Fastest Game on Ice, eh?

So now that the Eskimoes have backed into the Grey Cup in the most akward and stumbling way possible, let's talk about hockey.

Remember what I said a few days ago about Edmonton being blue-collar, and having a football team to match? Well throw that away when you get to the Oilers. The Oilers are the antithesis of a blue-collar squad...unlike the teams you see in places like Philedelphia, Chicago, or even Detroit, for the entirety of its history in the NHL, the Oilers have been about speed, grace, and pure skill.

It's almost like the Oilers are the epitome, the representation of what Edmontonians would like their city to be, and during the golden years of the 80's, they were just that. They were glamourous. Flashy. Exciting. And with an undercurrent of grit beneath it...look at how Semenko became a minor hero in the city, even if noone else ever heard of him. The ice at the Colessium has been carefully tended over the years to be the best in the league to match it, the head of the ice plant acknowledged now as the best in the world. Even in the 90's, as the stars faded away, too expensive for the little blue-collar city, the spirit was maintained. Even as the league itself folded in and collapsed under the weight of slow-paced, defensive hockey, Edmonton stubbornly held on almost to the end. Only in the last couple of years before the strike was it finally ended, but the illusion was powerful still.

A lot of people wondered what was going to happen post-strike, and I must say that I'm a bit surprised by how forgiving this industrial city was. But maybe the workers understood here better than other cities might have. This is a labour town...perhaps the strike/lockout was seen in a more understanding light. Or maybe it's just that we have nothing better. Or maybe...we'll accept nothing better.

That's kinda where I want to move in the near future. Why has Edmonton clung stubbornly to the Oilers, a franchise that has faded, a franchise that, according to the 'media' broke public trust last year. Why did they keep that team, while rejecting the Roadrunners, and the Ice before them. What is it about Edmonton that makes it a Big League Only town?

Minor-league sports are a rising passion of mine...but I can't seem to find many of them here. Soon, we'll take a look at why that might be.

Giant Robots, considering labour action againt Getta Star Shine hazard pay.

1. In which an Edmonton blogger talks about sports.

Sit down, get comfy, pull up a chair. This one might take awhile....or, it might not. I'm going to talk to you tonight about the state of sport in Edmonton, and while I have a lot to say on the topic, I doubt I'll be able to keep my head up off of the keyboard long enough to say it all. So there will likely be more. Huzzah!

Let's start off with what Edmonton is: blue-collar, labour, Redmonton. A brown-bottle beer and perogie crowd. Simple pleasures, mostly, and this has generally been reflected in the cities primary choice of sporting entertainment: CFL Football, first of all, and hockey, starting a bit later, but probably the #1 sport now. But lets go back to football for today.

The Eskimoes might be the oldest pro team in Western Canada...iterations of the team can be traced back to pre-WW1 times, when the prefered term was still Esquimaux in English and French. Technically, there have been three or four teams in that time that have had the name Edmonton Eskimoes (or Esquimaux if you prefer), but they're all considered to share the same history. They're the only community-owned team in the CFL, quite a feat in this age, even for a low-budget operation, and they're the 2nd most winning team of all time, behind only the (spit) Toronto Argonauts.

Now here's where culture hits. Football teams, American or Canadian, that are based in working class cities, run the ball. Edmonton has had its greatest success with mobile quarterbacks that can scramble...Warren Moon, Damon Allen, Tracy Ham. Ricky Ray has been a bit of an exception to that rule, but even in 2003, it was the running game that won the team the Cup. Heck, look at the current Lieutenant Governer of Aberta...former running back Normie 'The China Clipper' Kwang. And look at the reputation Danny MacManos gained in this city: despite being one of the best passers ever seen in the CFL, Danny Mac is routinely outrun by practice dummies, and, as such, was never welcomed in Edmonton.

So that's the pro football side of sports in Edmonton: a blue-collar version of the game, on the ground, pound it in your face, no frills. And Edmonton continues to have the highest league attendance of anywhere in the CFL, despite the 2nd worst climate and an outdoor stadium.

This got a bit out of hand, but that's what blogs are for...rambling. Next time, we'll take a look at hockeyside. Hopefully, sometime in the next days/weeks/months a reader will come to understand how each sport fits in here, why the City of Champions was so important to us, and what I think should be done for the future.

Giant Robot, breaking tackles at the 35 and rushing for a gain of 17 on the play.