Husband of Canadian confirmed killed by Hamas in southern Israel on Oct. 7

EDMONTON – As the Edmonton Elks and Calgary Stampeders prep for Saturday’s Labour Day Classic rematch, the fortunes of their veteran quarterbacks are trending in opposite directions.

Elks’ pivot McLeod Bethel-Thompson has re-established himself as the No. 1 choice in Edmonton. Meanwhile, the Stampeders have decided to demote Jake Maier.

Bethel-Thompson was in vintage form in the Elks’ 35-20 Labour Day win over Calgary, throwing for 486 yards and three touchdowns. Meanwhile, Maier threw four interceptions, and the Stamps’ offensive unit generated just one of the team’s two touchdowns.

When the Stamps practised Thursday, four quarterbacks all got a look from coach Dave Dickenson. On Friday, Logan Bonner was at the top of the quarterback depth chart, with Maier relegated to the backup role.

Bonner has completed eight passes for 94 yards this year as a backup.

Dickenson said there could be a chance that short-yardage quarterback Tommy Stevens could get more reps. Matt Shiltz is on the injured list but was a full participant in practice this week. He was listed as questionable but wasn’t on the Stamps’ depth chart.

“I did rep a lot of people today,” Dickenson said after Thursday’s practice. “I’ve got faith in Jake — you guys know I do. But I’ve got to explore a little bit.

“Matt’s trying to get in the mix, as well. Tommy wants a package. Logan has shown up and looked good from the get-go. I’m just trying to have the best roster I can.”

The Elks (4-8), once left for dead at the bottom of the Western standings, are very much alive in a division where a .500 record gets you first place. They can pass Calgary (4-7) in the standings if they win Saturday’s rematch at Commonwealth Stadium.

Meanwhile, Bethel-Thompson is looking like the quarterback who won a Grey Cup with the Toronto Argonauts two seasons ago. It’s a far cry from when he heard boos as the Elks started the season 0-7, and he lost the starting job to Tre Ford.

Bethel-Thompson got the starter’s job back in mid-August when Ford went down with a rib injury. Ford is healthy again, but head coach Jarious Jackson has kept Bethel-Thompson atop the depth chart.

“We’ve got some tweaks, but it’s not a full wholesale change,” said Jackson, who, like Dickenson, instituted a two-game plan ahead of Labour Day, knowing the teams only had five days between Monday’s tilt in Calgary and Saturday’s rematch in Edmonton.

Bethel-Thompson said he’s developed a comfort level with the Elks big-three receivers — Tevin Jones, Kurleigh Gittens Jr. and Eugene Lewis.

“I’m a rep guy. The more reps I can get throwing to a guy, the more comfortable I get,” Bethel-Thompson said. “I’m a feel thrower. So, I throw off of guys’ body languages, and we’ve got a great receiving corps and great (running) backs.”

Gittens hauled in 115 receiving yards on Monday, while Lewis had 112 and a touchdown. And Jones, who has quickly become one of the league’s top big-play threats, went off for 205 yards and two majors.

“I love it here, so far it’s been great,” said Jones, who played the past two years in Saskatchewan but had nowhere near the impact he’s having in Edmonton. “I can’t wait for this game and watch the stands go crazy when we score — and we win.”

While the Elks are soaring, the Stamps are licking their wounds. Dickenson admitted that it’s not easy changing the team’s mindset after a resounding loss to their fiercest rivals.

“We’re trying to flush the negativity,” said Dickenson. “It’s hard. It’s out there. I told the guys we’re playing and coaching the game we love for a living. We also understand that losing can have an effect on that — your livelihood. We’ve got to get back to our winning ways.”

“They’re going to come back with a vengeance, they’re going to come back with a purpose,” Bethel-Thompson said of the Stamps. “It’s really hard to beat a really good team back-to-back weeks.”

HOME STRETCH: Because of big concerts — Pink and Metallica — scheduled at Commonwealth in August, the Elks have played just five games at home so far. That means four of their last six are at home.

REED RELEASED: The Stampeders released American defensive back Kenyon Reed this week. The rookie played three games this season for Calgary.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 6, 2024.

NEW YORK (AP) — Back in January, when Aryna Sabalenka was winning a second consecutive Australian Open title, Jessica Pegula was bowing out in the second round with a straight-set loss against someone ranked 51st.

It wasn’t the first setback for Pegula, of course. There have been many of those through the years, from assorted injuries to difficult-to-digest defeats. Look at her now, though: On Saturday, the No. 6-seeded Pegula will face No. 2 Sabalenka for the championship at the U.S. Open.

