What a difference a year makes in a Classic

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 04/09/2009 (5928 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Now that Pacman Jones has finished broadcasting his impression of Michael Phelps at a house party, let’s get back to our regularly scheduled programming, shall we?

It’s about the Labour Day Classic, the historical mid-season test for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers. They play the game every year, yet just a cursory look back at the 2008 match reminds you once again just how dramatic the winds of change have blown through Maroons Road.

Then: Speculation prior to the game was that the newly acquired quarterback Michael Bishop might start… for the Roughriders. Now: Bishop is the recently acquired Bombers quarterback and he will start on Sunday.

Then: Kevin Glenn was getting a second consecutive start for the Bombers after riding the pine for three games, replaced by someone named Ryan Dinwiddie. Now: Both Glenn and Dinwiddie are gone.

Then: A key player to watch for the Bombers? That would have been none other than Charles Roberts. Now: Fred Reid, Roberts’ heir and new club record-holder for rushing yards in a single game.

Then: The Bombers had just signed kick returner Jason Armstead to help spark a tepid return game. Now: The Riders just signed kick returner Jason Armstead to help spark a tepid return game.

Labour Day, August 31, 2008, was the last time Tom Canada wore a Bombers jersey. Same for Roberts.

Former Bombers GM Brendan Taman is a Rider now, too, for that matter.

That the Bombers have undergone a transformation of huge proportions isn’t new. It’s just that every so often, the depth of the overhaul slaps you upside the head. And judging by aborted attempts to bring in Jones and Charles Rogers, which would have resulted in more roster “adjustments,” the process is far from over.

It’s just that with the seemingly unending string of controversy wafting out of the Mike Kelly administration — doesn’t Spygate and the Derick Armstrong saga seem like an eternity ago? — sometimes the ongoing evolution of the Bombers gets lost in the maelstrom.

The Bombers won their last game convincingly. On the road. Reid was just named the CFL Player of the Month.

This week, coming off a bye, was supposed to be a time when the Bombers could bask in their recent successes. Instead, there was just another string of convoluted and contradictory messages coming out of the head office, a few more tense press conferences, and players getting asked about the possible arrival of a freak show that never came.

Some blamed the media. But only a Kool-Aid-drinking fanatic would believe a bunch of reporters would be clever enough to create a mouth-watering, hot-button story like this by their lonesome. If we could, then Maurice Clarett would be on the Bombers’ negotiation list next Monday.

In fact, the level of headline-grabbing stories generated out of the Bombers in the last year — since around Labour Day 2008, in fact — have arguably been unprecedented. And that includes the hazy days of our old friend, Jeff Reinebold.

Heck, every once in awhile they’ll even play a game.

But the curious part is the team itself isn’t horrible. A playoff berth is very much in play. The defence has sometimes been as awe-inspiring as the offence has been awful, and that’s largely been confined to the Winnipeg passing game, clearly the Bombers’ Achilles heel.

That’s why, for all the turmoil, the Bombers are far from a lost cause in Regina this weekend. Bishop is going to a familiar place. If the previous victory over the B.C. Lions is any indication, the Bombers’ offensive line is at full throttle. And Labour Day Classics are made for the big lads up front.

Sure, the Bombers aren’t favoured to win. They’re never favoured to win. Yet despite massive turnover, they’ve lost five games and won three. And there’s no doubt of the signs of improvement the last time they put their pads on with anger.

It’s not exactly Grey Cup parade planning material, but measured against the serial fumbling off the field, it’s almost worthy of grudging admiration. After all, the Bombers players have had more distractions than a fat guy in a cheeseburger factory.

The jury is still out, of course. The season has yet to reach halftime.

Again, that seems hard to believe, given the sometimes tumultuous circumstances.

Remember Stefan LeFors? He used to be the Bombers’ starting quarterback in July. Just as Glenn was last July. Just as Bishop is now.

Yes, it’s been a long year between Labour Days. A lot of screaming headlines. A lot of screaming headaches. A couple of head coaches.

Hey, don’t look at me. I’m not one to cause any trouble.

Now where did I leave Taman’s phone number. Wonder what he thinks of all this?

randy.turner@freepress.mb.ca

Randy Turner
Reporter

Randy Turner spent much of his journalistic career on the road. A lot of roads. Dirt roads, snow-packed roads, U.S. interstates and foreign highways. In other words, he got a lot of kilometres on the odometer, if you know what we mean.

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