Stackhouse’s 10 Weekend Thoughts

1 – ON ROUGHRIDERS: It wasn’t 38-9, but the Saskatchewan Roughriders were in full control from the opening kick off on Saturday as they advanced to the West Division Final with a 28-19 win over the BC Lions.  Ultimately, this came down to mistakes. The Lions made several (missed field goals and turnovers), the Riders made none of note. It also got me to thinking that the Riders are a team that have become very good at minimizing errors during games and that’s yet another reason why I have them as the slight favorite next week at Winnipeg. I know Zach Collaros has the better resume, but as of today Trevor Harris is the better quarterback and that’s why I think they’ll pull it out and advance to the Grey Cup game.

2 – DRESS AS A SEAT NIGHT: Social media has been on fire with people posting about the crowd size at Mosaic Stadium on Saturday night with the attendance announced being the second lowest of the season.  There were also thousands of heavily discounted tickets and even reports of freebies in order to entice people to go. What a reverse course from ten years ago when this game would have been an early sellout and those with tickets who are unable to attend would be commanding nearly double the face value. We’ve exhausted the reasons for the diminished interest at length in previous columns and while we can all disagree on the why, there is no disputing the Riders and the CFL aren’t what they used to be for people on their social calendars and there’s no indication of those times ever coming back. The notion of giving away tickets is a bad look for those on the fence about buying season tickets next year. If the Riders are admitting the tickets aren’t worth anything, how can they expect people to pony up hundreds to watch 9 home games next season? I also wonder if the CFL wasn’t pressuring the Riders to ensure, for television purposes, the stadium was as full as possible no matter what. For the first time in a long time, the announcers on television never even acknowledged the crowd size or enthusiasm level although I’m told from a few that attended the noise level was boisterous amongst those who did go. 

3 – TOOTHLESS LIONS: Much has been made about Nathan Rourke and his tenure in the NFL. However, as the Lions head into the offseason, it’s fair to wonder whether or not they want to hitch their wagon to him going forward. If Rourke, eventually, reveals himself to be closer to the player who played in 2024 as opposed to the one we saw in 2021, he may not be on a pro football roster at all a year from now. The quarterback who is more NFL ready but unlikely to ever get an opportunity is Chad Kelly, whom the CFL does not want to market itself around despite its best offensive player playing in its most populous market. Kelly tore apart Ottawa on Saturday, throwing 4 touchdowns and running for another. His value is obvious. The Argos aren’t a playoff team without him. With him, they are a Grey Cup contender. One final thought on CFL quarterbacks: Dru Brown is for real. When Brown played, Ottawa was a tough out.  He ended his season with 476 yards passing in the East Division final and depending on what the Redblacks do with their roster in the offseason, they have to be an early favorite to reach the Grey Cup in 2025.

4 – SO LONG AMBROSIE: Whether the CFL Commissioner was pushed to retire or did so on his own free will doesn’t matter. The results speak for themselves and if you are judging him based on the crowds at each individual stadium, Randy Ambrosie leaves the league in worse shape than what it was in when he started. If you judge the league on how far to the left it has moved socially, assuming it was a goal, then he’s the most successful Commissioner the league has ever seen. If you are judging the league on innovation with stats programs and use of technology in-game to maintain integrity, I think you have to call it an unmitigated disaster. So, depending on who you are and what your priorities are in life, Ambrosie leaves the position with either mixed results or a grade of F.

5 – NEXT!: If I was looking for a CFL Commissioner, I would look at the Mark Cohon era as a baseline for what the candidate should be able to bring to the table.  There’s lots of chatter about Mike Morreale, the former CFL player who has been in charge of the ever-growing CEBL, and I think Morreale may be tempted to give the top position in the CFL a shot but I hope he stays with the CEBL and takes that league to the next level as it’s very close to breaking through and becoming the type of professional league that will draw major league crowds in most of its centres.  Calgary set a record of over 12,000 for the Surge home opener and Winnipeg had the third largest ever crowd three days later at over 9,000. Overall, home opener attendance was up 31% in 2024 over 2023. I have no doubt Saskatchewan can also approach 9,000 if they can establish a pattern of winning. Morreale’s resume is such that the CFL should, instantly, hire him if he wants the job.

6 – MAGA: San Francisco 49ers Defensive End Nick Bosa is looking at a fine from the NFL after he crashed a post game television interview wearing a highly offensive hat with the phrase Make America Great Again. The nerve. NFL rules prohibit players from wearing anything that promotes political causes, especially ones in favor of Donald Trump. Bosa, however, is allowed to promote his controversial stance post game but he declined to do so on Sunday, simply saying “I think it’s an important time.” Earlier this season, the NFL fined Pittsburgh receiver George Pickens for putting a personal message on his eye black that contained a swear word. Players are forbidden from putting personal messages on themselves during games. 

