Game Day: Bombers all better, rarin’ to go

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This article was published 24/10/2009 (5822 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

It took two days, Lenny Walls admits now. Two days for the anger to subside, two days for his sleep patterns to return to normal.

But now Walls and his Winnipeg Blue Bomber teammates are using last week’s sloppy/crushing/frustrating/disappointing loss to the B.C. Lions as motivation in their ongoing quest to salvage something from the wacky season 2009 has become. Something along the lines of the old saying about those who don’t learn from history are doomed to repeat it…

And the next chapter for the Bombers starts this afternoon against the best outfit in the CFL, the Montreal Alouettes.

"We let one slip away last week," began Walls, a defensive halfback. "Hopefully all the guys are hungry and eager to get that taste out of their mouth and move forward. It’s great we’re playing Montreal, to be honest. To be playing the best team in the league with your future on the line it’s a true test for us and, at the end of the line, if we beat these guys we’ll be better prepared for the playoffs.

"Last week… that’s over with now. I was pissed off for about two days, but I’m over it now. And now it’s time to beat Montreal."

The Hamilton Tiger-Cats 26-17 victory over the Toronto Argonauts Friday night means the Bombers, at 6-9, are now two points back of the 7-9 Tabbies for second spot in the East Division. Hamilton plays host to the Saskatchewan Roughriders with the Bombers in Montreal next week before a possible win-or-go-home contest against the Ticats here on Nov. 8.

Confused about the playoff scenario? You’re not alone. And that’s why last week’s defeat — blowing a 14-zip lead and generating just seven points off five turnovers — is still stuck in the craw of so many. But if there is one endearing quality about this Bomber outfit, it may be their resiliency.

"Obviously we were all pretty choked when we were watching the film," said right tackle Glen January. "It just felt like we let it all slip away. Whenever you lose a game like that it teaches you to finish and helps everybody realize what it’s like to be in a close game and have it slip away.

"This locker-room never got as low as everybody thought it did and it never got as high as maybe everybody thought it did. We’ve got a lot of mentally tough guys in here."

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Bomber head coach Mike Kelly said Friday the theme for this week in his message to the troops was "persistence." That 6-9 record is hardly sexy, he conceded, but it still has this bunch not only in the fight for a playoff spot, but a home game in mid-November.

"There are a couple of ways to get into the post-season," said Doug Brown. "One is the road less travelled, like going through a team like Montreal to get there. And the other is like last week when we had a paved super-highway that had all lanes open for us. Unfortunately, we crashed into the median trying to get onto the on-ramp.

"But you can’t lament over opportunity lost. Now there’s only way for us to get our shot at the playoffs and it starts with having some success against the best team in the league."

ed.tait@freepress.mb.ca

bomber game day D2-3