The title is actually a line from a friend of mine, after I told him the Bombers were forced to use their third-stringer in Saturday’s game. The reference, of course, is Def Leppard front man Joe Elliott. My friend – much like myself – automatically thought of the British band and Union Jack T-shirts with the sleeves cut off when he first heard the name. Seriously, he did. No F-F-Foolin.’

 Note: that will be the last Def Leppard pun I’ll make here. Bringin’ on the Heartbreak, Hysteria, Too Late for Love – all these songs could be worked into the discussion but I’m not going to bombard you with that.

 Back to Elliott. Lots of praise for the rookie quarterback at practice today, which I guess isn’t that surprising considering how well he played against the Argos (8-of-16 for 75 yards). Not exactly Calvillo-like but all things considering, something for the Bombers to build on for the season finale in 10 days.

 I thought this was an interesting comment from Bombers offensive co-ordinator Jamie Barresi: “(Elliott) always has a good reason as to why he did what he did out there – which is the sign of a good quarterback. He’ll tell you why he made a throw. He’s not just searching for an open guy.”

Now that Brock Ralph has been sent to the sidelines and Adarius Bowman is no longer with the Bombers, I decided to look at the receiving numbers put up by the club this season. I have no real motivation to do this – no real point to prove – I’m just a little curious as to what the figures look like now that two players who were expected to put up 1,000-yard seasons are no longer starting in River City.

 1. Thirteen players have caught a total of 282 passes for the Bombers (seventh in the CFL). As you’d expect, Terrence Edwards leads with 66 catches, while the feared receiving trio of Brandon Stewart, Jon Oosterhuis, and Jamayel Smith each have one reception. FB Andre Sadegian has two catches (12 yards), for those scoring at home. Bowman had 50 catches before his release. Now that he’s gone the next receiver behind Edwards is…wait for it…running back Fred Reid. His 35 catches currently puts him in second spot, one ahead of rookie Terence Jeffers-Harris.

2. Receiving yardage for the Bombers clocks in at 3,966 yards, good for fifth in the league. Edwards, again, leads the way with 1,234 yards – good for 31 per cent of the club’s production through the air. Bowman is (was) second with 691 yards, with rookies Greg Carr (457) and Jeffers-Harris (441) next on the list. Ralph is fifth with 394 yards. Bowman and Ralph have combined for 1,085 yards for Winnipeg (27 per cent). That looks like big chunk of change out of the attack but neither were really doing much of late, anyway.

3. Just because the figures are so lopsided, let’s take Edwards out of the lineup for a second. Just for fun (or as much fun as you can have with numbers). So not only have the Bombers lost the output from Bowman and Ralph, but with the 1,234 yards on Edwards’ card gone, Winnipeg would have a starting lineup of Carr, Jeffers-Harris, Chris Davis (184 yards), Cory Watson (149), and Aaron Hargeaves (115). The total yardage those guys have put up this year: 1,346. That’s just 112 yards more than what Edwards has by himself.

OK. So the Bombers are officially in a position where they no longer control their own destiny. Playoff excitement is now in the hands of others, specifically the B.C. Lions and Edmonton Eskimos. The standings have the Bombers (4-11) a game behind the two West Division clubs (both at 5-10) but in reality, the local footballers are two games back, as they need to finish ahead of both the Leos and Eskies to claim the crossover spot (barring the unlikelihood of a tie in the remaining games). Here's what each team has left:

WinnipegGames remaining: TORONTO (7-8); at Edmonton (5-10); CALGARY (11-4)

Record of opponents: 23-22

Record against opponents: 1-3

Bomber DB Jovon Johnson's 2007 Grey Cup ring — the one he picked up with the Saskatchewan Roughriders — has surfaced in an  online auction.

According to the item description, the ring has 70 diamonds total,

with the Riders logo on the face, the name "Johnson 28' on one side

and the championship year on the other.

The CFL released the names of the outstanding rookies this year and to no one’s surprise, the Bombers have more than their fair share of young talent. Seventeen guys on the Winnipeg roster are true first-year players, trailing only the B.C. Lions (22). In a related story, the Bombers are 4-10, while the Lions are just a game better at 5-9 this season.

