It had to be Regina,

It had to be in Regina. No other Canadian Football League cities. Nope, the Saskatchewan capital city, on a beautiful Saturday evening, 26 sunny degrees in the third quarter, where Tre Ford did what he does best — running, passing, scrambling and bringing the incredible element of energy to his Edmonton Elks. After eight winless games, Ford got his first start of the season., a 42-31 win, snapping their 11 game winless skid —the Elks first win of the season. The last game the Elks won was, buckle up there Grampa, was … Regina. Sept. 15, 2023. In that game Ford was 13 for 20 good for 172 yards, including carrying the football eight times, one for a touchdown. Saturday, Ford was 18 for 22 in passing for — wow! — 252 yards, part of 515 of net offence. One has to wonder if Ford strolled off the field saying: “Hi. Remember me?” Because this is the second CFL summer Ford has come off the pine and put some razzle dazzle into the Edmonton football game.

Regina. Ah, yes. The team former Elks coach and general manager Chris Jones bolted for, mere days after he led the Elks to the 2015 Grey Cup in Winnipeg. Jones went to Regina as coach and general manager. But we have to wonder if Mr. Jones was properly informed that the main job of a GM is to bring in players. Recruit players. Scout players. Because as good as coach Jones might be — this laptop pilot remains convinced he was a flash in the pan — he was even worse at general manager. Jones took the Riders to a 5-13 record in his first season, improving to 10-8 the next including appearing in a divisional final since 2013, and then to 12-6 in his third and final year and hosted the western semi-final. In mid-January Jones left Regina.

Jones arrived in Edmonton to lead the Elks in 2022 and had difficulty. When he was relieved of his duties his record was pretty painful to look at: 8-32. Jones did not walk off the field as a winning coach this season.

Without sounding like a broken record, Jones’ job as GM was to evaluate, and implement talent. Now, let’s bring Ford back into our visit. Jones didn’t give the Ford keys to start in any of the five games this year. It’s ironic that, in Regina, where it can be said his recruiting skills hardly merited a parade down Albert’s Street.

Yet, Ford, the quarterback Jones had his during his entirety in Edmonton, walked on the Mosaic Stadium field and put 20 points on the board in the first half — despite the Riders scoring on their first possession of the game.

So, let’s ask ourselves if Jones was still coaching the Elks — which, clearly, he shouldn’t be — would he have started Ford, and more importantly, would the team be celebrating a win?

Interesting, considering Saturday’s victory was the 700th win in Elks history. Somehow, Saskatchewan, and specifically Regina, has a provincial romance to it for countless ways. Perhaps, it’s a part of the community of its people — many tilling and harvesting millions of farmland — where helping your neighbor isn’t a way of life. But it is a necssity. When someone has Saskatchewan success, it’s a profound signal they have accomplished something pretty cool.

The Elks needed this win. Tre Ford needed this win. The City of Edmonton needed this win. The Canadian Football League needed this game. And now everyone can take a collective sigh of relief and optimistically get ready for the Elks next game, Aug. 11, when the B.C. Lions come calling.