Where’d this come from?

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 13/09/2010 (5539 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Yeah, the Bombers destroyed the Roughriders. Completely.

It was one of those lopsided head- scratchers that would have left an alien, watching its first CFL game, wondering: You mean, that blue team was 2-7 and the green guys were 6-3? (Yes, aliens watch football. Where do you think Oakland Raiders fans come from? Earth?)

The Bombers didn’t just defeat the visiting Saskatchewan Roughriders in the traditional sense. They crushed them, physically and in spirit. It was palpable. Even the hundreds and hundreds of green Riders fans strewn among the sellout throng at Canad Inns Stadium must have sensed it, too.

Just ask Riders bruising fullback Chris Szarka, left crumpled on the turf after being toe-tagged by Bombers linebacker Marcellus Bowman early in the third quarter. Szarka never saw it coming. Who did?

Remember, this was the Bombers first contest A.B. (After Buck).

And if there’s any long-term residue from Sunday’s victory, it’s that Steven Jyles could turn out to be the silver lining in the dark cloud that dogged Pierce’s unfortunate season.

In fact, Jyles was nearly flawless, working for the first time without a net, throwing just four incompletions in a modest 23 attempts. But then, when Jyles treats the ball like it’s a rich man’s wallet, when isn’t he effective?

Meanwhile, the Bombers defence was ferocious, relentless. Winnipeg’s secondary practically neutered the Riders’ prolific passing game to the point of extinction.

It’s not that the Riders came to the Banjo Bowl out of tune. They didn’t have any strings.

Great for the Bombers, right?

Maybe. Because to see such dominance from the opening kickoff right through to the final whistle begs a much less charitable reaction: As in, where have these strangers been for the last two months?

And where will they be next week?

Frustration

That’s the frustration that’s beginning to define the Bombers’ season. It’s never been too little, in terms of effort, but it’s often been too late.

After all, there’s a reason that even after five successive defeats and the freakish demise of Pierce, it was hard to give up completely on Paul LaPolice’s motley crew. There’s been glimpses of hope — amid winces of nope — all season. There have been razor-thin losses. Key injuries.

So when the planets align on these all too rare occasions, when Bombers don their Sunday best and physically and emotionally own an opponent to such an overwhelming extent, it can be as perplexing as it was absolutely necessary.

Because, face it, the alternative for the Bombers on Sunday would have been painfully bleak for the locals. Heck, even a victory might only be delaying the inevitable.

It’s just that after weeks of excuses, sporadic meltdowns, weak starts and impotent finishes — gawd, I would have gagged hearing LaPolice taking the blame for another loss — Sunday’s 31-2 drubbing was a refreshing change from a season gone sideways.

Hey, they always say it’s a new season after Labour Day. Good. Because that old season blew chunks.

Now the Bombers are 3-7 with the B.C. Lions (3-7), Hamilton Tiger-Cats and Toronto Argonauts (5-5) still well within reach. The Argos are vulnerable, in particular, and they’ll host Winnipeg next Sunday.

The good news is that if the Bombers play with even near the same passion, purpose and poise they displayed against the proven Riders, their ascension back into the CFL playoff race would all but be secured.

The bad news: If the Bombers played with such vigour and urgency over the past month, they wouldn’t be a team still groping for their own identity in the first place. In other words, they wouldn’t still be in last place.

If the season begins now, it will take a Banjo Bowl every week just to get a sniff. Or have expectations been lowered to the point where this one-victory-a-month pace passes for acceptable in Bomberville?

Yeah, the Bombers destroyed the Riders. Good for them. Well deserved. Huzzah.

Winnipeg Free Press | Newsletter

Jen Zoratti | Next

Wednesdays

What's next in arts, life and pop culture.

Sign up for Jen Zoratti | Next

Sign Up

I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement.

But proving it can be done, so decisively, leaves you to ponder when they might be so moved to turn such an impressive trick again.

Next week? Next month?

If it’s the former, there’s still hope.

If it’s the latter, there never was.

randy.turner@freepress.mb.ca

Randy Turner
Reporter

Randy Turner spent much of his journalistic career on the road. A lot of roads. Dirt roads, snow-packed roads, U.S. interstates and foreign highways. In other words, he got a lot of kilometres on the odometer, if you know what we mean.

   Read full biography