It's official: the Ottawa Redblacks now have the longest losing streak of any CFL team in the modern era.
On Friday night, the Redblacks fell 33-21 to the Winnipeg Blue Bombers for their 15th straight defeat, a streak that stretches all the way back to the end of last season.
With the loss, the Redblacks surpassed the Shreveport Pirates, who lost 14 straight games in 1994, according to Steve Daniel, a CFL historian and the league's associate vice-president of football analytics and statistics.
"I would characterize Ottawa as [having] the modern-day record now," said Daniel.
Ottawa Redblacks fire defensive co-ordinator as winless season continues
The fact Ottawa now holds that ignominious distinction is "really disappointing," said Jimmy Fata, a passionate Redblacks fan who was in Winnipeg Friday night for the record-setting loss.
"I don't think anybody knows what [the reason] is," he added. "I wish somebody [knew] what the problem is so we could fix it."
When the Redblacks play at home, there's a tradition of cutting a log section (called a "wood cookie") for every touchdown and then searing a Redblacks logo into it.
"Unfortunately we haven't been cutting too many biscuits [recently]," said Fata, who's been part of the crew that saws through the log for years.
In addition to holding the modern-day CFL record, the Redblacks' streak is also now the third-longest in the entire CFL record book, which goes back to 1907.
Another loss this Thursday against the Montreal Alouettes would see them tie the Hamilton Wildcats — who lost 16 games between 1948 and 1949 — for second place.
Still far off in first place, however, are a pair of Ottawa CFL clubs that lost a combined 25 straight games between 1928 and 1932. (The CFL considers those two squads, the Ottawa Rough Riders and the Ottawa Senators, to be a single entity for historical records.)
According to Daniel, the league evolved significantly after the Second World War.
Football in Canada "professionalized itself" in the post-war period, Daniel said, with teams paying their players "above the table" and becoming "extremely competitive."
Back when the Rough Riders and the Senators set the 25-game record, the sport was "strictly amateur," he said.
