CFL 2024

[Arty Spooners Bsmnt]

Well just read the article.
His wife been indigenous does nothing for me. Its like saying ones point is valid by saying "I have a black friend".
Again, I wasnt happy with the decision but I get it. Its certainly not a black & white issue (as the Redskins was imo).

His wife being indigenous is nothing like saying he has a black friend. He said what they should have done, how they should have consulted the Inuit population and let them decide.

 

[Arty Spooners Bsmnt]

The interview nicely summarizes what people on this website have been saying for years.

There has been a series of disastrous decisions that resulted in part (or totality) due to a lack of consultation with stakeholders. No point in going over everything that Brown said because it doesn't fly in the face of anything we've said here.

It sounds like he has the same opinion of Len Rhodes that everybody here does. What a poisoned chalice that boy was but everybody kept drinking the kool-aid. I think he ended up as a beer salesman or something which sounds about right.

One thing I will question about the Brown interview is the notion that there is a local person with deep pockets and deep ties to the Eskimos who can/will step in and save the team. That is still up in the air.

I didn't get the notion that Brown knows anything about the stage of negotiations.

One thing he did get right was that "winning is fun" and nobody wants to watch a team that loses all the time and has such inept and stubborn coaches and managers. Go figure. Play some winning football and fans will start to return.

I got the impression that he would rather had a group of local like the Oilers Entertainment Group to backstop the team.

 

[Arty Spooners Bsmnt]

So to play Devils advocate. Indians (as in Cleveland) is OK? Redskins I gotta assume is no good, correct?

According to some native American groups the Redskins name was okay and they want it back. Of course it won't happen because the have a class stratification name now that is so much better.

 

[MoontoScott]

Uber rich people don’t give a shit, they can insulate themselves from the commoners who might be upset. Besides if there’s a big enough uproar maybe you force the CFL to go out and find a buyer to take it off your hands at a premium.

Look at Donald Sterling, what was his punishment for being a racist? The league forced him to sell his team and went out and found a buyer for a then record 2 billion dollars, how awful for the guy.

Dan Snyder is another one, a real piece of work in more ways then one, he eventually had his arm twisted into selling but the league went out and found a buyer to pay him 6 billion, the most a sports franchise has ever sold for. What a punishment for being a piece of crap.

Look at Mereulo with the Coyotes just recently. He wasn’t necessarily a total piece of crap but the league wanted him out and found a sucker to pay a billion dollars for a team probably worth half that.

Seems like it’s pretty profitable to make waves for a league and forcing them to go find someone to buy you out at a premium.

Can you see Randy Ambrosie going out and finding a Super rich buyer for the EE?

I got the impression that he would rather had a group of local like the Oilers Entertainment Group to backstop the team.

It was an interesting interview but I don't think there was much on specific strategy. I don't think that he was privy to any pending sales.

 

[bellagiobob]

I had hoped that Richards would make a difference on the board, being a former player and all. Hasn’t exactly worked out like I hoped it would, to say the least.

 

[timekeep]

Listen here

Karius should have him on more often.

 

[joestevens29]

Tre Ford was on Gregor's show yesterday.

As Gregor said after, not shocking but not good that Tre Ford literally had no idea what Jones thought of him as a player.

Don't really care if Jones was more focused on the d side of things, you need to be having conversations with your higher end prospects. Just a total fail from Jones and good on Ford for answering the way he did. Was pretty honest and by no means threw Jones under the bus.

 

[rboomercat90]

As big as an obstacle that losing millions of dollars a year on a cfl franchise would be for a new ownership group i’d think they’d be just as worried about finding competent people to put in charge of running the team after they’ve bought it. Who are those people? Many here thought Jones was going to be a credible choice based on his previous history and he was far from that. Others hated seeing Hervey leave and he royally screwed up in BC. As big as the drop off in player talent has been in the cfl the last several years, it’s probably been even bigger at the executive level.

 

[K1984]

As big as an obstacle that losing millions of dollars a year on a cfl franchise would be for a new ownership group i’d think they’d be just as worried about finding competent people to put in charge of running the team after they’ve bought it. Who are those people? Many here thought Jones was going to be a credible choice based on his previous history and he was far from that. Others hated seeing Hervey leave and he royally screwed up in BC. As big as the drop off in player talent has been in the cfl the last several years, it’s probably been even bigger at the executive level.

