EE NAME GAME MIGHT DRAG ON A LITTLE LONGER

Numbers are on the menu for the upcoming annual general meeting announced Monday by the Edmonton Football Team.

And while the facts and figures brought about by the cancellation of the 2020 Canadian Football League season due to the COVID -19 pandemic are integral for the club as it once again sets its sights on uncertainty here in 2021, there is an alphabet of intrigue football fans both in and outside Edmonton are interested in hearing.

Especially if those letters reveal the new name everyone has been waiting to hear for the past nine months now.

But there is a chance that gestation period hasn’t been long enough to birth a replacement yet, and still might not be by the time the club holds its 2021 AGM on May 11.

Early on in the name-change process, the club aimed for a target of April 2021 to have a new name announced. And considering we are already two-thirds of the way through the month, chances are slim of that shot registering anywhere near a bull’s-eye.

According to one source familiar with the name-change process, nothing has been finalized yet and likely won’t be by the end of April.

Or perhaps longer, even, given the chosen moniker would still have to go through a bureaucratic registration process once a decision is finally reached.

“It’s in the hands of the board now,” the source told Postmedia, pointing out at the same time there is no real concrete deadline pushing for an end result right now. “It’s not like there is a game coming up Friday or anything.”

Or the foreseeable future, either, given the likeliness of the CFL announcing the postponement of its 2021 schedule, which is set to kick off June 10.

And considering the pre-season is scheduled to open one month from now — following some sort of brief training camp, one would hope, after U.s.-based players journey across the border — it’s safe to assume not all will be going exactly as planned for the CFL, which unveiled its 2021 schedule during what would have been Grey Cup Week back in November.

As for the Edmonton Football Team, things are still business as usual, at least, in the Team Store, shopesks.com, where men’s, women’s and children’s apparel displaying the double-e logo and Edmonton or Edmonton Football are being sold in the meantime, while the hunt continues for a new team name.

Held on July 15, 2020, the last AGM ended up being the final bit of public business the club officially held under its old brand, prior to announcing it would be dropping the name six days later.

END OF AN ERA?

Timing is everything in sports And it holds just as much sway on the way out, too, it seems.

Ryan King is aware of the optics.

The veteran long-snapper of his hometown Green and Gold made the heartbreaking announcement of his retirement in this space one week ago, nine years after first realizing his childhood dream of signing his first professional contract with the club.

And while the biggest reason for doing so was to tackle a oncein-a-lifetime opportunity to turn what was an off-season job into a post-playing career thanks to a promotion to regional manager with Edmonton-based Crystal Glass, there are those out there who may view it differently.

After all, here is a player in his mid-30s who has dedicated his life to football, which is something he still has all the physical abilities to continue.

At the same time, he is a member of the CFL Players Association executive. And who would be in a better position to understand not only where this season is heading, but the entire future of the CFL?

Was it time to get out while the gettin’s good? After all, he’s not the only player to pull the plug on his playing career following the opening of free agency in February.

The CFL, of course, is currently ‘in talks’ with new XFL ownership, and while nothing concrete should even be expected to come this early in the proceedings, it hasn’t stopped a flood of speculation from sports fans and pigskin pundits in both Canada and the U.S.

What would some sort of agreement look like? Could it lead down the road to a fullblown merger? What would happen then if there are no more rules in place to protect Canadian content on a team’s roster?

And last but not least, is this potentially the end of an era for the next generations of Ryan Kings out there, looking at the stadium in their town and dreaming of one day playing in it?

“The day I retired, I was the last guy in that locker-room from my rookie year,” King told Postmedia, adding a lot of those questions are jumping the gun. “I do feel like it’s my own era ending. I wouldn’t say the CFL or football.”

And besides, he is hardly getting out of the game altogether.

While he will no longer be suiting up in green and gold to do battle on the gridiron, he is continuing to fight for the betterment of CFL players living on both sides of the border, while remaining in his role as the PA’S third vice-president.

“There’s always going to be football,” King said. “And in current moments, that’s when you see leaders lead. And even though there’s been some really tough, challenging times, there is an incredible group of leaders behind the scenes in the

CFL, CFLPA and everyone else involved.”