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John Woods / Winnipeg Free Press archives All is not lost, although Brendon LaBatte certainly is. The Bombers will carry on. (JOHN WOODS FOR POSTMEDIA NEWS)

Winnipeg Blue Bombers GM Joe Mack slowly wiped away the spilled milk of a disappointing start to CFL free agency and repackaged it in this way:

There's no reason to be Blue, football fans.

So what if Winnipeg lost Canadian all-star offensive lineman Brendon LaBatte to the Saskatchewan Roughriders and starting import wide receiver Greg Carr to the Edmonton Eskimos Thursday, those official departures coming a day after non-import defensive lineman Don Oramasionwu left his hometown team for the City of Champions?

Let's move on, said Mack.

Nucleus

"We have a good core nucleus and so (when) everybody takes a moment to take a deep breath, they'll realize that we're still going to be competitive," he told reporters Thursday.

Mack said his offer to LaBatte (believed to be in the $170,000 per season range) was as good if not better than Saskatchewan's and reiterated that the 25-year-old was keen on returning home to Regina, where he lives with his expecting girlfriend, so realistically the Bombers weren't in the running.

If that's the case -- and only LaBatte knows this as fact -- then there wasn't much the Bombers could do. If the Bombers are just using this as an excuse for what's transpired over the last two days, then questions of motivation and financial resolve regarding the franchise start to bubble to the surface.

"Would we like to have Brendon back? Sure. But do we have contingencies that we feel good about? Absolutely," Mack said, alluding to the young Canadian depth the Bombers have on the O-line.

Those non-imports include: Chris Greaves, Brendan Dunn, and Chris Kowalczuk. Do those names add up to an all-star offensive lineman entering the prime of his career?

How much time will be afforded to those guys by Bomber fans, knowing how close the club was to ending a 21-year Grey Cup drought last season? That depends on if the public's patience equals the massive levels of expectation placed on the club at this moment.

More food for thought: What if the Bombers are just in a terrible cycle, where they invest in young Canadian offensive lineman only to watch them leave after 3-4 years to play closer to home?

"That's why they call it free agency -- we're not a dictatorship," Mack said. "It's not like I was going to drive out to Regina and put a gun to his head and say 'Hey, you have to sign this contract.' Brendon played out his contract and he made a personal decision, so what can you do?"

As for Carr's departure, Mack was borderline indifferent. He believes he can find American talent at any position -- he referenced rookie Clarence Denmark's impact last season -- and wasn't too worried about finding a replacement for the talented wide receiver.

"I actually feel pretty good where we are right now," Mack said.

Proof of that will come around Canada Day but at this moment, it requires a big gulp of Kool-aid to wash down the suggestion that the Bombers are a better team without LaBatte and Carr heading into a new season.

NEXT MOVE: Mack issued "no comment" when asked if he was interested in Burke Dales Thursday, but whispers around the CFL have Winnipeg close to inking the 34-year-old free agent punter.

Dales, a two-time CFL all-star, had a league-best 47.2-yard punting average with Calgary last season. Mike Renaud, who struggled at times in 2011 and lost his job to Jamie Boreham, is the only punter on the Bombers roster.

SCHEDULE NEWS: The 2012 regular-season schedule might finally see the light of day, as some details from the elusive document leaked out Thursday.

According to the latest draft, the Bombers will play their first four games on the road, with the opening two in B.C. and Montreal.

Winnipeg's home schedule is believed to open on or around July 26, but there is some doubt as to if that game would be at the old Canad Inns Stadium or the new Investors Group Field at the University of Manitoba.

A home exhibition contest is all but a lock to take place at Canad Inns Stadium.

adam.wazny@freepress.mb.ca

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition February 17, 2012 C4