CFL 2024

[KeithIsActuallyBad]

Wrong

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after name change
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One Grey Cup appearance since 2005 in a 8/9 team league is honestly very underwhelming, often having to cross over as we were the 4th best team in the West.

 

[Arty Spooners Bsmnt]

You can pretend he wasn’t a problem all you want, but he was a problem here. What he did last year specifically isn’t really relevant.

You can pretend he was a problem here all you want but he had a competitive team. Maybe you can quote Mark Spector on how he was a problem.

 

[TopShelfGloveSide]

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One Grey Cup appearance since 2005 in a 8/9 team league is honestly very underwhelming, often having to cross over as we were the 4th best team in the West.

In a 9 team league a grey cup win in 2005 and a cup win in 2015 isn’t that bad. Way to manipulate the numbers.

They weren’t trash like you said. That’s just a fact.

 

[KeithIsActuallyBad]

In a 9 team league a grey cup win in 2005 and a cup win in 2015 isn’t that bad. Way to manipulate the numbers.

They weren’t trash like you said. That’s just a fact.

They often accomplished the bare minimum in any given season and were pushed aside by better teams come playoff time.

Meanwhile

 

[K1984]

You can pretend he was a problem here all you want but he had a competitive team. Maybe you can quote Mark Spector on how he was a problem.

Oh so just having a baseline competitive team is good enough, got it. I'll just ignore the West Final he threw away because he didn't know the score or how much time was left, I'll ignore the losses that piled up because no adjustments were made at half, and I'll ignore the annual discipline issues and tantrums on the sideline. I've given my reasons for why he sucked, still waiting for your theory on why he was so great beyond "he was good last year!" and snide comments about Spector.

Team was competitive though, awesome.

We should hire Chris Jones back. He coached a 14-4 Grey Cup Champion in 2015 and coached/GM'd the Roughriders to being "competitive." Seems like we made a massive mistake, we should just hire him back if isolated instances of coaches being competitive is enough.

 

[SupremeTeam16]

The talent level hasn't fallen that much, it's still pretty much the defacto 2nd best league in the world. I think the bigger issues right now is that a lot of people are struggling with finances since Covid ended, and Ambrosie inspires as much confidence as expired milk. What we're seeing really is a league wide down period for attendance. It's not insurmountable, but we need a fresh face as Commish.

I don’t buy the finances excuse. Spending hasn’t dipped all that much since Covid with hundreds of billions being pumped into the economy by the government.

People are still paying outrageous amounts to go to Hockey games, they’re going to Riverhawks games, Stingers games, going to outdoor comedy festivals, going to F1 and Indy events, going to musical shows, Taylor Swift shows, Blue Jays games (even though they’re terrible), going to rodeos, travelling to go to NFL games or to NCAA games.


I can keep going with endless examples of events that people are still spending discretionary dollars on. People aren’t going to CFL games because they don’t have money, they aren’t going because they don’t see value in it.

 

[5 Mins 4 Ftg]

The talent level hasn't fallen that much, it's still pretty much the defacto 2nd best league in the world. I think the bigger issues right now is that a lot of people are struggling with finances since Covid ended, and Ambrosie inspires as much confidence as expired milk. What we're seeing really is a league wide down period for attendance. It's not insurmountable, but we need a fresh face as Commish.

Disagree, In today's CFL guys cant tackle, catch a clean unobstructed pass, run without bad fumbles, cant kick consistently, cant QB to save their lives most often. The talent makes it for me unwatchable.

When players can now make more on an NFL practice squad or playing Arena football than coming to Canada and playing in what most Americans consider a 3rd rate league and that Canadians now all go to the NFL unless they aren't good enough to hang around as 4th stringers on a practice squad we get today's CFL.

 

[TopShelfGloveSide]

They often accomplished the bare minimum in any given season and were pushed aside by better teams come playoff time.

Meanwhile

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There go the goal posts. No one is saying they were fantastic.

 

[K1984]

I don’t buy the finances excuse. Spending hasn’t dipped all that much since Covid with hundreds of billions being pumped into the economy by the government.

People are still paying outrageous amounts to go to Hockey games, they’re going to Riverhawks games, Stingers games, going to outdoor comedy festivals, going to F1 and Indy events, going to musical shows, Taylor Swift shows, Blue Jays games (even though they’re terrible), going to rodeos, travelling to go to NFL games or to NCAA games.


I can keep going with endless examples of events that people are still spending discretionary dollars on. People aren’t going to CFL games because they don’t have money, they aren’t going because they don’t see value in it.

CFL is the only sports product in Edmonton left that gets the "dog ate my homework" excuses for why nobody buys tickets.

It's a week day, its a weekend, but people are away, game is too late, game is too early, temperature was too hot, temperature was too cold, people have no money for tickets, people have too much money and are doing other things, etc, etc, etc.

Basically whichever side of the coin any of the above land on is the excuse that gets trotted out for why nobody is buying tickets, no matter how contradictory it is. Not applicable to the other local sports entities.

