I don’t know how many years I’ve been writing them. How many I’ve written. How many responses I’ve received, some agreeing with me. The hard part for a journalist isn’t the writing part, it’s the idea, thinking of something current, interesting enough to discuss and worth arguing about. Picking on the Saskatchewan Roughriders always solicited responses, but nobody can do that every day, even on our daily The Green Zone talk show.

We’re moving Between the Lines to another topic: Junior hockey. Specifically, we’ll be producing a weekly show for Rawlco Radio focusing on the five WHL teams, 12 SJHL teams plus players, coaches, scouts and managers with Saskatchewan connections.

Admittedly, most of my journalistic career has focused on football, but my family is well-rooted in hockey, plus two of the six books I’ve written are about sticks and pucks, including “Fire on Ice,” which discusses why Saskatchewan produces more NHLers per capita than any jurisdiction. So we’ll have a treasure trove of subjects to discuss when Between the Lines re-debuts next month. And my best, argumentative opinions will remain on The Green Zone.

One by one the big names are falling in the NHL: Marner, Point, Tkachuk. The restricted free agents are re-signing with their NHL teams. But two of the biggest names, Kyle Connor and Patrik Laine, haven’t rejoined the Jets. The Jets are also missing rugged defenceman Dustin Byfuglien, who has been suspended while taking a personal leave to ponder his future. After losing three top-tier defencemen in the off-season, the Jets need to retain their talented forwards.

Connor expected to re-sign before training camp. Laine has vowed to play in Europe if he doesn’t get a decent offer. Jets general manager Kevin Cheveldayoff patiently built a contender and is certainly trying to work within a limited budget for his small-market, small-arena team.

It may not be the issue, but when the Jets set up shop in the NHL’s smallest city, there were concerns cold-weather Winnipeg couldn’t keep up to its bigger, warmer rivals. Signing Connor and Laine would end that discussion.

For every athlete like Antonio Brown, the NFL receiver whose career has been derailed by his horrible off-field behaviour, there’s another like Sidney Crosby, whose NHL career is impressively free of public missteps.

Matthews is a rising star with the Toronto Maple Leafs, who attract more attention than any team in North America. He needs to be a perfect citizen away from the arena or his image, and the team’s image, will take a beating.

Matthews has been charged with disorderly conduct, stemming from what sounds like an alcohol-related incident in Arizona. A woman was allegedly hassled by a drunken group, one of whom flashed a rude gesture. He could be innocent; there are incidents where pro athletes are hassled just because of their high profiles.

It’s impossible to avoid every situation where an athlete can get into trouble, but there is one rule to follow regarding alcohol, staying out late and misbehaving. That rule is: Don’t!

Summer’s over and the baseball stretch drives are in their final week, but I’m still wearing my Milwaukee Brewers hat. That’s because somehow, some way, the Brewers are poised to keep the Cubs out of the post-season. Since the Cubs became a reputable franchise a few years ago, the number of their boastful fans has steadily increased.

About 2 1/2 weeks ago it seemed like the Cubs were again going to be contenders — and bragging about it — while the Brewers would be non-qualifiers. Milwaukee was five games out of a playoff berth when it lost league MVP Christian Yelich for the rest of the season with a fractured kneecap. The Brewers have since won 15 of 17 games and pulled into a tie with the Washington Nationals for the National League’s wild-card spot, three games ahead of the Cubs.

For the second straight season, no team has had better pitching through September than the Brewers. If they’re going to advance past the wild-card game without Yelich’s bat and glove in the lineup, and later challenge the big guys like the Los Angeles Dodgers and New York Yankees, Milwaukee is going to need more than good pitching.

Forget Yankees/Red Sox or Canadiens/Bruins or Bears/Packers! By outscoring the Bombers 21-0 in the fourth quarter, the Alouettes upended the CFL’s top team 38-37 and made their next meeting, Oct. 12 in Winnipeg, a must-watch.

The lasting image from Saturday’s game came when Montreal quarterback Vernon Adams wrenched off the helmet of Adam Bighill, then swung it at the Winnipeg linebacker’s face. That somehow went unpenalized.

There was already extra drama simmering below the surface because Bombers tailback Andrew Harris was returning from a two-game suspension for a positive drug test. Als defensive end John Bowman taunted Harris about cheating. Harris and Bowman had strong, anger-fuelled performances, but in the post-game scrums there was still lots of animosity.

As the saying goes, if you don’t like this one, you don’t like football.

