20°c A few clouds
18°c Cloudy periods
Winnipeg Free Press - PRINT EDITION
Game Day: Home is where the heart is
Winless Big Blue better show it to faithful fans tonight
BORIS MINKEVICH / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Bombers cornerback Jovon Johnson (2), at practice Wednesday, knows the defence will have to stand up tonight against the Eskimos and says the team will feed off the �electricity� at Canad Inns Stadium. (WINNIPEG FREE PRESS) Photo Store
The fans will show up tonight. They always do, more or less, in these parts.
But the larger question is whether, for the first time this season, their football team will as well.
More than 28,000 tickets had been sold as of Wednesday afternoon for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers' 2012 home opener against the Edmonton Eskimos at Canad Inns Stadium tonight at 7:30.
That's about 1,500 short of a sellout, and it will take a significant walk-up number for the club to nab its eighth straight regular-season sellout, going back to last year.
It would be too bad if the sellout streak ends one game short of tying a 59-year-old franchise record. Nevertheless, it's a tribute to the fortitude of the Blue Bombers faithful that the club is even within striking distance of a sellout after a performance this year that can only be described as a debacle on the field and off.
Just consider for a moment what the Bombers are selling tonight:
"Hey sports fans! We were wondering if you would like to pay good money tonight to come out to a dilapidated football stadium that we promised we'd never play in again in order to watch a football team that is presently a CFL laughingstock at 0-4. Oh, and did we mention the concessions are lousy too?"
Against that backdrop, the news tonight isn't that something less than a sellout crowd might turn up, but rather that anyone is coming out at all.
It bears reminding that tonight was supposed to be the night the Bombers formally unveiled their new stadium at the University of Manitoba. Instead, the new stadium has been in the news for an entirely different reason this week as the first of what might be several lawsuits over construction delays finally hit the front counter at the Law Courts Building.
If you could sue a football team for failing to perform, there would probably be a few of those filed on York Avenue this week, too (The Citizens of Winnipeg vs. Joe Mack, Paul LaPolice et al).
The "et al" would include all three aspects of the 2012 Bombers -- offence, defence and special teams -- none of which has yet to figure out how to put together a consistent performance from game to game or at the same time.
At least the special teams and offence have excuses. The special-teams unit has given up some big plays and made some boneheaded ones, but you can still make the argument that the play of placekicker Justin Palardy and returner Demond Washington has made the Bombers' special teams the best part of a bad lot.
As for the offence, they have the legitimate excuse that they've been beaten up at quarterback and are implementing -- or at least trying to implement -- a brand-new offence under an offensive co-ordinator who had no experience with three-down football until he got the job last winter.
The defence, on the other hand, has no such excuse. Yes, they've got some key injuries too, but they've had them since training camp and it's getting old hearing the same refrain week in and week out. And yes, they've also been playing better, especially last week against Toronto.
But the bottom line remains that this Bombers team, just like last year's, will live or die by their defence.
So far, they've been dying. But as of tonight, the train has pulled back into the station formerly known as Swaggerville and the local faithful will be begging for something -- anything -- to cheer about.
Maybe QB Alex Brink will light up the Eskimos secondary and they can cheer about that. Maybe Washington will rip off a return for a TD and they can cheer about that. But in all likelihood, if there will be anything for the locals to cheer about tonight, it will have to start with the defence.
And the defence knows it.
"We know what's at stake," Bombers cornerback Jovon Johnson reflected Wednesday. "It starts with us as a defence to stop allowing teams to score a bunch of points on us. That's just the bottom line and everyone understands that.
"And any time we get to play at home in front of our fans with them backing us the way they do, it's big for us... We can feed off the electricity of the crowd."
The battery is still charged from a Grey Cup appearance last season. But in these dog days of summer, the charge is dwindling rapidly and a blackout looms unless someone reignites a spark soon.
Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition July 26, 2012 C1
More Latest News
- Back to Top
- Return to Latest News
More Latest News
(1 of 48 articles for today)
'Shocking' half of First Nations kids living in poverty, new study finds
9:32 PM 0TORONTO — Half of Canada's First Nations children are living in poverty, triple the national average, according to a new ...