 

[5 Mins 4 Ftg]

CFL is the only sports product in Edmonton left that gets the "dog ate my homework" excuses for why nobody buys tickets.

It's a week day, its a weekend, but people are away, game is too late, game is too early, temperature was too hot, temperature was too cold, people have no money for tickets, people have too much money and are doing other things, etc, etc, etc.

Basically whichever side of the coin any of the above land on is the excuse that gets trotted out for why nobody is buying tickets, no matter how contradictory it is. Not applicable to the other local sports entities.

Thats why it boils down to 3 simple things.

1- the product of the team and the league in general is just plain bad and not worth the price of admission anymore
2- alienated at least half the fans over the name change who wont come back
3- lost an entire generation or maybe 2 of young people who arent interested in the CFL and the existing fans are simply aging out and not being replaced

 

[TopShelfGloveSide]

I don’t buy the finances excuse. Spending hasn’t dipped all that much since Covid with hundreds of billions being pumped into the economy by the government.

People are still paying outrageous amounts to go to Hockey games, they’re going to Riverhawks games, Stingers games, going to outdoor comedy festivals, going to F1 and Indy events, going to musical shows, Taylor Swift shows, Blue Jays games (even though they’re terrible), going to rodeos, travelling to go to NFL games or to NCAA games.


I can keep going with endless examples of events that people are still spending discretionary dollars on. People aren’t going to CFL games because they don’t have money, they aren’t going because they don’t see value in it.

I agree and I don’t. I know lots of people in public sector jobs whose wages haven’t gone up with inflation. Couple that with the covid mortgages coming to an end and increasing taxes. Lots of people definitely have less money to spend.

That being said I agree that it’s not an excuse. People just don’t want to go to elks games right now.

 

[bellagiobob]

Disagree, In today's CFL guys cant tackle, catch a clean unobstructed pass, run without bad fumbles, cant kick consistently, cant QB to save their lives most often. The talent makes it for me unwatchable.

When players can now make more on a practice squad or playing Arena football than coming to Canada and playing in what most Americans consider a 3rd rate league and that Canadians now all go to the NFL unless they aren't good enough to hang around as 4th stringers on a practice squad we get today's CFL.

You don’t have to look any further than the QB position to see much the talent level has eroded. Just thinking back to the QB talent that the Eskimos alone brought into the league once upon a time is mind boggling. I seriously doubt that the QB’s today would even be practice squad players if they were around when the league had good to great QB’s.

 

[joestevens29]

I don’t buy the finances excuse. Spending hasn’t dipped all that much since Covid with hundreds of billions being pumped into the economy by the government.

People are still paying outrageous amounts to go to Hockey games, they’re going to Riverhawks games, Stingers games, going to outdoor comedy festivals, going to F1 and Indy events, going to musical shows, Taylor Swift shows, Blue Jays games (even though they’re terrible), going to rodeos, travelling to go to NFL games or to NCAA games.


I can keep going with endless examples of events that people are still spending discretionary dollars on. People aren’t going to CFL games because they don’t have money, they aren’t going because they don’t see value in it.

Pretty much this. Lots of other entertainment ventures are still finding a way to make money.

The problem is this isn't new. CFL has been slowly heading downhill for awhile now, but no one wanted to admit it. They came up with all sorts of excuses to why the CFL isn't as popular as it once was. Now sadly even new blood at the commish level might not even be enough. The league has waited too long and pushed people to other activities.

 

[joestevens29]

You don’t have to look any further than the QB position to see much the talent level has eroded. Just thinking back to the QB talent that the Eskimos alone brought into the league once upon a time is mind boggling. I seriously doubt that the QB’s today would even be practice squad players if they were around when the league had good to great QB’s.

Sure doesn't help when even one of the best Canadian born QB's rather just bounce around in the NFL as a #3/#4 QB.

Been tough to find guys that were willing to come up to the CFL and then when you get them they struggle understanding the game.

But that's what the CFL created when they decided to put a cap on management. Yes there was an unfair advantage for teams to be spending more on scouting and development than other clubs, but at the end of the day there was a player cap that evens that out. Eventually all that hard work scouting guys resulted in them going to other teams anyway.

Just a short term money saver that is being reflected by the quality of product.

 

[KeithIsActuallyBad]

There go the goal posts. No one is saying they were fantastic.

Just making the playoffs in a league where a large majority of the teams make it isn't anything to talk about. More often than not they were just there by default. The Esks kept Macocia around for far too long and any talent was quickly dealt elsewhere. They basically handed Toronto a Grey Cup when they traded Ray away.

 

[MoontoScott]

Well if you didn't think Elks was a word, what is an Esk?

Well, in the world of geology its "short for eskers--subglacial stream deposits that are common in Northern Alberta.

 

[MoontoScott]

It's a term I've used about a few thousand times in my life to describe my football team. As in Go Esks Go, or did you you see the Esks game last night. I don't really care if the choice they make is an actual word or not, I care what the word/term is. Esks somewhat fixes a huge error the franchise made without pissing off the few woke people that caused the ruckus.

