Just because you play for Edmonton doesn't mean you've become an Oiler. Or an Eskimo.
Just because you all play for the team doesn't mean you've become a team.
But only eight games into an 82-game season and there's the sense that the Oilers are a whole lot closer to becoming a team with an identifiable team identity than the Eskimos who are about to play their 16th game of an 18-game schedule.
Not that the Oilers are anywhere near being where they want to go yet, either.
"It's safe to say there are more examples of team play involved," said captain Ethan Moreau.
"It's not easy to do in this day and age. Everybody talks about stats. It affects your contract. But the idea is that at the end of the day you're only happy if you make the playoffs and all the stats and stuff seem to follow if you're having team success. We've really been trying to prove that since Day 1."
SOME QUESTIONS
On Day 1, Pat Quinn asked the players some questions.
"The players were asked to at least define what we'd like to be," said Quinn. "I asked them who they think they are and what they'd like to be."
Essentially he said the answer was to return to being the Oilers, a hard-working team learning to play what used to be known as Oilers hockey.
He's not sure they've answered that on the ice yet.
"There's still lots to learn about the group. I think we're still hitting teams coming to the West thinking, 'That's where we'll get two points in. I don't think we're at the point where you can say, 'These are the Oilers.' I don't know what kind of team we are yet."
With the hockey team it's early. With the football team it's late.
"I thought we'd be further advanced in terms of being a team than we are," admitted head coach Richie Hall. "On paper we're a good football team. It hasn't been there yet."
"The whole year we haven't played all three phases well in the same game except maybe once," said cornerback Jason Goss of Edmonton's home victory over Montreal.
"We haven't really made an identity for ourselves," said quarterback Ricky Ray.
"Identity comes from what you're consistently good at. We'd been consistent at hanging in there and winning late for a few games there. But then we started losing late," said Hall.
Ray, for several seasons, has been lamenting the turnover of players on the team. In football, so much of the game involves trusting the guy next to you. On the Eskimos, especially on defence, you don't know the guy next to you.
Hall had an expression of disbelief on his face when I informed him his next new starter on defence this year would be his 23rd.
It was unadulterated insanity to go into the season with eight new starters, but consider this list: Jonte Buhl, Rod Davis, Randee Drew, Kai Ellis, Scott Gordon, Jason Goss, Jerome Haywood, Lamar Herron, T.J. Hill, Xzavie Jackson, Bobby Keyes, Maurice Lloyd, Kelly Malveaux, Anthony Malbrough, Byron Parker, Greg Peach, Mark Restelli, Elliott Richardson, Shaun Richardson, Dario Romero, Eric Taylor, Lenny Williams.
Twenty-two starters so far this season. Two more and that's two entire defences.
Only one, Goss, started the last game of last year.
Seventy-two players have cashed Eskimos paycheques so far this year. And it's been like this for four seasons.
"You've got to have some success," said Ray. "If you're losing, you're going to have change. We haven't been consistent enough to settle down and keep guys around and learn to play with each other."
STABILITY
Ray is hoping the Eskimos' current struggle for a playoff position will result in a winning streak to end the season and bring the team together and return the stability which had been a trademark of the team for decades. The Eskimos haven't won three games in a row since they won the Grey Cup in 2005.
"You need to keep a core group together and build off each other. We haven't been able to do that."
That's long term. All the Eskimos have right now is short term.
Teams have come together at this point of the season and won Grey Cups before. The Eskimos did in 2005. Ron Lancaster had a team here that came together late built around one play - the Sally Rand naked bootleg.
"It's about something special you want to be part of," said Hall.
Hall has to sell that right now. Quinn has some time.
TERRY.JONES@SUNMEDIA.CA
