EDMONTON – Another new president coming in and saying all the right things?
Forgive me if it feels like I’ve seen this movie before.
Let me guess, things are going to get turned around and pointed back in the right direction? Yeah, that’s the last thing anybody around here wants to hear.
Especially with a recent track record that points to another miserable season full of broken promises, dashed hopes, crushed dreams and, of course, missed playoffs.
The only thing more depressing is the thought of having to suffer through yet another extended offseason after doing it all over again.
Welcome to the life of an Edmonton Elks fan in the 2020s.
They’ve been put through the ringer so often, it’s altogether too much to ask they give the club one more chance.
So this time, the new president came in knowing full well he couldn’t just tell the fans what they wanted to hear. He needs to show them.
Oh, sure. This time it’s at least a recognizable face with connections to both club and community leading the charge. But you’ll never read about Chris Morris’ first 100 days on the job as Elks president and CEO. That time has already come and gone, buried under a stack of paperwork, phone calls, and meetings.
Don’t get me wrong, it’s not because fans don’t want to believe. They’re just tired of allowing themselves to get their hopes up for nothing.
So, big deal if there is growing excitement inside the front offices for things to come. So what if there is renewed hope internally for the upcoming season? Or a measurable amount of morale emanating from a reinvigorated staff, as opposed to the endless employee turnover that’s been the trend?
And new ownership or not, does it really matter who’s cutting the cheques if it just ends up in the same old sorry result?
To Morris, that is the part that will end up being the big plot twist in this long-awaited sequel.
His is not a glamorous gig, by any means. Not when you’re the caboose on a train of presidential predecessors who ended up derailing the whole thing to the point where it needed a complete overhaul, right from the absolute top down.
He’s never been one to toot his own horn, content in having had his day in the sun when he helped the team to a trio of championships during a 14-year playing career in the Green and Gold.
He’s not here to dig up any past personal glory, either. Right now, there’s only more work that needs to be done.
Don’t tell him this, but he could have made things much easier on himself by simply pointing the finger of blame to the former board of directors of the once-community-owned club. After all, they were the one common denominator throughout those ever-darkening days that tallied five different head coaches and a trio of general managers over a span of four losing seasons since the team’s last playoff appearance in 2019.
And Morris doesn’t need to be reminded 2019 is fading fast in the rearview mirror.
Sure, the board might have been volunteers without a single shred of ill intent, who tried everything in their power to alter a collision course with disaster. But in the end, they were not going to be the answer.
The root of the problem was, of course, money – something the franchise that dominated the league in attendance for so long never really had to worry about for the longest time.
And it’s going to cost Larry and Deb Thompson millions in the first year alone of this venture into private ownership.
Heck, it’s taken hundreds upon hundreds of thousands of dollars just getting the business operations back to an even playing field. After all, how can you charge a premium on suites that had couches in them barely worthy of a landfill? Now multiply that by 23 couches needing replacing throughout the stadium and, congratulations, that’s one problem fixed.
The Thompson’s have to be shutting their eyes tight every time they sign another cheque.
But out of that darkness comes a vision. One that doesn’t just see the team getting back to playoffs and the club returning to respectability, but becoming an important piece of the city once again. One that has reconnected itself with the community, giving back where it can while serving as a source of civic pride and makes people proud to call this place home.
The players are already beginning to buy into the picture being painted down at Commonwealth Stadium. How else do you explain a team that’s gone – cough – 18-50 the past four years, turning around and netting eight of the top-10 free agents last month?
Yeah, they’ve got their work cut out for them, for sure. But so far, the Thompsons have shown the steadfast commitment it is going to take to underwrite a fresh script for what they hope will turn into a monumental comeback story for football in Edmonton.
And that’s the part that has the new president believing his own words this time around.
– Gerry Moddejonge is an Edmonton-based freelance columnist who has been writing EE football since 2008, and also covers Oilers hockey for nhl.com.