Double trouble

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 07/07/2011 (5242 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Doug Brown wasn’t speechless — that’s a rare occurrence in itself — but he certainly couldn’t believe what he was hearing.

“We didn’t do it in 2007 when we went to the Grey Cup?”

No, Doug. That season, your Winnipeg Blue Bombers kicked things off with a victory over Montreal after kissing their sister (a tie) in the season opener in Edmonton.

The Bombers didn’t earn the full four points, but at least they gained enough momentum to pull together a 10-7-1 record and a trip to the Grey Cup.

No, the last time the Bombers started a season with two straight victories was in 2003, back when Dave Ritchie was the coach, Khari Jones was the quarterback, and the club orchestrated an 11-7 record playing in the West Division.

That elusive two-win start is what’s at stake for the Bombers when they take on the Toronto Argonauts at Canad Inns Stadium Friday (6:30 p.m., TSN, CJOB). This possibility is thanks to a 24-16 win in Hamilton on Canada Day — a victory that not only broke a lengthy string of losses away from Manitoba, but one that has nearly flipped the script when it comes to expectations for this year.

When a 4-14 team doesn’t make many changes, it’s hard to envision a complete turnaround the next season, no?

But here stand the Bombers, staring down a Blue and Golden opportunity to erase any bad taste that remains in the fans’ mouths after last year.

The players say the win in Hamilton has done wonders for morale.

They also say it will be all for nothing if they don’t take care of business at home.

“Not only just winning on the road, but just winning — period,” Brown said. “It’s something we’re definitely not accustomed to as a team. It was tremendous for us. But there are two ways you can go from that — you either think you can ride off your successes or you can work harder and build off it.

“Only the second strategy pays any dividends.”

Which strategy will the Bombers pursue? That’s the million-dollar question in Winnipeg right now. How will this team, a relatively young group that didn’t have any tangible success in 2010, respond after an unexpected road win?

Remember, the team was faced with the exact situation last year, and the undefeated Bombers lost in Week 2 by a 36-34 score (to the Argos, surprise, surprise), before dropping 13 of the next 16 games.

Head coach Paul LaPolice feels his club is better prepared — mentally and physically — this time around. The players are repeating that position, too, believing they’ve matured as a group after absorbing some of the hard lessons picked up in 2010.

“That win in Hamilton left us as soon as the plane touched down in Winnipeg,” said Brendon LaBatte. “It’s a step in the right direction — that’s it.”

Looking in that “right direction” also shows Winnipeg on the precipice of a culture-changing opportunity.

Following the Argos, the Bomb Squad plays three of its next four at Polo Park — with two of those contests against sub-.500 clubs from a year ago (B.C. and Edmonton). Forget about 2003; this is a chance to set in motion a winning feeling within the organization again — a glow that’s been missing for a while now.

“We won four games last year,” Brown added. “Hopefully we have a good idea of how different our worlds are — how positive things can be when you win and what kind of reinforcement you get as a person living in this community when you’re successful as a football player.

“It’s been a long time since we tasted all those successes.”

Incidentally, Toronto is in a similar situation as Winnipeg.

The last time the Argos started the year with two wins was way back in 1997.

adam.wazny@freepress.mb.ca

today’s bomber report D3

Start your

ENGINES

TWO wins to open a season would be nice, but a clean jump out of the blocks hasn’t been the Bombers’ forte over the last 10 years — at least not lately. A look back at how Winnipeg has come out of the gate and the resulting record at the end of the season:

2010 — Start: 1-1; win (Hamilton); loss (Toronto). Overall record: 4-14; out of playoffs

2009 — Start: 1-1; loss (at Edmonton); win (Calgary). Overall record: 7-11; out of playoffs

2008 — Start: 0-2; loss (Toronto); loss (at Montreal). Overall record: 8-10; East semifinal loss (Edmonton)

2007 — Start: 1-0-1; tie (at Edmonton); win (Montreal). Overall record: 10-7-1; Grey Cup loss (Saskatchewan)

2006 — Start: 1-1; loss (at Montreal); win (Toronto). Overall record: 9-9; East semifinal loss (Toronto)

2005 — Start: 0-2; loss (at Saskatchewan); loss (Edmonton). Overall record: 5-13; out of playoffs

2004 — Start: 1-1; loss (Ottawa); loss (at Hamilton). Overall record: 7-11; out of playoffs

2003 — Start: 2-0; win (at B.C.); win (at Ottawa). Overall record: 11-7; West semifinal loss (Saskatchewan)

2002 — Start: 2-0; win (Toronto); win (Hamilton). Overall record: 12-6; West final loss (Edmonton)

2001 — Start: 2-0; win (at Calgary); win (at Toronto). Overall record: 14-4; Grey Cup loss (Calgary)