Bombers open at new stadium with great expectations

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 29/05/2013 (4492 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Ready or not, here they come.

The Winnipeg Blue Bombers will open a new chapter in local history today when they take the field for the first time ever as a team at Investors Group Field.

The Bombers are holding a three-day rookie training camp this week in advance of the opening of full camp this coming Sunday and today will mark the first Bombers practice at the new $200-million stadium.

While hope always springs eternal for CFL teams at this time of year, Bombers head coach Tim Burke told a news conference Tuesday afternoon the long-awaited opening of the new stadium brings with it even higher expectations than normal for the new Bombers season.

“I think there’s heightened expectations. I think moving into the new stadium — it’s a new start, it’s a new beginning. And everybody feels like we need to win to fill the stands, obviously, and bring in revenue for the club,” said Burke.

But while Burke acknowledged the higher expectations of those around the team, he said the task in front of him right now as tries to turn around a squad that finished 6-12 in 2012 hasn’t changed, even if the team’s venue has.

“… I think the expectations from the coaches are always there. And from management. Whether you’re in the old stadium, the new stadium or playing all of them on the road, your expectation levels are always high.”

Burke said his goal for the 2013 season is to do something the Bombers failed to do in three of the last four seasons — make the playoffs.

And while that might seem a tall order for a Winnipeg team that tied Hamilton for the worst record in the league last year, Burke said he thinks it is very achievable.

“… My target is to win more games than you lose,” said Burke. “If you can win 10 games, then you’ll be in the playoffs. Two years ago, we won 10 and we won the East.”

And sometimes it doesn’t even take a winning record. Burke noted the Toronto Argonauts finished the 2012 regular season at just 9-9 before running the table in the playoffs to win the 100th Grey Cup.

But big achievements start with small steps and Burke said that process will begin this afternoon when just fewer than 40 players — expect the club to announce as many as four new signings today — are expected to take the field.

“We’ve got to learn how to win, before we can win,” said Burke.

Burke said one of the first things he will tell his charges today is to not underestimate the calibre of the CFL game. “The first thing they’ve got to do is respect the CFL game. A lot of these guys have been in NFL camps and sometimes when guys come up from the U.S. who’ve been in NFL camps — they don’t look at the CFL as being the same level or anything like that.

“My message to them will be to respect the CFL because most of the guys who you are competing with have either been on NFL teams or have been in NFL camps. So they… were in the same boat that you are in.”

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The Bombers will hold single practices this afternoon and Friday morning for their rookie class of 2013 as well as their full complement of quarterbacks. The club will have morning and afternoon sessions on Thursday.

Bombers veterans report on Saturday for physicals and then full camp opens on Sunday.

Two of those Bombers veterans will report injured. Burke said the latest on slotback Terrence Edwards (lower body) is that the club is hopeful he’ll be ready for Winnipeg’s second pre-season game, while the best case for DB/LB Johnny Sears (knee) is now the opening regular-season game on June 27, at home against the Montreal Alouettes.

paul.wiecek@freepress.mb.ca

spare change for buck, but who? c4