MONDAY COMMENTARY: NO RAGRETS
Photo: Edmonton Elks
(Listen daily for the Rod Pedersen Commentary on Cat Country 98, Rock 98.5 FM & LTD Radio)
I’ve long been a believer that bad publicity is better than none at all but in the case of the CFL’s Edmonton Elks, I’m not so sure.
i.e. Edmonton’s 19-game home losing streak has the whole country talking but for all the wrong reasons. One TV sports network pointed out it’s the longest streak in pro football history, and the second-longest in pro sports history overall.
The Elks hung in there for awhile Sunday against Toronto at Commonwealth Stadium, but eventually collapsed and lost 43-31 to drop their record to 0-3. And 19 straight home losses.
I’m glad I stayed home.
And today I’m sure Elks President Victor Cui and coach Chris Jones would like to crawl into a hole.
You know what it really tells me? The mess they inherited from former Edmonton team President Chris Presson and GM Brock Sunderland was farrrr greater than any of us thought.
They announced the paid attendance as 20,817 on Sunday but there were nowhere near that many in the seats. Maybe half that.
Some years ago they introduced technology where teams couldn’t fudge 50/50 numbers and I’d like to see the same done for attendance.
But whatever. The Edmonton franchise isn’t in danger of folding – I don’t think – and the only way out of this is rebuilding one day at a time. But the fanbase is eroding by the week because when a team is this crappy, the fans check out. The analytics tell us as much.
You don’t need to be a Sports Business major to realize this is a catastrophic situation for the Edmonton football team.
Wasn’t there a report awhile back that the Elks were on the verge of being sold to a private owner? Where did that go?
Anyway, firing Chris Jones would only be to start over and who would you hire? Jones is a proven winner and that’s why he was hired.
What the team’s missing is a proven quarterback and there actually were a few on the market this winter. By name: Trevor Harris, Cody Fajardo and Bo Levi Mitchell.
But Jones turned his nose up at the all of them and went with what they had.
Admirable I suppose, but at 0-3, I wonder if he’s regretting it now.
That’s today’s Rod Pedersen Commentary
(The Rod Pedersen Show airs daily at 12 pm ET on Game+ TV, WQEE, Podcast & YouTube Live)
MBT might be an option if he wants to come back but Doege showed some jam too.
Doege is definately a great option and should have been given an earlier shot at the starting job , due to his performance in camp and preseason , plus jones is stubborn and committed to Cornelius from day 1 , I’d like MBT as another option but unsure if he can get out of his contract before December
Jones and starting QBs go together like gasoline and cereal. It just doesn’t work
Jones is a proven winner? In the “what have you done for me lately” category.
The only thing Fajardo proved is he wasn’t good enough.
Great piece Rod, lol.
What’s your team won lately?
Fajardo my fave QB
Firing Jones is not the answer yet , but firing MacAdoo and replacing him with Jarious Jackson as OC would be a HUGE upgrade for my ESKS .As for Presson , this mess is 200% his fault along with the BOD for hiring him, as he had ZERO ties and knowledge of the history of the Eskimos and the CFL ,and is responsible for the stupid Elks name , the fans did NOT get the final say in the new name of OUR team .A former Eskimos player would have never thrown in the towel this easy on the name… Read more »
Jones was a winner with Mike Reilley at the helm. Big difference.
At this point, they should fire Jones and replace him with ANYBODY. The QB just needs to be a position of tryouts until you find one. I’m not convinced Doege putting up numbers in garbage time is the answer. Bethel Thompson isn’t coming back to Canada ever unless something has caused him to reverse thinking.
Mike, you’re a idiot.
Thank you
I loved reading Rod’s article until Mike Stackhouse’s comment appeared. Mike, just go away.
Monday commentary; enjoyed reading this today RP.
It really is semantics and why when making hiring decisions it’s always a risk. Proven winner – absolutely….albeit as a Defensive Coordinator under an extremely steady hand in Head Coaches – be that Don Mathews or John Hufnagel or Scott Milanovich. 15 years there and nobody was beating down the door to hire him to run an organization. Proven winnner – absolutely….albeit as a Head Coach under the watchful eye of GM Ed Hervey. Ed is off the Hugh Campbell tree and ran an iron fist organization. It was the Accountant in Regina who played 6 man Football in Foam… Read more »
The Saskatchewan Roughriders are not who or what their 2 victories indicate. The Riders escaped with 2 games due to sheer luck. Sheer sheer luck.