The dark, time-consuming, boring, momentum- and excitement-sapping abyss of too much video.

While other leagues, like the CFL, have successfully reduced the amount of time wasted reviewing calls made by its officials, the NHL is headed in the other direction. Because of some schmozzles in last year’s playoffs, particularly a pivotal, major penalty that was mistakenly assessed to the Vegas Golden Knights against the San Jose Sharks, the league is now demanding its officials review every match and major penalty, except for fighting majors. Double-minor penalties for high sticking are also eligible for review.

These reviews can add tedious minutes to every NHL game while the officials squint into their hand-held video screen, trying to validate their call. It may actually convince referees to avoid calling major penalties. Coaches can challenge disputed offsides, goalie interference, whenever they believe there should have been a play stoppage. And there’s no limit to the number of coaches’ challenges, except they receive escalating penalties for unsuccessful challenges.

There are going to be so many stupid stoppages — just give the referees’ whistles to the coaches!

Manning has become New York’s backup to a first-round draft choice. A popular teammate and a good community guy, Manning’s demotion is a reminder that few athletes get to choose how and when their careers will end.

Most go kicking and screaming, insisting they can play two or three more years. Maybe just one more year. Hall of Fame running backs Jim Brown, George Reed and Barry Sanders were among a few whose careers ended when they chose. Other Saskatchewan Roughriders who walked away on their own accord were defensive back Eddie Davis and slotback Ray Elgaard, two more Hall of Famers.

Current Riders punter Jon Ryan wasn’t ready to retire when two NFL teams told him he was done, but he got new life returning to the CFL. Rob Bagg, a popular receiver who just announced his retirement, is among the vast majority of pro athletes whose decision gets made by the teams who pay — or no longer want to pay — their salaries.

That’s not a surprise. Harris plays tailback for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, so Roughriders fans immediately dislike him. Their anti-Harris sentiments became more pronounced after he failed a drug test, was suspended two games and is preparing for his return to action. When Green Zone host Jamie Nye asked whether Harris should remain in consideration for awards, such as the CFL’s most outstanding player or its most outstanding Canadian, the resounding answer was: “No!”

In texted responses, Harris was called a “cheater” and worse. Harris insists he accidentally took a tainted supplement, that he didn’t intentionally take a performance-enhancing drug. He said he’s sending the supplement for laboratory testing, but that doesn’t necessarily prove anything.

There’s only one way for Harris to redeem himself: Play well and pass the extra drug tests he will now be subjected to, which might make Saskatchewan fans like him even less.

Goalies are sacred.

A 25-game suspension to the Yorkton Terriers’ Greg Mulhall proves that. Mulhall barged full speed and full impact into Melville Millionaires goalie Berk Berkeliev on Saturday, during the second game of a home-and-home series between the long-time rivals.

The goalie was hospitalized overnight after Mulhall received a match penalty for attempt to injure. The supplemental justice came quickly afterwards. Although some fans believe Chow’s decision is too harsh — it’s almost half of Yorkton’s regular season — players on all 12 teams will now avoid running into goalies.

Goalies used to be considered “fair game” when they wandered from their nets, until hockey people decided it was better to let goalies play the puck without fear of being seriously injured.

If Mulhall had tried to take away the puck, if he tried even slightly to avoid the collision, his suspension certainly would have been shorter. Instead if was a filthy play that deserved a noteworthy punishment.

For a brief, few seconds, it looked like some of the Saskatchewan Roughriders’ 1989 Grey Cup-winning team appeared on the giant video board inside Mosaic Stadium. There was a short, pre-recorded interview with kicker Dave Ridgway — a Hall of Famer like Aldag and Elgaard, although he evidently wasn’t in attendance — then two players hoisted the Grey Cup and the whole thing was over. Wearing numbered jerseys, the group quickly dispersed and the Riders-Montreal CFL game resumed.

Listen, the Roughriders do lots of great things. And they usually honour their past in appropriate fashion. Saturday wasn’t one of those occasions.

To honour the 30th anniversary of the team’s dramatic victory over the Hamilton Tiger-Cats, about a dozen players and support staff reunited for the celebration. You can discuss the worthiness of another anniversary gathering, but if you’re going to do it, do it right. Introduce them to the appreciative crowd. Let the coach or a player say it’s great to be back, then thank the fans and the organization. Let everyone say it was a lovely tribute instead of playing it like just another short video board commercial.