Article content
You could say the Edmonton Elks are on a well-deserved break.
‘Once we’ve got down to a certain point, we’ve got to look at anything. All our processes. We’ve certainly got to take the next week and take a good hard look at everything. From everything in our locker-room, everything in our coaching, everything from A-Z.’
All 19 Photos for Gallery
Function Not Available
You may use a different browser or device to view this in full screen.
You could say the Edmonton Elks are on a well-deserved break.
Advertisement 2
But it’s more like the broken Edmonton Elks are on a bye week.
Top to bottom and everything in between, nothing is working. Not properly. Not at all.
Here’s what we’ve learned following Saturday’s 27-0 loss, making for eight straight scoreless quarters against the B.C. Lions this season, with one more meeting still to come:
The season’s done. All the shadows of Green and Gold legends and duct tape in the world couldn’t piece things back together. They’d have to miraculously run the table the rest of the way to salvage a winning record.
But this season hasn’t been about winning. Right now, it is about what they can salvage.
Do they blow it all up and name a new head coach and general manager, which would mark their fifth different head man in as many years? The combination of Chris Jones and his assistant GM, Geroy Simon, on the player personnel side obviously isn’t working. And if it is, Jones’ other role as head coach has completely failed in maximizing the talent on the roster.
Advertisement 3
Or is Jones’s loyalty to his coaching staff the downfall here, and he’s been either too stubborn or afraid to alter course on the offensive side of things when it comes to the play-calling of long-time friend and ally Stephen McAdoo? (Previous players have called it the McADon’t Offence.)
If that may even remotely be the case, then it fell on club president and CEO Victor Cui to be more demanding of results. He needed to refuse to allow the on-field product to remain status quo to the point where what fans actually remain in the building have begun voicing their displeasure with seeing the same-old thing happen over and over, booing their offence back to the sidelines.
Advertisement 4
The water began swirling long before any of the club’s current executive and football ops management became part of the problem.
The sole finger of blame for what’s being flushed onto the field on a weekly basis points straight at the Elks board of directors for laying the leaky foundation that got things to this point.
Crap runs uphill in this case, and they’re going to pay for it with a fifth consecutive year of registering financial losses in the millions.
One way to take the heat off an embarrassing 21-game home losing streak that has plagued the Elks since last winning at Commonwealth Stadium — a 19-6 result over the same Lions organization on Oct. 12, 2019 — has been to bury it under a heap more misery.
Advertisement 5
Suffering two shutouts in the same season, to the same opponent, no less, is unheard of considering the previous time they failed to put points on the board dates all the way back to 1976. (Lions head coach and GM Rick Campbell is now calling his defence the Donut Boys.)
But beyond that, Edmonton’s current 12-game losing streak — home or away — now sits one shy of a club record of 13 back in 1964.
So, coming into sole possession of the North American major pro sports record for consecutive home losses registers low on the list of priorities at the moment.
Taylor Cornelius has started all but one game for the Elks this year, going 0-7 on the way to a miserable 4-23 during his three years with the club.
While it’s unfair to pin an entire loss all on a quarterback, Cornelius hasn’t helped his situation any. While the victories have been few and far between, the same can’t be said for all the overthrows, underthrows, missed open receivers and entirely untimely interceptions that have contributed to the ages-long losing streaks and shutouts the likes of which have never been seen before.
Advertisement 6
Following the loss, Jones was asked about the length of leash Cornelius has been given before a change at the position is considered.
“Once we’ve got down to a certain point, we’ve got to look at anything. All our processes,” he said. “We’ve certainly got to take the next week and take a good hard look at everything. From everything in our locker-room, everything in our coaching, everything from A-Z.”
Jones has been around the league long enough to recognize mid-season changes are often made over bye weeks.
With Edmonton’s next game set for Aug. 10 against the visiting Winnipeg Blue Bombers, does he expect to make or see any moves in the roster, coaching staff or beyond before the next kickoff?
“I don’t ever try to control stuff I can’t control,” he said about his own job, which is currently in the second year of a four-year contract. “All I can do is show up every day and work as hard as I possibly can, and if there are decisions that are above me, that’s above me.
“So, I just know that we’ve got some good people in the building, we just haven’t found the right ingredients to win games.”
But they have certainly stumbled upon the recipe for disaster.
E-mail: gmoddejonge@postmedia.com
On Twitter: @GerryModdejonge
LAHORE, Pakistan (AP) — A top official of the Pakistan Cricket Board declined Friday to confirm media reports that India has decided against playing any games in host Pakistan during next year’s Champions Trophy.
