J.J. Adams: As temperatures cool in the fall, so typically do two of Vancouver’s sports teams. But don’t expect the Canucks to mend those broken hearts.
As an all-time rant, few can match Jim Mora’s unfiltered reaction when asked about the Indianapolis Colts’ post-season hopes in 2001.
“Don’t talk about playoffs! You kidding me? Playoffs!? I just hope we can win a game!”
It’s nearly a quarter-century old now, and has lost none of its relevance. Back then, Mora was mired in the middle of what would be a five-game losing streak, thanks to Peyton Manning throwing four picks in the blowout defeat to the Niners. The Colts went 2-7 down the stretch and missed — you guessed it — the playoffs, and Mora got the axe after the season.
The B.C. Lions host the Calgary Stampeders on Friday night at B.C. Place, coming into the game as losers of seven of their last nine games.
A win, combined with losses by Edmonton and Hamilton, would secure a playoff berth with two games left. That’s easier said than done, even if the Leos are playing a team that sits last in the CFL, hasn’t won on the road, nor seen a victory in six straight games. It was the Stamps who sparked the Lions’ second-half free-fall with a Week 7 victory at McMahon Stadium, and they’re playing with the desperation of playing for one’s job.
VANCOUVER WEEKEND SPORTS SCHEDULE
CFL: Calgary Stampeders at B.C. Lions, Friday, 7 p.m., B.C. Place (TSN, AM980).
MLS: Minnesota United at Vancouver Whitecaps, Saturday, 4:30 p.m., (Apple TV).
Lately, the Lions’ offence has hiccuped and spit up like a colicky baby, with zero passing touchdowns in their past two games, and showing little ability to make the in-game adjustments needed to be a contender.
This final stretch was supposed to be easy street for B.C., with four of their last five games coming at home. When the schedule was released, visions of hosting the West Final before appearing in the Grey Cup for the first time since 2011 flitted about their heads.
But a loss to Calgary and a Hamilton win, and all of a sudden they’re sweating the crossover with the Ticats in the final two games.
Saturday’s game against Minnesota United FC is massive, because a loss to the Loons would see Minny leapfrog Vancouver into a top-seven spot, and drop the Caps into eighth. Should that seeding hold, that would mean a play-in game with the ninth-place team, and a matchup with the West’s top seed should they survive that.
This is now the 14th season for the Whitecaps in MLS. If you look at their final seven games of the year in that decade-plus, they have a winning record just four times, and two of those were in 2013 and 2014. To be fair, they did close out the 2021 and 2023 seasons with long unbeaten runs (five and six, respectively) to make the playoffs, but the latter of those didn’t crack the .500 mark.
What might be more worrying is the 17,000 fans they drew for a mid-week game against the Seattle Sounders. In a game that could have decided the Cascadia Cup — a trophy, arguably, as important to their fans as the Voyageurs Cup — the flat-footed Caps were dismantled by a Seattle Sounders team missing two of its players in a 3-0 loss.
Unlike the Lions, the late-season schedule wasn’t in the Caps’ favour. Fans were as fixture-weary as the players. Saturday’s game will be the seventh in 22 days for the club.
“We didn’t have any energy, we struggled from the start,” Vancouver coach Vanni Sartini said post-game. ” … It was never the impression that we were intense enough. I think the numerous amount of games that we played caught up with us. We hit a wall, mentally, when we conceded the second goal. Then it was over because we did a lot of silly mistakes.
“This has to be a very good wakeup for the end of the season. We don’t have to put the blame or a lot of criticism on the players. Today, it’s more probably on me. We didn’t choose the right way to play, not because of the game, not because of the Sounders or whatever. The right way to play understanding the condition of the players, because some of them, they were probably extremely tired from the last two weeks, and that caught up with us.”
But now entering the local sporting arena, the undisputed Kings of Vancouver: The Canucks.
Lions and Whitecaps jerseys in schoolyards across the province will soon be outnumbered by Orcas, Flying Skates and Johnny Canucks, as an energized fan base warms up for a season with a freshly brewed pot of optimism after last season’s lengthy playoff run.
Unless history steps in, of course.
But don’t worry, Vancouver sports fans. The Canadians’ season is only six months away.