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It's Buck or bust for Blue

Young guns haven't performed, so vet fills caretaker role

By: Gary Lawless

Posted: 09/19/2012 1:00 AM | Comments: 0

Mike Deal / Winnipeg Free Press Buck Pierce is the man best suited to guide the Bombers until a more permanent solution is found at QB.

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Mike Deal / Winnipeg Free Press Buck Pierce is the man best suited to guide the Bombers until a more permanent solution is found at QB. (MIKE DEAL / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS) Photo Store

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A decisive and functional football operations department would be in the process of making a forever call on Buck Pierce.

It should be now or never time for the plucky passer but the Bombers' direction at quarterback has seemingly no course. So, what happens next is anybody's guess.

The reality is quite stark. The Bombers need an answer at quarterback. It's the most important position in the CFL and the Bombers are the worst in the league at the pivot spot.

They need a today answer and a tomorrow plan and so far this season they have not had either. Pierce will take the first snap from scrimmage on Friday night when the Bombers host the Hamilton Tiger-Cats in an East Division Dumpster fire of a game.

The Tiger-Cats are one of two teams the Bombers have managed to beat this season and a win on Friday would technically keep Winnipeg's post-season hopes alive. A loss and the Bombers would be securely buried in last place in the CFL, almost ensured to be one of only two teams to miss the playoffs in the eight-team league. Pathetic.

Pierce is not going to be the quarterback in Winnipeg for the next five years. But the Bombers have no heir apparent and after what we've seen from Alex Brink and Joey Elliott, there will likely need to be an off-season purge followed by an influx of new prospects or a dramatic trade for an established passer.

Square one

The Bombers need to go back to square one at quarterback.

Until then, they need some stability at the position and Pierce is best suited to keep the chair warm until someone capable is brought in to take over.

So, the stage is yours, Buck.

Break a leg is the accepted best wishes phrase in these circumstances but with Pierce it seems altogether inappropriate. So how about a plain old "good luck."

Our man Buck has been a somewhat tragic figure in Winnipeg. He pumped some new blood into a moribund quarterbacking stable upon his arrival back in 2010 but has been more tease than delivery for the bulk of his time here, going 11-13 in games started but only playing in 24 of a possible 47 games.

Healthy for most of last season, he guided this club to a Grey Cup appearance. The foolish notion that Pierce held the Bombers back last year and they got to the title game on defence alone just doesn't hold water. We've seen how inexperienced and mistake-laden quarterbacking can derail a team this summer. If nothing else, Pierce was a capable custodian of the offence last season. He moved the chains and managed the ball effectively enough for Winnipeg to win 10 regular-season games and one playoff game. Winnipeggers would kill for such effectiveness at quarterback right now. But Pierce has also missed huge chunks of playing time due to injury and the Bombers have been dreadful without him, going 5-18 since 2010 when he doesn't play.

Winnipeg has no other answer right now and the young guns, Elliott, Brink and Justin Goltz, have gone 2-6 with Pierce out of the lineup. More telling, the trio has failed to throw for a major in four games and the offence has gone 13 quarters without scoring a touchdown. Sure, young quarterbacks need time to develop but they need to show they deserve that time. That argument can't be made for the Bombers' prospects.

Pierce has been like a daisy to Winnipeggers this summer as we've picked his petals on a seemingly daily basis. We love him. We love him not. We love him. We love him not.

That's the deal with Pierce. When he's going and going good he's our hero. When he's banged up and on the sidelines he's a source of never ending aggravation.

Pierce remains Winnipeg's best chance at the quarterback position to win games. What that says about the franchise is the biggest question of the day and needs major examination.

The Bombers can't continue to limp along at the most important position in football.

One can argue it is already time to begin trying to develop the next starter. OK, but who is he? No one has stepped up to accept the mantle.

So it's Buck or bust for the Bombers. Here's hoping it isn't bust because the franchise is woefully underprepared for that proposition, as we've already witnessed this season.

gary.lawless@freepress.mb.ca Twitter: @garylawless

Gary Lawless, Winnipeg Free Press

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition September 19, 2012 C3

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About Gary Lawless

Gary Lawless is the Free Press sports columnist and co-host of the Hustler and Lawless show on TSN 1290 Winnipeg and www.winnipegfreepress.com
Lawless began covering sports as a rookie reporter at The Chronicle-Journal in Thunder Bay after graduating from journalism school at Durham College in Ontario.
After a Grey Cup winning stint with the Toronto Argonauts in the communications department, Lawless returned to Thunder Bay as sports editor.
In 1999 he joined the Free Press and after working on the night sports desk moved back into the field where he covered pro hockey, baseball and football beats prior to being named columnist.

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