Basketball fans evidently don’t know anything about Gordie, Mark and Marty Howe
A four-pack of mini-columns:
Number 1: Maybe it’s karma, punishing Chris Jones for ditching the Saskatchewan Roughriders.
As head coach and general manager of the winless Edmonton Elks, Jones’ job security is waning with the floundering CFL franchise. The community-owned Elks are in the process of being bought by a private owner; that pending transaction may be the only reason Jones is still employed because a new owner should be the person (or people) deciding his fate.
A week after his new Riders agreement was formalized, Jones left to join the NFL’s Cleveland Brown as an assistant coach, a job that lasted one season before he was pushed into a backroom position.
Jones returned to his hometown in Tennessee to coach his old high school team, but after just one game he departed in 2021 to join the Toronto Argonauts as a consultant. Edmonton signed him as its coach/GM for 2022 and since then the Elks have won eight times in 40 games.
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Number 2: NBA fans are going gaga about Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James potentially playing next season with his son Bronny, who was just drafted 55th overall by the team. In two years, next son Bryce James is also eligible for the draft. Dad can become a free agent July 1, but the Lakers reportedly want to extend him for three years at $54 million annually.
LeBron turns 40 next season. He has said he wants to play at least one year with his son, which the basketball world believes is an unprecedented accomplishment.
Basketball fans evidently don’t recall Gordie, Mark and Marty Howe
Remember when Gordie Howe’s linemates with the World Hockey Association’s Houston Aeros were his sons, Mark and Marty? They also played together with the WHA’s New England Whalers and part of the 1979-80 season with the NHL’s Hartford Whalers, when Gordie was 52.
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Number 3: In an apparent attempt to keep itself relevant and kick-start its offseason, the NHL completed its Stanley Cup final the same week it opened free agency, handed out awards and started its annual draft.
To avoid conflicting with the draft, which ends Saturday, the Florida Panthers slated their Stanley Cup victory parade for Sunday. Panthers players have been carrying the Cup all around southern Florida, so the formal celebration can’t wait too long.
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Number 4: Honesty is still a bad thing in the CFL.
Four kickers — including Sasatchewan’s Brett Lauther — were fined because they didn’t want computer microchips in the footballs, claiming to reporters and through social media that the devices injured their feet and disrupted ball flight.
The league acquiesced, quickly allowing kickers to again use non-chipped balls. CFL Commissioner Randy Ambrosie was unhappy with the criticism and stated the change was made not because of the public complaints but because of confidential letters he received from the players’ association and at least two teams, included one from Roughriders president/CEO Craig Reynolds.
Ambrosie will certainly be upset again with recent comments made by Edmonton quarterback McLeod Bethel-Thompson. In the same week he was lauded as a top performer, Bethel-Thompson criticized CFL schedule-makers for giving teams only five days between games.
The Elks have three “short” weeks this season, including one they just concluded with contests five days apart in Toronto and Vancouver. The Elks lost both. The QB is correct: A league with nine teams and mandatory byes, which claims to care about player safety, should never give its players such dangerously, short breaks.
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