Very high risk as well, because you can't really afford another f*** up hire to lead football ops.

Another mistake means the team stinks for another 3-5 years and then that's probably all she wrote. The next hire HAS to be the right one. I don't perceive any avenue to that being screwed up and still have the whole thing work.

 

[5 Mins 4 Ftg]

Just listened to Trent Browns evisceration of the board. Classic bit of radio there.

 

[Stoneman89]

According to Presson, "even our own fans" were heavily in favour of changing the name as a result of their study. Asked what defines a "fan," which he wasn't sure of. I told him that even standing in the line to get into the stadium for the first game back in 2021 that multiple people were loudly complaining about the name change, which was before I got to my seats where I could hear more people complaining about the name change. Indication was that actual paying fans didn't like it. Got another "uhhhh" response.

What it sounds like is they did a focus group of random people, or people self identifying as "fans," got the answer they wanted, then moved on.

Sounds like he interviewed the fans that they knew would provide the "results" that they were looking for. What a total disaster that man was.

As well, I have no doubt the city was putting immense pressure on the team to change the name, what with former mayor Donnie Iveson and his band of crusaders at the helm, and likely throwing some veiled threats at them regarding the leasing of the stadium, etc.

 

[Stoneman89]

Some good info in this article but there’s also clear bias trying to paint the name change as a great success when the truth is that it’s been an unmitigated disaster.

Season ticket sales were devastated and corporate sponsors like Bel Air pulled chute anyway. The result is a team on the edge of financial oblivion, forced to move on from over 100 years of community ownership in favour of a private owner with deep pockets. Even that seems to be going awry, apparently there was all these interested parties and they wanted to have a deal done before the season even started but the saga is still dragging on, seems that interest dries up once people get a look at the books and see just how bad things are.

It makes me wonder if any of the potential new groups or individuals may have said they were going to investigate the possibility of changing the name back, and it's narrowed down their list of potential owners.

 

[Skar]

Is the name change really that big of a deal? I just started watching last year or so, but say they were called the Eskimos still. Would fans show up to watch a team win ~10 games in the last 3 years?

 

[PositiveCashFlow]

Is the name change really that big of a deal? I just started watching last year or so, but say they were called the Eskimos still. Would fans show up to watch a team win ~10 games in the last 3 years?

I think it would make a difference. The casual fans would still probably have stopped coming but we would have kept more of the die-hards. Branding matters

 

[K1984]

I think it would make a difference. The casual fans would still probably have stopped coming but we would have kept more of the die-hards. Branding matters

Bingo.

If they were still the Eskimos I would 100% be more engaged (and probably enraged) despite the results.

No matter how much I try, I can't manufacture anywhere close to the same amount of enthusiasm for the "Elks" and even find myself subconsciously hoping they fail in spite. As if the play on the field and the state of the organization wasn't bad enough, every time I hear the name, see the stupid John Deere logo, the dumb white lettering on the uniform, references to legendary teams of the past as the "'78 Elks," laughably curated slogans like ELKS CHARGE!!! etc, etc it just acts as another small slap in the face.

Identity and brand matter in every business, but especially in sports. "Pfft it's just a name" couldn't possibly be more ignorant of a take whether we're talking about a sports team or a clothing company. It matters, and it matters a lot.

 

[rboomercat90]

I still think what turned fans off the most here was the willingness of the board to turn its back on a 100 year history of the team in this market. A history that was significantly positive compared to their peers when it came to minorities. If the people supposedly in charge don’t care about the franchises legacy then why should the fans still support it? Branding was important. That was the only asset this franchise had which I suspect is what that board is only realizing now. It’s amazing how such stupid people could ever be put in charge of anything but that appears to be how the world works now.

 

[guymez]

Bingo.

If they were still the Eskimos I would 100% be more engaged (and probably enraged) despite the results.

