Playoffs are nice, bye would be nicer

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 11/10/2011 (5166 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A football roster of some 60-odd players from all over North America is as diverse and multicultural as a team can get, but a day after Thanksgiving, I’m sure there was one common element that all of the athletes, both American and Canadian, were thankful for stemming from the win in Hamilton last Friday night: a berth in the 2011 CFL playoffs.

Yes indeed, for the first time since 2008 when Doug Berry steered the team to an 8-10 record and a home playoff game against the crossover Edmonton Eskimos, your Blue and Gold have cemented their relevance on the football landscape once more. Friday night the Bombers became the first team in the CFL to qualify for the post-season this year, and now is the time to revel and celebrate this momentous occasion… (pause) … All done? OK then, let’s get back to business.

As satisfying as it is to be assured of a chance to compete in the playoffs once more, especially after the 2009 and 2010 seasons, it really isn’t close to the end-all, be-all of accomplishments in athletics. Basically, all this qualification has given us is the title of being one of the best six teams in an eight-team league, so our scopes need to be readjusted and sighted on the next of two more short term goals — a home playoff game, and then a bye week for the Eastern Division semifinal.

With four games left in the season we do not require any gifts, help, extra credit, or tutelage from any of the other teams in the CFL to accomplish either one of these goals. If we win at least three of the remaining four games, both those goals should be attainable and accomplished. Sounds easy? Not so fast. I would dare suggest that the biggest impediment is not only coming out on the black side of the ledger in our remaining four game season, but fracturing the culture of the perennial Eastern Division title holders, and back-to-back Grey Cup Champion Montreal Alouettes.

In the 10 years I have played in the CFL, the Als have won the Eastern Division Championship and been to the Grey Cup a staggering seven times, winning three of them. In the 13 years that Anthony Calvillo has played for Montreal they have finished first in the Eastern division and gotten themselves a nice little bye week to start off the post season an astounding 10 times. That’s not a habit, that’s routine for them. It’s what they do. No other franchise in pro sports goes to the big dance as often as they do. It’s like they have a standing reservation wherever the Grey Cup may be.

In fact, speaking with players who have gone to free agency and been wooed by the Alouette organization, dominating the Eastern Division is part and parcel of their sales pitch to entice free agents, and get them at a bargain price too. It’s practically in their team brochure: “Would you like to go to the Grey Cup and possibly be a Grey Cup Champion? Join the Montreal Alouettes and not only are your odds of playing in the championship final better than your grade in high school chemistry, but you will earn an extra $15,000-$25,000 along the way. We know other teams want to pay you more than us, but can you really afford to not compete for a Grey Cup almost every year of your career?” It’s quite a persuasive pitch.

Of course there is no proof that winning a division in the regular season and attaining that first-round bye for the semifinal is an automatic springboard to the Grey Cup. In the two times I have been to the Grey Cup, we had the bye week once, and the other time we had to go on the road to the Eastern final to get there.

All I’m saying is it probably wouldn’t hurt to get a week off at the end of the season and have a one-game homestand for a ticket to the big show, especially since the more you can do to disrupt the day-to-day business and routine of the guy with the title belt, the better off you may be when your time comes to face him.

Doug Brown, a hard-hitting defensive tackle for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers and even harder-hitting columnist, appears Tuesdays in the Winnipeg Free Press.