Five story lines

Posted: 9:29 AM CDT Friday, Sep. 25, 2015

1. How many Blue Believers are still out there? WITH the Winnipeg Jets taking off for a new season last weekend at precisely the same time the Winnipeg Blue Bombers continued their nosedive with a 35-14 shellacking in Montreal, it will be very interesting to see how many Bombers fans turn up at Investors Group Field tonight with the Jets playing at the same time across town at the MTS Centre against the Edmonton Oilers and, possibly, Connor McDavid.

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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 25/09/2015 (3990 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

1. How many Blue Believers are still out there?

WITH the Winnipeg Jets taking off for a new season last weekend at precisely the same time the Winnipeg Blue Bombers continued their nosedive with a 35-14 shellacking in Montreal, it will be very interesting to see how many Bombers fans turn up at Investors Group Field tonight with the Jets playing at the same time across town at the MTS Centre against the Edmonton Oilers and, possibly, Connor McDavid.

The Bombers still have two home dates after this one — Oct. 3 against Edmonton and Oct. 24 against Ottawa. And then there’s a little thing called the Grey Cup being played at IGF Nov. 29.

The Bombers need to keep their fan base engaged and buying tickets for at least another two months, something that has become increasingly difficult with each loss.

Graham Hughes / The Canadian Press files
Matt Nichols will try to lead the Bombers to a rare victory over the Calgary Stampeders tonight at Investors Group Field. — Graham Hughes / The Canadian Press files Matt Nichols will try to lead the Bombers to a rare victory over the Calgary Stampeders tonight at Investors Group Field.

The Bombers are fourth in the CFL in average attendance at 28,275 per game, thanks to a record-breaking crowd at IGF for the Banjo Bowl earlier this month. A win over Calgary would buy CEO Wade Miller some more time. But another loss would be very costly — and not just in the standings.

2.Will Matt Nichols ever again beat the Calgary Stampeders?

Nichols and his former teammates in Edmonton endured a 12-game losing streak to the Stampeders dating to the 2011 West Division semifinal. The Eskimos finally snapped that skid a couple weeks ago, but Nichols had been traded to Winnipeg by that point.

All of which is to say Nichols — who will be making his third start for Winnipeg — is very, very tired of losing to Calgary. “I think I’ve lost to them every which way possible,” Nichols said Thursday.

“A couple low-scoring games. And then last year, we had some opportunities and just didn’t make plays. And then I had a game where I threw for over 300 yards, three touchdowns, a rushing touchdown and no interceptions — and we still lost.”

3. Quick and dirty.

The Bombers are 1-8 since 2012 in games in which they’ve had a short week of rest — but they’re 1-1 in their last two games in that situation.

Winnipeg beat B.C. and lost a close game to Toronto earlier this season and both times, head coach Mike O’Shea employed a counterintuitive approach, making a short week even shorter by holding just one full practice.

O’Shea believes it’s a winning formula and he employed it again this week in the lead up to facing Calgary.

“This formula we put in place two other times this season with what I think was good success,” O’Shea said Thursday.

“The desired result being players who can get out on the field and run around and play physically. The schooling part — they’re in the classroom just as much, they’re studying just as hard… I spend more time walking them through than putting their body through the grinder.”

4. Wild about Ian

The Bombers’ special teams were awful — again — last week and the club is hoping the arrival this week of new/old Bomber Ian Wild will make a difference.

Wild likely won’t play much, if at all, at linebacker against Calgary but he will be on special teams, an area he excelled at with Winnipeg last year before bolting to the NFL in the off-season.

Wild isn’t the only change on special teams this week. Speedy linebacker Tony Burnett has also been added to the roster and will play tonight.

5. How long, Oh Lord, how long?

Remember those heady days back in 2014 when the Bombers were 5-1 and the city fathers were considering renaming this town “Willypeg”? Yeah, well the Bombers are 6-18 since then and they’re actually somehow getting worse instead of better, losing five of their last six — with four of those losses coming by 18 or more points.

paul.wiecek@freepress.mb.ca Twitter: @PaulWiecek