7 – JASON KELCE SNAPS: The most famous Center in NFL history, Jason Kelce, was captured on video this weekend responding to a heckler who called his brother Travis a ‘faggot’ for being Taylor Swift’s boyfriend.  There’s a couple of points here worth mentioning. First of all, that slang word doesn’t work as far as what Travis Kelce may be because Swift, at last check, is a woman. Secondly, hecklers are seldom given the benefit of the doubt when athletes are caught on video retaliating (in case you haven’t seen it, Jason Kelce grabbed the hecklers cell phone and smashed it on the ground), but the response was rather abrupt and violent all things considered. It got me to wondering that since Jason Kelce is universally popular, would the public reaction (which has been in his favor) would be the same if this were Antonio Brown or Aaron Rodgers.  

8 – CANADIAN BOWL: The Okanagan Sun are in Windsor, Ontario to play the St. Clair Saints in the CJFL Canadian Bowl.  The Ontario Conference is widely considered the weakest when compared to the Prairie Football Conference and the BCFC but the Saints have been throttling teams all year (they are back to back to back OFC title holders as well).  They’ve had five games where they eclipsed 60 points and another where they got 58 at half time and officials decided against even playing the second half.  Usually the London Beefeaters put up a good fight (the Beefs under ex-coach Gavin Lake defeated St. Clair for OFC bragging rights in 2021), but even they were no match for St. Clair this season losing 37-7, 68-0, and 75-39 (last week in the provincial final).  If there was a year for the OFC to win a national title game, this is it.  And, if they do, let the debate begin on whether St. Clair should join U sports and play the likes of Western and McMaster going forward.  Lake, by the way, is now the Defensive Coordinator at St. Mary’s (Halifax) and they will play in the Loney Bowl (AUS Championship) next weekend.  Winners tend to just win.  I’d be remiss to not mention the Regina-Saskatchewan showdown next weekend for Canada West bragging rights.  The Huskies scored two touchdowns in the last minute to beat UBC (like Lake’s Beefeaters did against St. Clair in 2021), while the 4th seed Rams upset number 1 Manitoba in order to make this game (next Saturday in Saskatoon) a reality.

9 – SENIOR HOCKEY: It’s going to be weird following senior hockey this season and not having a team in Grenfell.  The Spitfires have long been a staple in the QuAppelle Valley Hockey League and won back to back championships in 2017 and 2018. Since 2010 they have only had one season where they finished under .500 but the player interest for 2024-25 simply wasn’t there and so a major void will be felt in that community this winter.  Amongst the higher end players on the team last year who may resurface on other clubs:  Donovan Neuls (ex-Seattle Thunderbirds), as well as Taylor Fisher (MJHL), Lane Harbor & Allen Kilback (Melville SJHL), and goalie Mitch Kilgore (Weyburn SJHL).  One player who they didn’t have last year but was committed for this was Logan Foster, Canora’s leading point getter a season ago.  It’s expected Foster will head back to the Cobras and take Brett Duczek with him.  

10 – HONORING AL MACPHERSON: Earlier this week, the Brandon Wheat Kings mourned the passing of former head scout Al MacPherson, who passed away at the age of 83.  MacPherson was in charge of the player list during my time in Brandon in the late 90s and early 2000s.  To say he built a powerhouse is an understatement.  Between Kelly McCrimmon’s uncanny knack of taking rival GMs for a ride on lopsided trades and MacPherson’s ability to unearth high end talent that would provide many years of playing excellence for the Wheats, Brandon was a model franchise.  Some of the players I remember coming through the system that Brandon had the smarts to draft or sign included Cory Cyrenne, Kelly Smart, Ryan Robson, Burke Henry, and Darren Van Oene. That doesn’t include the likes of first round NHL pick Stefan Cherneski, legendary fan favorite Jordin Tootoo, and future NHLers Ryan Craig, Eric Fehr, and Ryan Reaves. I was, constantly, amazed at his work and it seemed like he ‘never’ missed. Heck, the Wheats even got maximum production on players who fell well short of that on other teams and I suspect MacPherson was a part of that too (Adrian Foster, Travis Eagles, Kirby Law, Greg Phillips, Jason Chimera, Nolan Yonkman, and Johnathan Aitken are just a few whom I have in my memory bank).

(Mike Stackhouse is a freelance writer/broadcaster)