By Elliotte Friedman,
CFL.ca
One by one, they stood in front of the microphones, cameras and tape recorders: Danny Maciocia, Hugh Campbell, Ricky Ray, A.J. Gass, Singor Mobley, Donald Brady. But Ed Hervey said it best.
“Honestly, we didn’t deserve to make the playoffs.”
As a result, these Eskimos, many of whom won multiple Grey Cups, will be remembered as the guys who broke The Streak. No North American professional sports team made the playoffs more consecutive seasons than Edmonton’s 34. But in Canada’s toughest CFL market, people spew about the bad more than they savour the good.
“I walk down the street these days and no one seems to remember that we won the Grey Cup last year,” Maciocia said Friday. “In Saskatchewan or Winnipeg, if you win the Grey Cup, you can become Mayor, or Premier. Here, they forget so quickly.”
There is nothing wrong with high expectations. Every organization and every fan needs them. But I was really disappointed to hear the Eskimos booed off the field as Byron Parker picked off Ricky Ray and scored the clinching touchdown on a 75-yard return.
There should have been an ovation. Not for this year. But for 34 years. A tribute to three decades of dominance.
During that time, the Eskimos played in 17 Grey Cups (winning 10). Think about that. Every other year, on average, this team was playing for a championship. Even in what is now an eight-team league, that’s absolutely incredible. No wonder Saskatchewan supporters hate them so much.
One of the first major sporting events I ever covered was when the Chicago Bulls finally beat the Detroit Pistons to reach the NBA Final. The Pistons terrorized the Bulls for years. As Jordan and company finished their revenge in a 1991 sweep, Pistons fans gave their team an enormous ovation, an outpouring of support that began long before the clock hit zero. What a message that sent: “You finally got us. But we owned you for years and we’re not going to let you forget it.”
Edmonton should have done the same. After all, the rest of the league’s hatred for you was based in envy and jealousy.
Meanwhile, the football team must have smashed a roomful of mirrors during last year’s Grey Cup party because The Football Gods tormented them this year. Maciocia admitted what many whispered since July 20, that his team never recovered from the “Milt Miracle”. Everything that went wrong afterwards – the botched snap in B.C., the stupefying losses to Hamilton, the two blown drives in Toronto – stemmed from the Stegall stunner.
Last Saturday, the Eskimos made four game-losing plays on special teams, were scorched three times by their own man-to-man defence and still had a chance to win. The final blow was so cruel you would have thought the Cubs were playing.
“Our luck had to change sometime,” Hervey said. “After all, the streak should have ended in 1999.” (The Eskimos went 6-12 that year.)
Now it’s time for some other things to change. The Eskimos need a new football face. Hugh Campbell made it very clear his years of day-to-day control are over. “Louise and I have things we want to do,” he said after Saturday’s game, referring to his wife. This was the only CFL team this year without a visible football front-office person, a guy in charge who reporters could regularly seek out. Whether the team promotes from inside or goes elsewhere, that must stop. In every other city, you know who is boss. In Edmonton, you weren’t sure.
The Eskimos must also stabilize their coaching position. From 1954 until 1997, this organization had just 10 different bench bosses. Many lasted beyond the usual life expectancy: Ron Lancaster and Ray Jauch, seven years; Campbell and Neill Armstrong, six; Eagle Keys, five; Joe Faragalli and the great Frank Ivy, four; Jackie Parker, three-and-half. Things have changed, with four moves in the last nine seasons.
Ridiculously, Tom Higgins was fired one year after winning the 2003 Grey Cup and there is a chance history could repeat itself with Maciocia. This has to stop. Yes, he has to make some changes (both Greg Frers and Khari Jones feel an offensive co-ordinator must be added), but good organizations don’t keep pulling the tired George Steinbrenner/Billy Martin act.
Besides, the Eskimos must worry more about their aging core. This year, Malcolm Frank is 38, Derrell Mitchell 35, Dan Comiskey and Singor Mobley 34, Donald Brady, Steve Charbonneau (who couldn’t go on Saturday) and Ed Hervey 33, Shannon Garrett 32, and A.J Gass 31, but his knees are 831.
Those nine players own 26 Edmonton Grey Cup rings. Their leadership is the major reason the dressing room didn’t dissolve into a finger-pointing, backstabbing snake pit. Some of them won’t be back and that will change the chemistry.
The good news is that Ray, who did not get the credit he deserved for playing through multiple beatings all season, is only 27. Adam Braidwood should be Rookie of the Year, and Maciocia also likes three other young defenders: Jonte Buhl, Brandon Guillory and J.R. LaRose.
But there were some real disappointments. Trevor Gaylor, who had 72 receptions and five touchdowns in 2005, occupies a suite in the team doghouse. Keyuo Craver, raved about at this time last year, can’t get into a line-up that barely fields enough healthy defensive backs. Quincy Stewart couldn’t snare the middle linebacking job with Gass unavailable and injured early in the season. Steven Marsh, so essential to the Grey Cup defence, may never be able to walk properly again, and he’s only 27.
Maciocia admits there aren’t enough young impact players on a team that desperately needs them. That’s why football operations should be the Eskimos’ top priority. Until the chain of command is clarified – a clear successor to Campbell named – coaching changes won’t change a thing.
Elliotte Friedman is the host of the CFL on CBC.
(The opinions expressed are those of the author and not necessarily of the Canadian Football League)