Before we get to the Blue and Gold mentions, a message to those who have asked: Argos RB Cory Boyd – the CFL’s leading rusher – is not a rookie. He was on the Denver Broncos active roster in 2008 before coming up to Canada, making him ineligible for consideration.

Here’s the Bombers list, starting with position, player, and school:

QB Alex Brink, Washington St.

Following the Thanksgiving Monday excitement, one scribe suggested it was strange to type a 47-35 overtime final score within the copy. He wasn’t talking about the Bombers winning the game, either.

 Twelve points. That was the OT margin of victory for the Blue and Gold over the B.C. Lions, leading to the question: Was it the largest OT margin of victory in CFL history? Mr. Ed Tait contacted Bombers statistician Steve Daniel for the information, and here’s what we got:

 Prior to the 'sudden death' format the league uses now (two alternating possessions until a team manages to pull ahead or stop the other club), the CFL used to subscribe to a full 20-minute overtime (two 10-minute halves). No sudden death. In this previous format, two larger margins of victory were produced:

 August 7, 1998 – Calgary 46, Saskatchewan 27 (19-0 in OT)

Rather than use this space to make some poor correlation between the 3-10 Bombers and turkeys, or make any number of references to leftovers, stuffing and any other predictable Thanksgiving Day metaphors, I'm just going to get right to the *meat* of this post.

Groan.

It’s about the quarterback switch; the decision to replace Steven Jyles with Alex Brink. I understand both sides of the equation: On one hand, you have a first-year starter who, despite looking pretty good as a first-year starter and bringing some solid numbers to the table along the way, is 2-6 as a first-year starter and showing signs of levelling off a tad. Did I mention Jyles is a first-year starter? On the other side, starting Brink against the B.C. Lions gives the club a chance to see what they have for the future, and who knows – maybe it will provide a spark for the offence and lift this club back into the playoff hunt.

Ah, that playoff thing again. Sorry Bomber fans, but you’ll never be able to convince me switching out Jyles for Brink for the biggest game of the season is the right move – even if the club wins Monday. For me, it comes down to which guy gives you the best chance for victory. Hunches, premonitions, and what a guy does in practice is no substitute for experience – no matter how valuable you view the eight starts Jyles has over Brink.

Perhaps I have this wrong, but I just can’t see how starting QB Alex Brink over QB Steven Jyles is anything but the Bombers giving up on the season and throwing Jyles under the bus in the process.

 Brink, the Washington State grad who has yet to see any real time as a CFL quarterback (outside of some mop-up duty and the occasional QB sneak) is being asked to beat the B.C. Lions and point the Winnipeg franchise back in the direction of the post season once again. The Bombers, as you know, aren’t officially out of it. They still have a chance to qualify in the East division, and the crossover through the West division is still a possibility, as well.

 No pressure, rookie.

 I’m not privy to what the process is in determining how Brink’s practice habits will lead to instant success in games, but I do know this: A lot of Bombers look great Monday-Thursday. Obviously, the coaches and management-types hope Brink the Practice Performer is similar to Brink the Game Starter and if the former Cougar is lightning in a bottle Thanksgiving Day, the Bombers win and everyone is happy moving forward through the remainder of this season. If they lose, 2010 is essentially over, the Bombers will be no better than they were in ’09 (possibly worse), and everyone can look ahead to 2011.

That sound of relief you heard from the Polo Park area? The return of QB Steven Jyles to practice.

The No. 1 pivot called in sick Tuesday and Wednesday, and his return to the field this morning was a welcome sight for Bombers coaches. Look past the numbers for a second (OK don’t – 63 per cent completion percentage, 14 touchdowns and four interceptions) – it’s hard to imagine anyone on the staff feeling comfortable with raw rookies Alex Brink and Joey Elliott heading into the *biggest game of the season against the Lions Saturday. That’s no slight to those guys; Jyles is just the better option heading into THE BIGGEST GAME OF THE YEAR!!!

*with six games left and the playoff chase underway, every game left is big – just so you know.