Yes, an abbreviation but highly recognizable for those Eskimo fans that listened to Bryan Hall for so many years.

Sort of like calling the Canadiens the Habs-- a nickname but again very recognizable.

 

[K1984]

Just making the playoffs in a league where a large majority of the teams make it isn't anything to talk about. More often than not they were just there by default. The Esks kept Macocia around for far too long and any talent was quickly dealt elsewhere. They basically handed Toronto a Grey Cup when they traded Ray away.

There by default, but then won a game more often than not.

The Eskimos in the Maas era were competitive, but under performers. The 2016 and 17 teams in particular should have had a better fate than losing to the Redblacks in a cross over East Final and losing to the Stampeders in 2017 (Mass not knowing the score). There were many games in that time frame that were simply thrown away as well, forcing the team into cross over situations when they were good enough on paper to make it in the West.

The Elks today just aren't that talented. The 2015-19 end of the Eskimo era was an exercise in frustration because a lot of those teams had legit talent in key areas, but did nothing with it. This version of the team just is what it is - shit. If anything this version of the team has over performed just to put themselves in situations to throw games away.

 

[Stoneman89]

IIRC they did apologize for the comment. 3 years ago when it was made.

It was a dumb thing to say but all it meant was that they wanted to diversify their fanbase and attract new fans. Not that they hated old white men.

Get over it.

They likely meant every part of that, and it speaks to their desire to cleanse their souls and virtue signal to everyone due to a a tiny group of screamers. The fans they wanted were the wokesters that were all over them to change the name, and the love and loyalty of their 2 biggest sponsers. Ironically, both of those groups abandoned them or never showed up in the first place.

Tell the new organization to "get over it." You know, the same one that can't draw flies now.

 

[Darkwinter]

CFL is the only sports product in Edmonton left that gets the "dog ate my homework" excuses for why nobody buys tickets.

It's a week day, its a weekend, but people are away, game is too late, game is too early, temperature was too hot, temperature was too cold, people have no money for tickets, people have too much money and are doing other things, etc, etc, etc.

Basically whichever side of the coin any of the above land on is the excuse that gets trotted out for why nobody is buying tickets, no matter how contradictory it is. Not applicable to the other local sports entities.

Go woke go broke. They chose Witch Hill to die on and I don't feel bad for not supporting this team anymore. Let that 20-year-old kid support the franchise that turns its back on the meat and potatoes . Let the CFL enjoy all the Boston pizza support

 

[Stoneman89]

Also heard them say they are leaning to renaming the club to Esks. Like why even bother? Go back to Eskimos or leave it and move forward.

Also if I had to guess broken promises, it would be that Ford was promised to start, then they brought in MBT. I think this pissed off a lot of the locker room.

I'll bet that if they rename it to "Esks", the howling will be just as loud if you went back to "Eskimos". The screamers will say it's just an abbreviated version of the former horrible name, and therefor, just an end around to wind up at the same place.

 

[Stoneman89]

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One Grey Cup appearance since 2005 in a 8/9 team league is honestly very underwhelming, often having to cross over as we were the 4th best team in the West.

Judging by championships, yes, they could have done better. But even finishing close to .500 is not horrible or a complete embarrassment. Many times in the league, if you somehow get into the playoffs with that, you can ride it for a while if you get hot. 9-9 looks pretty damned respectable compared to multiple seasons of last place finishes and 4 win seasons.

 

[Gunnersaurus Rex]

Esks alone is a horrible name. I know the history and it works great as a nickname, but having the full official name as the Edmonton Esks is not good. How do you market that? What does it even mean?

Either change it back to Eskimos, or leave it as Elks.

PS, can we please return to yellow numbers. So tired of the Packers look.

 

[Heavy Dee]

I'll bet that if they rename it to "Esks", the howling will be just as loud if you went back to "Eskimos". The screamers will say it's just an abbreviated version of the former horrible name, and therefor, just an end around to wind up at the same place.

I agree. It's why I said change it back or don't.

I think they would get a significant bump in sales - probably enough to offset some losses etc but I don't think long term it's going to be the real driver for change with the next generation of fans. I think there might be even an argument to be made that Elks is more marketable than Esks.

 

[Stoneman89]

I'd like to bring up one more potential factor in the malaise and lack of interest in the league and football in general in this country.
And please don't take this as an anti-immigration or racist rant, because it isn't.

When you have mass loads of new people coming in to the country, who have absolutely no connection or interest in anything to do with the sport, it can be a tough sell. This isn't fathers taking their kids to games. This is a whole lot of newbies that really could care less, and are more interested in just getting established in their new world. Football is a complicated game, and an extremely slow paced one at that. I can see someone spending 5 minutes looking at it on TV, watching 3 actual plays, 2 of which are penalized, and 4 minutes of commercials, and going, "f*** this, there has to be something better on."

And before you bring up the popularity of the NFL, keep in mind, that league is an entity unto itself, and has become much larger than the actual game. A ton of excitement is generated just by the production values and high end product.