A baffling bunch, these Blue

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 09/10/2011 (5168 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

HAMILTON — Expect the unexpected and you will seldom be disappointed with the enigma that is this 2011 Winnipeg Blue Bombers.

They win when you expect them to lose and lose when you expect them to win and the only constant seems to be just how unpredictable they are.

For the second time in a month, the Bombers won a game at Ivor Wynne Stadium that few people — with the striking exception of themselves — expected Winnipeg to win.

Coming off two last-second losses to Toronto and Montreal and facing a Hamilton team that looked resurgent after back-to-back wins, the smart money was picking the Ticats Friday night, just as the smart money was picking the Montreal Alouettes at home to the Bombers on Sept. 18.

That Montreal game, you will recall, also saw the Bombers limp in off a pair of tough losses — a couple of blowouts to Saskatchewan — and few of the wise guys around the CFL were giving Winnipeg much of a chance.

But win they did — in Montreal last month and again here Friday night — and in the process, they accumulated something less tangible, but perhaps more valuable, than just a couple points in the standings.

“I think that does a lot more for a ball club than just getting a win,” the CFL king of the comebacks, Bombers QB Buck Pierce, offered outside a jubilant Winnipeg locker-room Friday night. “It does a lot for us.”

So what exactly does it do for this Bombers squad heading into the final month of the regular season?

Aside from clinching a playoff spot Friday night and guaranteeing they will continue to retain at least a share of first place in the CFL’s East Division after this long weekend, Friday’s 33-17 win over Hamilton also makes a statement both inside and outside the Bombers locker-room.

As usual, veteran Bombers defensive tackle Doug Brown summed it up most eloquently Friday night.

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“Other years — last year — these are games we would have lost,” began Brown. “When things started to go down, we had no response really. We weren’t able to get to that extra gear — we weren’t able to regroup and refocus. And this year, when we’ve strung some losses together and people counted us out, we’ve been able to respond in really critical moments in critical games. And especially on the road (where the Bombers are now 5-2).

“Our performances certainly fluctuate. Any observer could tell you that. But guys have always maintained their calm and been real confident and a together group.”

Brown also pointed out that his team’s performance overall this season, but particularly in big games, vindicates the controversial off-season decisions made by the team’s brain trust — GM Joe Mack, assistant GM Ross Hodgkinson and head coach Paul LaPolice — to stand pat.

“After a four-win season last year,” said Brown, “it’s a credit to our coaches and our front-office staff who believed in a group of players who only put together four wins a year ago. They took a lot of heat for staying status quo in the off-season. But now we’re really starting to reap the rewards and the fruits of their labour and perseverance with this group. They saw something in a bunch of players here.”

And now the rest of us are seeing it too.