Vegas not betting on Blue

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This article was published 25/03/2009 (6399 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Mike Kelly has yet to coach one down, Stefan LeFors hasn’t thrown a pass and fresh faces like Siddeeq Shabazz and Riall Johnson, Brock Ralph and Glen January haven’t even pulled on their new colours yet.

But Las Vegas bookies have already made up their minds and are taking bets on this prediction: The Winnipeg Blue Bombers are going to suck in 2009.

Oddsmakers in Sin City have listed the Bombers at 15-to-1 long shots to win the ’09 Grey Cup, last among the eight CFL teams. The defending Grey Cup champion Calgary Stampeders are listed as the favourites at 3-to-1, with three of the four East Division teams listed in the bottom half.

"I’m not surprised they’ve got us at the bottom. I would have expected being ranked sixth, seventh or eighth," said Bomber centre Obby Khan. "If I was a bookie or somebody taking bets, I might put Winnipeg down at the bottom, too, just because there’s a lot of uncertainty. But if you ask me, I think uncertainty is a good thing because we’re going to catch a whole bunch of teams — and Vegas — off guard."

"Uncertainty" doesn’t begin to describe all the questions surrounding a Bomber side that finished 8-10 and lost in the first round of the playoffs last November, then fired head coach Doug Berry and replaced him with Kelly — unproven as a CFL boss — before seeing GM Brendan Taman step down, cutting starting quarterback Kevin Glenn and then doing an overhaul of their roster through free-agent defections and additions and a handful of trades.

"Yeah, we’ve made a lot of changes, but I don’t think they’ve been changes for the worse," Khan countered. "We may have lost a good player, but we’ve picked up a quality player to replace him.

"It’s Coach Kelly’s first year on the sidelines, we’ve got a lot of new players, an unproven quarterback. So they just put us at the bottom because they don’t know. It could be a completely different team. We’ve got some good players coming in. I’m excited to play next to (Luke) Fritz and see what Glenn January can do at tackle. I’m really excited about our offensive line. All these changes, I think, are like a rejuvenation for all the guys that are still around. If everyone has trained as hard as they should I think we’ll come in and be Grey Cup contenders right off the bat. I’m really excited.

"Besides," added Khan, "look at Montreal last year. What were their pre-season odds? A lot of guys looked at them and would have put them at the bottom because of (rookie head coach Marc) Trestman being unknown and Anthony Calvillo coming off a so-so season. And Calgary had a new coach, too, and look how they did. I look at us the same way this year."

For what it’s worth, Vegas pegged the Toronto Argonauts as pre-season Grey Cup favourites (5-2) a year ago and they were a horrific 4-14. The Bombers and Stampeders were at 9-2 a year ago, with Montreal last at 10-1.

ed.tait@freepress.mb.ca

 

PLACE YOUR BETS

Here’s how Vegas oddsmaker PartyBets.com lists the eight CFL teams’ odds of winning the 2009 Grey Cup:

1. Calgary — 3 to 1

2. B.C. — 4.5 to 1

3. Edmonton — 6 to 1

4. Montreal — 7.5 to 1

5. Hamilton — 9 to 1

6. Toronto — 10 to 1

7. Saskatchewan — 12 to 1

8. Winnipeg — 15 to 1