Bombers turn Brandon on

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 12/06/2011 (5543 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

BRANDON — There is nothing quite like kids to tame even the most savage of beasts.

And so it was here at Vincent Massey High School Saturday afternoon as sack-monster and troublemaker extraordinaire Odell Willis spent his Bombers practice playing the role of pied piper to a dozen or so kids who adopted the 6-foot-2, 265-pound Bomber defensive end as one of their own.

With the gregarious Willis sitting out practice with a hip pointer, it did not take long for the children to find the child at heart in their midst and make a play date with the biggest kid on the field.

Willis led them around the field, introduced them to fellow players, held their hands, signed autographs and generally thrilled his young charges in what was one of the major highlights of the Bombers’ one-day visit to Brandon on Saturday.

“It was really fun to be out here with all the kids,” Willis beamed after practice. “I love the kids. When I was a little kid, I wanted to be around guys like this too.

“They come by to support us; they’re a fan of mine. So it works vice versa.”

Odell’s Kids were among about 400 spectators who crowded the sidelines at the high school to watch the Bombers run through their practice drills in what team officials figure was the Bombers’ first practice in Brandon in close to 15 years.

There was a time when the Bombers held training camp in Brandon, with the players moving into the dormitories at Brandon University. But that routine stopped years ago and Saturday’s visit was part of a renewed effort by the Bombers to do more this season to connect with rural Manitobans, in hopes of building a provincial identity for the team akin to the way all of Saskatchewan claims the Roughriders as their own.

The visit could not have come a moment too soon for at least one Bombers fan, who pointed out to head coach Paul LaPolice during an autograph session prior to practice that he was beginning to see an unnerving amount of green in southwestern Manitoba — and he wasn’t talking about the crops.

Winnipeg Free Press | Newsletter

Mike McIntyre | On Sports

Thursdays

Keep up to date on sports with Mike McIntyre's weekly newsletter.

Sign up for Mike McIntyre | On Sports

Sign Up

I consent to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies.

I consent to CASL agreement.

“One guy said, ‘There’s too many Riders fans around here, so it’s good that you’re up here,’ ” LaPolice laughed.

The players seemed to universally enjoy a respite from the two-a-day grind of training camp that included a morning bus trip out here from Winnipeg — Hot Tub Time Machine was the feature on one of the buses — and the rare chance to actually run on grass at Vincent Massey.

“It’s just nice to break it up (training camp) in some way,” quarterback Buck Pierce said.

“It gets to be monotonous — everyday the same day — and whenever you can throw a changeup in there, it allows you to take a deep breath.”

paul.wiecek@freepress.mb.ca