Big 3 are key

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 29/11/2011 (5179 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

VANCOUVER — It was the morning after the night before and the question had already turned — as it always does in professional sports — to where do the Winnipeg Blue Bombers go from here?

The day after a 34-23 loss to the B.C. Lions in the 99th Grey Cup, the answer seems to be that where the Bombers are going is going to look remarkably like where they’ve just been.

Bombers GM Joe Mack told Free Press sports columnist Gary Lawless Sunday night that he’s got just nine free agents that need tending to this winter and he’s already started chatting with each one.

Three of those, in particular, will be Mack’s priorities: quarterback Buck Pierce, offensive guard Brendon LaBatte and safety Ian Logan were huge players in this season’s remarkable turnaround.

The good news is that some heavy lifting has already been completed in negotiations with Pierce and LaBatte and sources indicate both men will almost certainly be back in Bombers uniforms next season.

Pierce’s passing numbers weren’t much to brag about this season — or in the loss to B.C. on Sunday. And the Bombers starter quite rightly took some personal responsibility Sunday night for an offence that did very little — and only when it was too late — to support a Bombers defence that played well enough to win at BC Place on Sunday.

But the biggest question surrounding Pierce at the start of this season wasn’t if he could be the pilot of a West Coast aerial onslaught. That’s not Pierce — not in his years in B.C. and not in Winnipeg.

No, the question about Pierce was could he stay healthy, answer the bell more often than not and give the Bombers a chance to be competitive. Pierce did all those things, starting 18 of his club’s 20 games in 2011 and getting them to the Grey Cup.

Pierce has earned a shot to try and win a title for the Bombers next season and the club intends to give him one. The quarterback thinks he has earned a raise — and the Bombers intend to give him one.

Don’t be surprised if the club announces early in the new year that they’ve re-signed Pierce, and then use the announcement that their most popular and most marketable player will be back as part of a season ticket campaign for the inaugural season of the new stadium.

The other good news concerns LaBatte, who parlayed division all-star performances in 2009 and 2010 into a league all-star selection this year.

Born in Weyburn and a former Regina Ram, there’s long been speculation that LaBatte will, sooner or later, migrate back home to play for the Saskatchewan Roughriders.

And it might happen eventually, but it doesn’t look like it will happen this time around. LaBatte has toiled through two rebuilding programs in Winnipeg already — the ridiculous 2009 season under Mike Kelly and then the evolution of the club ever since. And LaBatte has told the people around him that now that the Bombers are finally competitive, the absolute last thing he wants to do is join a Riders team that is about to start at square one with a rebuild of their own.

All-star Canadians don’t come cheap, but this is a deal both sides appear determined to get done.

The final major piece on the field is Logan — and that deal’s going to be tougher. The non-import safety had a breakout season this year, recording four interceptions, 34 tackles and holding his own in a very talented Bombers secondary.