Poll
Most Popular Latest News
- Young girl found dead on railway tracks
- Child in critical condition after West End crash
- Winnipeg man given 2-year sentence for coma-inducing 'sucker punch'
- Court told driver hysterical after vehicle fatally hit highway worker
- Man convicted of drunk driving in Henderson pile-up
- Teen on train tracks from York Landing
- McMunn & Yates absorbs five McDiarmid locations
- HSC Home Lottery winners announced
- California 'Night Stalker' serial killer Richard Ramirez dies at 53
- At 55, I'm wise to what's real in life
- Young girl found dead on railway tracks
- HSC Home Lottery winners announced
- Winnipeg man given 2-year sentence for coma-inducing 'sucker punch'
- Child in critical condition after West End crash
- RCMP say woman deliberately murdered her sister with her car
- Toronto woman dead in rural Manitoba ATV wreck
- Manitoba restaurant stops selling giant hamburger "for obvious reasons"
- Court told driver hysterical after vehicle fatally hit highway worker
- Bomber fans wowed by new stadium
- Portage Ave. stretch re-opens after Friday-night bomb scare
- Young girl found dead on railway tracks
- Man dies after being pulled from vehicle submerged in Winnipeg retention pond
- Hailstorm wreaks havoc on Winnipeg garden centre
- 87-year-old woman tells jurors, 'Somebody had to stand up to' Donald Trump
- Two people killed in crash north of Winnipeg
- Two Winnipeg teens identified as victims of crash
- HSC Home Lottery winners announced
- Father, daughter seriously injured in ATV crash
- Chiropractor guilty of sexually assaulting, beating ex-girlfriend
- Filipino singer Charice comes out as lesbian; Catholic official says she's in identity crisis
- At 55, I'm wise to what's real in life
- Basic arithmetic back in class
- Craig Ferguson adds second show
- Make it look natural; companies work to make packaged foods appear homespun
- McMunn & Yates absorbs five McDiarmid locations
- Teens can join Let It Out Summer Rock Camp
- Daycare-subsidy rules bad for business
- City-wide average mosquito count drops
- Scientists meet to discuss weird British weather, say soggy summers likely for a few years
- New Flyer awarded Atlanta bus contract
- App could give Winnipeggers chance to report bad parking, get paid
- At 55, I'm wise to what's real in life
- Sobeys gobbles up Safeway
- Priest kept silent about accusations against Storheim, court hears
- Manitoba restaurant stops selling giant hamburger "for obvious reasons"
- Basic arithmetic back in class
- Geothermal heat coming to some Manitoba First Nations
- Spiralling cost of land raises new home prices
- Jaimie Creasy becomes first woman to graduate from RRC with degree
- Rogers and MTS announce new network sharing agreement
- New owner for lumber stores
- Chiropractor guilty of sexually assaulting, beating ex-girlfriend
- Grocer Joe Cantor dies at 88
- Door openers being used to break into garages, police warn
- Province formally opens Mental Health Crisis Response Centre
- Hailstorm wreaks havoc on Winnipeg garden centre
- New rules let customers cancel phone contracts without penalty after two years
- App could give Winnipeggers chance to report bad parking, get paid
- At 55, I'm wise to what's real in life
- MTS to sell Allstream to Egyptian investment group, focus on Manitoba market
Ads by Google
You can comment on most stories on winnipegfreepress.com. You can also agree or disagree with other comments. All you need to do is be a Winnipeg Free Press print or e-edition subscriber to join the conversation and give your feedback.
You can comment on most stories on winnipegfreepress.com. You can also agree or disagree with other comments. All you need to do is be a Winnipeg Free Press print or e-edition subscriber to join the conversation and give your feedback.
Have Your Say
New to commenting? Check out our Frequently Asked Questions.
Have Your Say
Comments are open to Winnipeg Free Press print or e-edition subscribers only. why?
Login SubscribeHave Your Say
Comments are open to Winnipeg Free Press Subscribers only. why?
SubscribeThe Winnipeg Free Press does not necessarily endorse any of the views posted. By submitting your comment, you agree to our Terms and Conditions. These terms were revised effective April 16, 2010.