“My view is if there’s any problems, they (India) should tell us in writing,” PCB chairman Mohsin Naqvi told reporters in Lahore. “I’ll share that with the media as well as with the government as soon as I get such a letter.”
Indian media reported Friday that the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has communicated its concerns to all the Champions Trophy stakeholders, including the PCB, over the Feb. 19-March 9 tournament and would not play in arch-rival Pakistan.
The Times of India said that “Dubai is a strong candidate to host the fixtures involving the Men in Blue” for the 50-over tournament.
Such a solution would see Pakistan having to travel to a neutral venue to play India in a group match, with another potential meeting later in the tournament if both teams advanced from their group. The final is scheduled for March 9 in Pakistan with the specific venue not yet decided.
“Our stance is clear,” Naqvi said. “They need to give us in writing any objections they may have. Until now, no discussion of the hybrid model has happened, nor are we prepared to accept one.”
Pakistan hosted last year’s Asia Cup but all India games were played in Sri Lanka under a hybrid model for the tournament. Only months later Pakistan did travel to India for the 50-over World Cup.
Political tensions have stopped bilateral cricket between the two nations since 2008 and they have competed in only multi-nation tournaments, including ICC World Cups.
“Cricket should be free of politics,” Naqvi said. “Any sport should not be entangled with politics. Our preparations for the Champions Trophy will continue unabated, and this will be a successful event.”
The PCB has already spent millions of dollars on the upgrade of stadiums in Karachi, Lahore and Rawalpindi which are due to host 15 Champions Trophy games. Naqvi hoped all the three stadiums will be ready over the next two months.
“Almost every country wants the Champions Trophy to be played here (in Pakistan),” Naqvi said. “I don’t think anyone should make this a political matter, and I don’t expect they will. I expect the tournament will be held at the home of the official hosts.”
Eight countries – Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, England, Australia, South Africa, New Zealand and Afghanistan – are due to compete in the tournament, the schedule of which is yet to be announced by the International Cricket Council.
“Normally the ICC announces the schedule of any major tournament 100 days before the event, and I hope they will announce it very soon,” Naqvi said.
___
AP cricket:
The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia – Ottawa‘s Gabriela Dabrowski and Erin Routliffe of New Zealand are through to the doubles final at the WTA Finals after a 7-6 (7), 6-1 victory over Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the United States and Australia’s Ellen Perez in semifinal action Friday.
Dabrowski and Routliffe won a hard-fought first set against serve when Routliffe’s quick reaction at the net to defend a Perez shot gave the duo set point, causing Perez to throw down her racket in frustration.
The second seeds then cruised through the second set, winning match point on serve when Melichar-Martinez couldn’t handle Routliffe’s shot.
The showdown was a rematch of last year’s semifinal, which Melichar-Martinez and Perez won in a super tiebreak.
Dabrowski and Routliffe will face the winner of a match between Katerina Siniakova and Taylor Townsend, and Hao-Ching Chan and Veronika Kudermetova in the final on Saturday.
Dabrowski is aiming to become the first Canadian to win a WTA Finals title.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 8, 2024.
The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
Inter Milan winger Tajon Buchanan, recovered from a broken leg suffered in training at this summer’s Copa America, is back in Jesse Marsch’s Canada squad for the CONCACAF Nations League quarterfinal against Suriname.
The 25-year-old from Brampton, Ont., underwent surgery July 3 to repair a fractured tibia in Texas.
Canada, ranked 35th in the world, plays No. 136 Suriname on Nov. 15 in Paramaribo. The second leg of the aggregate series is four days later at Toronto’s BMO Field.
There is also a return for veteran winger Junior Hoilett, who last played for Canada in June in a 4-0 loss to the Netherlands in Marsch’s debut at the Canadian helm. The 34-year-old from Brampton, now with Scotland’s Hibernian, has 15 goals in 63 senior appearances for Canada.
Midfielder Ismael Kone, recovered from an ankle injury sustained on club duty with France’s Marseille, also returns. He missed Canada’s last three matches since the fourth-place Copa America loss to Uruguay in July.
But Canada will be without centre back Derek Cornelius, who exited Marseille’s win Sunday over Nantes on a stretcher after suffering an apparent rib injury.
The Canadian men will prepare for Suriname next week at a camp in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
“We are looking forward to getting the group together again with the mindset that there is a trophy on the line,” Marsch said in a statement. “We want to end 2024 the right way with two excellent performances against a competitive Suriname squad and continue building on our tremendous growth this past summer.”
The quarterfinal winners advance to the Nations League Finals at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, Calif., with the two semifinals scheduled for March 20 and the final and third-place playoff March 23, and qualify for the 2025 CONCACAF Gold Cup.
