you can run a credible organization or league when a number of your stars go somewhere else midseason.  I don’t think we’d look upon our CFL teams favorably if the quarterback, running back and top wide receiver all bolted for the UFL (or an equivalent league) after establishing themselves for 4-5 games.  

6 – NLL FREE AGENCY – It’s free agent season in the NLL and the Saskatchewan Rush shouldn’t have much to worry about on their roster as they are in the midst of a youth movement.  Transition Mike Messenger would be the most significant player that could hit the market and while he brings some assets to the table in the form of his physical play, the reality is that the team does need an upgrade on faceoffs. Albany’s Joe Nardella is available and would fill that requirement.  I’m not sure how things work in the NLL with regards to salary caps and what not, but Nardella seems to be the only piece the Rush need to continue what they started last year.

7 – BAD CONTRACTS – I saw an interesting story this week on social media where the top ten worst contracts/salaries in the NHL were debated.  Jonathan Huberdeau’s $10.5-million per year was ranked number one and I have a hard time disagreeing with that but not on the list at all was Pierre-Luc Dubois, who is stealing $8.5-million from the Washington Capitals this upcoming season after the LA Kings were duped into paying him that salary for 8 years just twelve months ago.  Johnny Gaudreau’s $9.75-million also wasn’t on the list and he’d be near the top of mine.  Ryan Johansen is getting paid $8-million to languish in the minors and while it may not seem like much at the moment, I think Vancouver is going to regret giving Jake DeBrusk $5.5-million until 2031.  DeBrusk has hit the 50 point mark once in seven years and was a malcontent, at times, with the Boston Bruins.  I could seem him clashing with Rick Tocchet.

8 – TRUMP OVERSHADOWS RIDERS – Not many people watched the Rider game last week because it was taking place at the same time as Donald Trump was being shot at during a rally in Pennsylvania.  I will tie in sports with Trump in this way – during his speech on Thursday night, Trump announced that having biological males participate in female sports will become a thing of the past should he become President.  Many are assuming him being President will be a mere formality come November.  To that, I would say never under-estimate the Left.  They aren’t going to sit by and just let Trump coast to the Presidency regardless of how many votes he gets.  So for those of you who get angry at reading my columns, I have some potential good news for you – your political heroes aren’t likely to just give up and let Trump get crowned.  They’ll figure something out, most likely another assassination attempt.

9 – TRANSGENDER OLYMPICS – American long distance runner Nikki Hiltz set an American Olympic Trials record in the 1500m and is poised to become one of a number of trans athletes competing in Paris. Despite going by they/them pronouns, Hiltz was assigned female at birth and is in the process of transitioning however isn’t on any hormone therapy medication.  This is one instance where I would agree that the athlete is participating in the proper gender  class.  Hiltz was born female, therefore Hiltz should compete as such.  

10 – TRAGIC DEATH – Former NFL receiver and Super Bowl hero Jacoby Jones has died suddenly at the age of 40.  I have, at least, one of these a week, which makes it normal, regardless of cause.  Be mad at me all you want but this never used to happen.  For those that say I don’t report facts, produce a living Jacoby Jones.  Produce a living anybody who I have listed on a weekly basis over the last number of months.  The facts are this – every person I have written about that has died…is dead.  Where explanations or causes have been listed, I’ve given them.  Be mad at me all you want, but I’ve had nothing to do with any of these tragedies, I assure you.

(Mike Stackhouse is a freelance writer/broadcaster)