Blue look deathly, but hold last rites

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 23/10/2010 (5789 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

THERE is a pulse, albeit faint. The skin tone is a sickly greyish hue, the voice is but a whisper and there are occasions — take the third quarter last week in Montreal, for example — when you have to hold a mirror over the Bombers’ collective mouths to see if they’re still breathing.

Yes, we’ve all kept vigil for awhile now, dating back roughly to the days of late summer, as the Big Blue ventured into a series of battles that were supposed to shape and define their 2010 season.

But with just one win in their last five outings and two in their last 11 en route to their woeful 4-11 record, the Bombers’ season is now precariously close to flatlining for good without a victory over the Toronto Argonauts Saturday afternoon.

“Right now, it’s like your family’s all huddled around you and the doctor is asking, ‘How long are we going to keep this up?’ ” said defensive tackle Doug Brown Friday. “But you’ve got some people who haven’t given up on you, so you have to reward them by wiggling your toes so that they keep the lights on.

“For real this time, right? We’ve had so many ‘This is our season, this is the turning point, this is the last chance’ angles… I guess this really is the last chance of final opportunities for us.

“If we don’t want to be just playing for pride in the last two weeks and be playing for something meaningful, then it has to start here at home.”

But it can’t end there, and therein lies the problem for this edition of The Bomb Squad, even if they do knock off an Argonaut side that is just 2-6 in its last eight and 7-8 overall.

Realistically, the Bombers need to win and have the Edmonton Eskimos and B.C. Lions go 1-2 in their final three games to have a sniff at landing a playoff spot. And while they’re a respectable 4-3 at home, they’re winless on the road this season and haven’t won consecutive games in more than a year.

The math isn’t good, especially knowing either a B.C. or Edmonton victory this weekend, coupled with a Bomber loss, would mean a second straight November without playoff football.

“I really don’t know about all that math stuff or the different playoff scenarios — I wait to see what you guys put in the paper to see if we’re still alive and hanging by a thread or if we’re dead, ” guard Brendon LaBatte chuckled.

“Besides, it’s really not that complicated at this point: We’ve got to win some games because 4-11 sure isn’t going to get us in. But last chances?”

“It seems like we’ve been having this conversation for the last four weeks.”

That’s the intriguing — and perplexing and frustrating — aspect about this Bombers team. It may be young, it may have upside, but it also continues to gag when it matters most in tight games. Amazingly, there is still a steadfast belief in the locker-room that glory is awaiting them just around the corner.

One more big play, one more key tackle, one more break…

“We’re mathematically still in it, so this team is still thinking about the playoffs,” said Phillip Hunt, the CFL’s sack leader heading into Week 17. “We have an opportunity. We have to win this game first, and it comes by winning snap by snap, play by play, quarter by quarter.

“This is a team of fighters. Every time you turn on the TV you can see we have a bunch of competitors. We have the same ultimate goal as every team, but we’ve got to make it to the playoffs to be able to chase that.

“We want to keep playing as long as we can this season. There’s a sense of urgency here now.”

ed.tait@freepress.mb.ca