Thirteen of the 23 players on the Canadian roster are 25 or younger, with 19-year-old defender Jamie Knight-Lebel, currently playing for England’s Crewe Alexandra on loan from Bristol City, the youngest.
Bayern Munich star Alphonso Davies captains the side with Stephen Eustaquio, Jonathan Osorio, Richie Laryea, Alistair Johnston and Kamal Miller adding veteran support.
Jonathan David, Cyle Larin and Theo Bair are joined in attack by Minnesota United’s Tani Oluwaseyi.
Niko Sigur, a 21-year-old midfielder with Croatia’s Hadjuk Split, continues in the squad after making his debut in the September friendly against Mexico.
Suriname made it to the Nations League quarterfinals by finishing second to Costa Rica in Group A of the Nations League, ahead of No. 104 Guatemala, No. 161 Guyana and unranked Martinique and Guadeloupe.
“A good team,” Osorio said of Suriname. “These games are always tricky and they’re not easy at all … Suriname is a (former) Dutch colony and they’ll have Dutch players playing at high levels.”
“They won’t be someone we overlook at all,” added the Toronto FC captain, who has 81 Canada caps to his credit.
Located on the northeast coast of South America between Guyana and French Guiana, Suriname was granted independence in 1975 by the Netherlands.
Canada has faced Suriname twice before, both in World Cup qualifying play, winning 4-0 in suburban Chicago in June 2021 and 2-1 in Mexico City in October 1977.
The Canadian men, along with Mexico, the United States and Panama, received a bye into the final eight of the CONCACAF Nations League.
Canada, No. 2 in the CONCACAF rankings, drew Suriname as the best-placed runner-up from League A play.
Canada lost to Jamaica in last year’s Nations League quarterfinal, ousted on the away-goals rule after the series ended in a 4-4 draw. The Canadians lost 2-0 to the U.S. in the final of the 2022-23 tournament and finished fifth in 2019-20.
Canada defeated Panama 2-1 last time out, in an Oct. 15 friendly in Toronto.
Goalkeepers Maxime Crepeau and Jonathan Sirois, defenders Joel Waterman, Laryea and Miller and Osorio took part in a pre-camp this week in Toronto for North America-based players.
Canada Roster
Goalkeepers: Maxime Crepeau, Portland Timbers (MLS); Jonathan Sirois, CF Montreal (MLS); Dayne St. Clair, Minnesota United FC (MLS).
Defenders: Moise Bombito, OGC Nice (France); Alphonso Davies, Bayern Munich (Germany); Richie Laryea, Toronto FC (MLS); Alistair Johnston, Celtic (Scotland); Jamie Knight-Lebel. Crewe Alexandra, on loan from Bristol City (England); Kamal Miller, Portland Timbers (MLS); Joel Waterman, CF Montreal (MLS).
Midfielders: Ali Ahmed. Vancouver Whitecaps (MLS); Tajon Buchanan, Inter Milan (Italy); Mathieu Choiniere, Grasshopper Zurich (Switzerland); Stephen Eustaquio, FC Porto (Portugal); Junior Hoilett, Hibernian FC (Scotland); Ismael Kone, Olympique Marseille (France); Jonathan Osorio, Toronto FC (MLS); Jacob Shaffelburg, Nashville SC (MLS); Niko Sigur, Hadjuk Split (Croatia).
Forwards: Theo Bair, AJ Auxerre (France); Jonathan David, LOSC Lille (France); Cyle Larin, RCD Mallorca (Spain); Tani Oluwaseyi, Minnesota United (MLS).
—
Follow @NeilMDavidson on X platform
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 8, 2024.
Freeland says she’s ready to deal with Trump |
NASA astronauts won’t say which one of them got sick after almost eight months in space
43 monkeys remain on the run from South Carolina lab. CEO thinks they’re having an adventure
Freeland rallies a united front ahead of Trump’s return to White House
Deputy minister appointed interim CEO of AIMCo after Alberta government fires board
Montreal says Quebec-Canada dispute stalling much-needed funding to help homeless
S&P/TSX composite index down Friday, Wall St. extends post-election gains
Mitch Marner powers Matthews-less Maple Leafs over Red Wings
Comments
Postmedia is committed to maintaining a lively but civil forum for discussion and encourage all readers to share their views on our articles. Comments may take up to an hour for moderation before appearing on the site. We ask you to keep your comments relevant and respectful. We have enabled email notifications—you will now receive an email if you receive a reply to your comment, there is an update to a comment thread you follow or if a user you follow comments. Visit our Community Guidelines for more information and details on how to adjust your email settings.
Join the Conversation