Notable observations from Bombers practice:

The following isn’t the Bombers or the CFL. It is football, though, so close enough.

 Thanks to an overly aggressive junk mail filter on my end, the fantasy advice that usually runs with the weekly NFL picks extravaganza did not make it to the print edition of the Free Press today. So, to somewhat rectify the omission, here is the segment in its entirety. We will return you to regularly scheduled Bombers news and notes following practice this afternoon. Thanks, and good luck to all fantasy owners out there. Take it away Hustler…

 Week 4 brings us the first bye week of the season with the Vikings, Cowboys, Bucs and Chiefs with the week off. Identify the weeks that your top players will be on the bye and target players with good fantasy matchups for your starters bye weeks.

 Start 'em

Bombers WR Aaron Hargreaves has exactly ZERO catches in his last two games. Zero catches from a starting wide receiver in the CFL. Chew on that for a moment. That had us thinking: What would happen if the club chose not to dress a second Canadian (behind Brock Ralph) at the receiver position? Might the Bombers be better served making the import ratio work somewhere else on the roster?

 The club has just one non-import starting on the defensive line (Doug Brown). DT Don Oramasionwu is behind him as a back-up. Say you put Canadian Donnie-O next to Brown, in place of import DT Dorian Smith – how much of a difference would it be to the Bombers push up the middle? Or to put it another way: Is the drop off less in that spot than the upgrade the team could see at the receiver position?

 Same deal with the offensive line, where two Americans – Kelly Butler and Andre Douglas – are starting. Plug another Canadian in there and suddenly you have options at other positions. Look at the Alouettes roster. Five Canadians on the O-line. FIVE! The import options for coach Marc Trestman are everywhere now. Naturally, the Bombers say "The players dictate the roster" and whoever is playing the best at that specific position will start over someone who hasn't shown enough in another spot. Fair enough. The coaches obviously feel they're getting more bang for their buck with the status quo. The counter argument to that: The team is 3-8 and is in danger of missing the post season.

 Something to think about, anyway.

1. Oh look! DB Jonathan Hefney was cut from the Detroit Lions practice roster. Great timing for the Bombers – now that they have the secondary all figured out and the defence is playing great. Regardless, the team is pursuing the talented player. Can he play receiver?

 2. Speaking of the pass catchers, the much-maligned Adarius Bowman had a great practice today. He caught everything thrown his way, including a highlight reel grab over the middle in front of a defender.

 3. Head coach Paul LaPolice was very non-committal on the subject of Bowman and his starting position, however. With Chris Davis still basking in the glow of being a father (he hasn’t been at practice all week), Bowman has taken reps in his spot. Our early guess: Bowman gets the call inside, while rookie import Greg Carr gets his first pro start out on the edge.

 4. WR Terence Jeffers-Harris is working to get back into the lineup. After running hard on that high ankle sprain Tuesday, he was in pads and running routes on the side today. He won’t play against Montreal Friday, but next week at B.C. is starting to look pretty good.

There is a lot of chatter out there about the Bombers needing to make a change at wide receiver following Adarius Bowman’s two jaw-dropping drops in the 17-13 loss to Toronto Sunday. Both those drops – two more bobbles on his lengthy list of knockdowns – were put to him right on the money, so trying to find any excuse regarding a bad throw or a tough body position, or anything like that, is a poor argument.

 (As an aside here, I realize Terrence Edwards had a bad drop against the Argos, too. Funny how production correlates to the length of rope a player gets.)

 Anyway, back to Bowman. Head coach Paul LaPolice revealed nothing today when asked about Bowman’s standing with the club, saying that the coaches and management evaluate every player following a game. Fair enough. But what are the options regarding Bowman?

 1. Keep him: Like it or not, Bowman might have too many positives in the eyes of the Bombers. He’s an impressive specimen (listed at 6-foot-3, 223-pounds), he can run, and he’s probably the Bombers best downfield blocker. He has 659 yards and three TDs this season. OK numbers after 11 games (not great), but good enough for 11th among CFL pass catchers. Oops. Receivers! I meant to say receivers.