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Our new Bombers up to same old tricks

By: Gordon Sinclair Jr.

7/07/2009 1:00 AM | Comments: 11

"Winning is a habit. Unfortunately, so is losing."-- football coach Vince Lombardi

The Winnipeg Blue Bombers haven't won the Grey Cup since 1990.

In so doing -- or not doing -- they have become the Toronto Maple Leafs of the Canadian Football League.

Still, I had high hopes for the new season, for the new Bombers under their new coach.

But not after their televised first regular-season game last Thursday in Edmonton.

A season opener that, to me, looked like a season closer for the Bomber hopeful.

To me, it looked like déjà Blue.

All over again.

I know, the season's only one game old, but, alas, the Winnipeg Blue Bombers seem up to their old ways.

We have yet another messy public feud happening between a veteran player and a head coach.

Different player -- Derick Armstrong instead of Troy Westwood -- and coach -- Mike Kelly instead of Doug Berry.

Same old disruptive outcome.

We have a good defence that looks like it could be the team's best offence. I mean, the Bombers' defence looks capable of producing touchdowns every game, which is more than I expect from the offence.

And, of course, we have another disappointing season-opening loss -- this time, 19-17 to the Edmonton Eskimos.

I'm not sure exactly when I first got that déjà Blue feeling.

It could have been when the Bombers' offence -- at the direction of its rookie head coach -- chose to purposely score on themselves.

The conceded safety -- which made the score 2-2 with little more than two minutes left in the first half -- was a strategic decision that not only surrendered the lead but led to the Eskimos' first touchdown with 24 seconds left in the second quarter.

No, it wasn't giving up two points that got to me.

It was the fact that the only two points the Bombers got in the first half weren't really earned. They were similarly gift-wrapped by the Eskimos.

Actually, now that I think about it, the brutal Bomber offence wasn't even what bothered me most, because, well, one gets used to that as a Bomber fan.

What really got to me was the feeling that I was watching an inter-squad game, not a Canadian Football League regular-season opener.

I know there are some players -- and even coach Kelly -- who were with the Eskimos last year and some former Bombers who are with the Eskimos.

The most high-profile former Eskimo is Bomber quarterback Stefan LeFors, and it showed on one play when the new starter gave an Edmonton defensive player a big smile after a play and the Edmonton player gave him a pat on the back.

Save it for after the game, boys.

It's all a little too cosy for my liking and it suggests a lack of focus.

In my brief and inglorious time in pro sports I was taught not to fraternize with the other team.

Hating them was OK, though.

Maybe it's just me, but at one point when the Bombers went into their no-huddle, hurry-up offence it looked more like a no-offence, hurry-up cuddle.

I called Mitch Zalnasky, the former Bomber who does colour commentary for CJOB's Bomber coverage and he didn't see it quite the same way.

He was too gentlemanly to say that I'm an old fool for being old-school, but he did say that the way I was taught to look at the other team is long gone.

Trash talk notwithstanding.

In the CFL, he suggested, it began leaving as soon as free agency arrived, which meant players were moving from team to team and friendships developed between teammates who eventually play for rival teams.

Yet oddly last season -- and I think this was and maybe still is part of the Bombers' problem -- I didn't get the feeling there was a lot of love between players on the same team.

The team's togetherness just didn't seem to be there.

I didn't ask Zalnasky if he agreed with me on that.

Zalnasky did agree with me on one thing, though: The Bombers, as they stand, are one of the bottom three teams in the league, right down there with Hamilton and, yes, Edmonton.

And six of the team's first nine games are on the road.

He thinks it'll be a different team come October.

But in the meantime...

"It could be a long summer," Zalnasky predicts.

gordon.sinclair@freepress.mb.ca

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition July 7, 2009 B1

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11 Commentscomment icon

Don't know what made me check back on this column a week later, Mungman, but I commented on this story, and responded to someone else's critique regarding Mr. Sinclair's writing style, last week.

You are entirely right. But have you also read anything by Lindor Reynolds lately? She employs the same lamentable style of writng.


I counted 2 paragraphs with more than one sentence and one sentence with commas after three consecutive words on my first reading of this. Back to grade 10 English class Mr. Sinclair.

I didn't have time to write earlier this morning, but now I do, and I have to ask: Mr Sinclair what the he@# are you doing slagging, much less writing about, the Bombers? And worse, jumping on the 'oh my God they lost a game the world is over' bandwagon? They've played 2 pre-season games and one game for real. Let's all just chill out and give them/coach Kelly a chance. And Code Reflex, I'm glad somebody else finally noticed. One-line-paragraphs-for-emphasis-and-or-emotional-impact is Mr. Sinclair's normal, irritating style of writing. Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know he's won awards and we haven't. It's old, overdone and really, really annoying.

Did anyone else notice this pathetic little article contains 41 paragraphs? What kind of writing is this?

The fact is he is right. The Bombers are a bad team and Kelly has already lost the confidence of the team. It's all downhill from here.

Baseball. Tigers, I think it was.

Gord, I am really curious about your brief and inglorious time in pro sports. That sounds like a good story, please elaborate.

How can you compare:
Westwood would have played o-line if someone was hurt Big Baby (as oposed to Big Country) wouldn't go in when one of his friends was hurt. Big ego not a team guy

Players like Kelly, they didn't like Berry.

They play 18 games for a reason, they don't give out the Grey Cup after the first week, so let the team gel and let's see how they fair come the playoffs

I had to check and re-check to see that it was really Gordon Sinclair who wrote this column. Isn't he the same guy that wants a no-offence,hurry-up cuddle approach to every whiner he meets?

Yea a very long summer. I will go to the Calgary game and have my fingers crossed but if they lose again I would not be surprised matter of fact I kinda of expect it. Not sure Kelly's speeches are making all the difference. I do not see the substance in the team. No one left for me to cheer for. Just a bad feeling. But Go Bombers!!!

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