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Winnipeg Free Press - PRINT EDITION
Progress? You be the judge
Interpret the evidence and there are cases both for and against
Blue QB Michael Bishop chats on the sidelines with bespectacled offensive lineman Obby Khan on Wednesday. Fans are running out of patience with the offence. (TREVOR.HAGAN@FREEPRESS.MB.CA)
A lot of people seem to be getting their knickers in a knot (ask your parents) over the curious travails of the local Football Team In Progress.
In fact, it's getting kinda like politics or religion. Or any other belief-based system, for that matter.
Take last Saturday's 31-23 loss to the Calgary Stampeders as Exhibit A. The Bombers stunk out the joint in the first half with horrifying offensive numbers. The rancid cherry on top was allowing the clock to expire in the half while the visitors were in scoring position. Beautiful.
But lo and behold, the Bombers were an entirely different outfit when the second half arrived. They were almost unstoppable running the football, racking up well over 200 yards in the final two quarters. Indeed, with a few breaks down the stretch, the Bombers might have forced overtime.
Alas, for the faithful, they did not.
So this is what happens: Those who fervently believe the Bombers, now 2-4, have been a disaster under rookie head coach Mike Kelly use the first-half ineptitude (and subsequent failure overall) as evidence to back their belief. Meanwhile, those Kelly lovers out there, along with the coach himself, point to the second half as proof the club is improving.
It's just like the season itself. Really, if you want to find reasons to view Kelly's gutting of the Bombers with skepticism, you'll have no problem. The Stefan LeFors experiment, the desperate signing of Michael Bishop, the One First Down in a Half debacle, the bungling of expectations.
But the converts have their evidence, too. A vastly improved kicking game (How 'bout that Alexis Serna, eh?), a more stingy secondary, a sense of resolve throughout and Siddeeq Shabazz.
So who are the Bombers? They are a 2-4 outfit still adapting to a massive overhaul while changing their entire offensive expectations. They are throwing everything at the wall and seeing what sticks.
After all, anyone who tells you this was all part of the glorious plan is playing whoever is listening for a fool. We're up to about Plan D right now and it's covered in White-out.
It's unfortunate, but this is what happens when a loss is deemed some form of progress, or where having a "legitimate shot" to squeeze into the playoffs is a sign of modest hope.
And that's exactly what's separating the unruly mobs from the disciples these days: belief and hope.
It's a very thin line, but as long as Kelly and Co. can sell their message of patience, the more time they'll have to right the ship. After all, you can talk about baby steps and signs of improvement in a loss when you're 2-4. But it's another matter if you're 2-7 or 4-10. Then it becomes laughable and sad.
At the same time, here's another suggestion: The Bombers, perhaps more than any other CFL team, should improve more as the season advances, since no other team experienced as much personnel and coaching changes. In other words, the Bombers should be a better team in October (read: offence) for the exact same reason they were awful in July.
That's only fair, right?
But the caveat is, who knows what this team will look like come fall? Because the changes haven't stopped since the season started, almost exclusively on offence. There's a new QB, the offensive line has been shuffled and the hunt is on for new receivers.
In short, the Bombers probably won't get any traction until they start to win. But constant player movement is a detriment to improvement -- at least, until the right changes transpire.
That's the Winnipeg Blue Bombers in a nutshell. They are a team searching for themselves, still. No, the Bombers aren't even close to what they want or need to be. But they are exactly what you want them to be, literally, for better or for worse. You decide.
They are a desperate team in the throes of bad decisions coming back to haunt them or they are experiencing the harsh ramifications of needed change, and will only become stronger as the season unfolds.
The rest of it is just reality revealing itself. That hasn't changed from the opening kick-off.
Come to think of it, it's one of the few things surrounding the Bombers that hasn't changed.
Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition August 13, 2009 D3
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