No matter how much I try, I can't manufacture anywhere close to the same amount of enthusiasm for the "Elks" and even find myself subconsciously hoping they fail in spite. As if the play on the field and the state of the organization wasn't bad enough, every time I hear the name, see the stupid John Deere logo, the dumb white lettering on the uniform, references to legendary teams of the past as the "'78 Elks," laughably curated slogans like ELKS CHARGE!!! etc, etc it just acts as another small slap in the face.

Identity and brand matter in every business, but especially in sports. "Pfft it's just a name" couldn't possibly be more ignorant of a take whether we're talking about a sports team or a clothing company. It matters, and it matters a lot.

I agree....you've outlined things really well.
The 78 Elks? How f**king stupid do they think fans are?
It really is a slap in the face and its such an obvious slap in the face I am really surprised that more people dont feel the same way.
We Canadians are way too passive...we just bend over and take it (and say thank you) instead of saying f**k NO and rallying behind what is right.

 

[grego]

It’s the cfl ni one is paying a premium

Even if they do a premium in cfl is nothing like those other situations

Plus CFL and NHL need the gate. NFL is profitable on tv alone so they don't need in stadium fans

 

[K1984]

I agree....you've outlined things really well.
The 78 Elks? How f**king stupid do they think fans are?
It really is a slap in the face and its such an obvious slap in the face I am really surprised that more people dont feel the same way.
We Canadians are way too passive...we just bend over and take it (and say thank you) instead of saying f**k NO and rallying behind what is right.

Couldn’t possibly be any more intellectually demeaning. Insinuation we we can’t handle the stone cold reality that the team was named something different before.

A change for the future is one thing, but the attempts at re-writing/erasing history are steps too far.

 

[Stoneman89]

Is the name change really that big of a deal? I just started watching last year or so, but say they were called the Eskimos still. Would fans show up to watch a team win ~10 games in the last 3 years?

To my mind, it's the perfect storm but mostly about optics. The team was okay immediately prior to the name change (a couple .500 seasons, but still, respectable) The name change instantly lost them many long established fans, and many more have followed since. And now, after a few miserable seasons, no one is really interested in going anywhere. The name change is more a long term hope, but to fair, it MUST come with a complete change in ownership, management, coaching, philosophy, marketing, etc, etc. What we've had the last few years simply isn't working and has been rinse and repeat. This has to be like a re-boot.

 

[guymez]

Couldn’t possibly be any more intellectually demeaning. Insinuation we we can’t handle the stone cold reality that the team was named something different before.

A change for the future is one thing, but the attempts at re-writing/erasing history are steps too far.

Falisfying the past.
Just repeat the falsity over and over again until the populace just accepts it.
Its straight out of Orwells 1984.

As you might have noticed this shit really grinds me. I wish more people cared.

 

[bellagiobob]

Couldn’t possibly be any more intellectually demeaning. Insinuation we we can’t handle the stone cold reality that the team was named something different before.

A change for the future is one thing, but the attempts at re-writing/erasing history are steps too far.

I could maybe understand it if the team, media, fans etc had used the team name in a mocking, disrespectful way. But from my half century+ of being an Eskie fan, I felt the name always came from a position of respect for it, and for emphasizing the good, quality traits of an Eskimo.

 

[Stoneman89]

Is the name change really that big of a deal? I just started watching last year or so, but say they were called the Eskimos still. Would fans show up to watch a team win ~10 games in the last 3 years?

A name change or change in branding and culture can have a huge effect on an organization and the way they are perceived. Look no further than Bud Light for a classic example.

 

[Stoneman89]

I could maybe understand it if the team, media, fans etc had used the team name in a mocking, disrespectful way. But from my half century+ of being an Eskie fan, I felt the name always came from a position of respect for it, and for emphasizing the good, quality traits of an Eskimo.

Some "history buff" had to reach back to 1863 or something of that sort to find some Eurotrash calling the Inuit "Eaters of meat" and making fun of them for it. Oh the humanity!

 

[Sra1974]

This won’t change anyone’s mind one way or the other, and I’m not trying to. I don’t have a strong opinion but I thought this article was a good read.

https://canadianbusiness.com/ideas/cfl-edmonton-elks-name-change-cost/