“If you would have told me at the beginning of the year I’d be in the finals of the U.S. Open, I would have laughed so hard, because that just was where my head was — not thinking that I would be here,” Pegula, a 30-year-old American, said Thursday night after coming back to earn her first shot at a Grand Slam trophy with a 1-6, 6-4, 6-2 victory over Karolina Muchova in the semifinals at Flushing Meadows.

“So to be able to overcome all those challenges, and say that I get a chance at the title Saturday, is what we play for as players — let alone being able to do that in my home country here, in my home Slam,” Pegula said. “It’s perfect, really.”

Pegula’s first Grand Slam final comes at age 30

It hasn’t exactly always been a smooth ride for Pegula, the oldest U.S. woman in the Open era, which began in 1968, to reach her first major singles final.

There was, for example, a 2013 knee problem that required surgery. And a hip operation that sidelined Pegula for more than half of 2017, leaving her ranking outside the top 850 and forcing her to work her way back up via lower-tour events. This season, a rib injury kept her out of action for two months, sidelining her for the French Open.

On the court, there was a seven-match Grand Slam losing streak that ended in New York in 2020. And an 0-6 record in major quarterfinals until this week, when she outplayed No. 1 Iga Swiatek, a five-time Slam champion, at that stage.

Pegula figured she would get this far eventually

Surely, at some point along the journey, Pegula lost hope of ever fulfilling her childhood goal of winning one of her sport’s four most prestigious tournaments, right?

No, not really.

Yes, she acknowledged, there were “those type of low moments,” as she put it, where there was some doubt whether she “wanted to do it anymore.”

“But, I think, in the end, I always would kind of snap back and be, like, ‘OK, what am I talking about?’ I would always kind of flip the script a little bit, and I have always been good at doing that. That’s why I’ve always been able to come back from different challenges even better than before,” explained Pegula, who was born in New York and whose parents own the NFL’s Buffalo Bills and NHL’s Buffalo Sabres.

“Honestly, I’ve always felt, like, not that it was never going to happen — I almost think the opposite,” she continued. “I always felt like: ‘You know what? You’ll figure it out eventually.’”

“Eventually” sure seems to be right now.

Pegula’s only loss over the past month came against Sabalenka

Since moving to hard courts after the Paris Olympics on clay, Pegula has gone 15-1, with a title at Toronto and a runner-up finish at the Cincinnati Open before the success over the past two weeks.

The lone loss in that stretch came against — yes, you guessed it — Sabalenka, the dominant player on the surface over the last two seasons. Saturday’s match will be Sabalenka’s fourth final in a row at a hard-court major, including the last two championships at Melbourne Park and a loss to Coco Gauff for the title at Flushing Meadows 12 months ago.

The American crowd did its best to boost Gauff that day, rattling Sabalenka, a 26-year-old from Belarus who is 45-11 in 2024.

“Tough losses never — how to say? — make me feel depressed, like, not thinking of not coming back to the tournament. It only motivates me to come back and to try one more time, try harder and, maybe, work harder on some things which maybe didn’t work in the past,” Sabalenka said after eliminating Emma Navarro of the U.S. in straight sets in the semifinals. “I’m still hoping to hold that beautiful trophy.”

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Howard Fendrich has been the AP’s tennis writer since 2002. Find his stories here: https://apnews.com/author/howard-fendrich

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AP tennis:

BURNS LAKE, B.C. – A growing cluster of out-of-control wildfires in the British Columbia Interior has forced officials to place residents in the area under an evacuation alert.

The Regional District of Bulkley-Nechako says people in a remote area about 80 kilometres south of Burns Lake, B.C., should be prepared to leave on short notice.

The BC Wildfire Service says fire behaviour at the nearby Oootsa Lake complex including the Sabina Lake blaze has shown increased behaviour and remains out-of-control.

The service says on social media that the Sabina Lake wildfire has breached containment lines to the east and is burning towards Ootsa Lake.

The fire has reached 411 square kilometres in size since first being discovered on July 19.

There are currently about 215 active wildfires burning in the province, and the BC Wildfire Service says many fires are now in the “mop-up stage” as fall approaches.

But it says a spate of hot weather that is peaking today means much of B.C. remains unseasonably dry and fuels “continue to be susceptible to ignition.”

The wildfire service says a fire in Tweedsmuir Provincial Park, also in Bulkley-Nechako, is “burning aggressively” to the northeast and smoke is visible in surrounding areas.

Environment Canada has issued air quality statements to parts of the B.C. Interior including 100 Mile House due to likely impact from wildfire smoke for the next 48 hours.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 6, 2024.

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