Lawless picks blue

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 27/11/2011 (5376 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

VANCOUVER — No one expected them to be here. No one expects them to win. But these Winnipeg Blue Bombers have made a habit of doing the unexpected and I have a feeling they’ll do it again today.

To be honest, I haven’t been a believer in this team all season. I picked them to lose again and again. They won, again and again. It’s easy to doubt. The Bombers believe and that, more than anything else, is the key to their success.

Moving up from 4-14 to 10-8 and winning the East Final is no small feat. These Bombers skipped a number of steps to get where they are today and a lot of that is due to their belief in themselves.

They can be cocky in public and at times obnoxious. But within the confines of their work space they have a blue collar attitude. They work hard and believe in team. Sure, there are stars within this group but they don’t play the prima donna role in the locker-room.

Head coach Paul LaPolice found a way to keep them focused on the process as they shot up the standings. They’re not a fluke. They’re based in fundamentals and have handled adversity. They’re very young and if they don’t win today they’ll be back banging on the door next year.

They have a quarterback that knows how to win and will do whatever it takes to make that happen. Buck Pierce is courageous and tough and talented. He’s a leader. The Bombers offence is pretty vanilla, but for the quarterback. He makes plays and defies the odds. He’s the kind of guy we’ll be talking about 20 years down the road.

Same goes for this Bombers defence. They’re anchored with a defensive line that has controlled the line of scrimmage all season. The four down linemen have quietly gone about their business while the defensive backs have collected the headlines, but make no mistake — it’s the fellas up front that make this Bombers defence tick.

They’re tough and talented and led by veteran Doug Brown and they’re the core of this team. They’ll play for themselves today with the memory of defensive line coach Richard Harris adding some motivation. Harris was the Papa Bear to this group and his cubs loved and revered him. Harris would have loved this stage and his crew will do their best to make him proud.

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The Bombers are in deep against the B.C. Lions, no doubt. The Lions have an explosive offence and a defence that takes a backseat to perhaps only Winnipeg’s. They’ve won 12 of their last 13 games and are clearly the league’s hottest team.

For the Bombers to win they’ll need to be just about perfect. No turnovers, maybe a defensive touchdown and a career day for Pierce.

The odds are stacked against them but that’s been the case for the Bombers all season. They’ve revelled in that role.

Look for them to get it done, 31-27 with Pierce engineering a score late in the game to end the franchise’s 21-year Grey Cup drought.

Twitter: @garylawless