Don’t blow it, Blue

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 24/09/2011 (5313 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

TORONTO — Golfers like to have a swing key, one last thought before they start their action. For the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, this week’s final message is simple: “Do your job.”

The Blue Bombers enter today’s contest against the Toronto Argonauts at 8-3 and as heavy favourites over the league-worst 2-9 Boatmen.

All good on paper, but it leaves the Bombers prime for what’s known as a trap game.

Young, immature teams stumble in these games, but polished clubs with legitimate championship aspirations don’t see roadblocks when faced with sub-par opponents. They see another day at the office, another team worthy of their attention and another opportunity to move towards their final goal.

“Do your job. It’s what I’ve been telling the team all week. We talked about how good teams win consistently. We’ve won one game in our last three. This is a chance to get back-to-back wins and move forward,” said coach Paul LaPolice.

A win would move the Bombers to 9-3 and advance their playoff fortunes. Right now the Bombers hold top spot in the East and that translates into a first-round bye and home field for the East final. If the Bombers hold serve, they’ll end the regular season just one win away from the Grey Cup. All this for a team that went 4-14 last season.

“Good teams string wins together. We had a point where we put five in a row together and if you want to be one of the good teams in this league you have to continue to win. It’s not an amazing reference or anything but it’s true,” said LaPolice. “We have an understanding in pro football — that anyone can beat anyone. With this defence and this special teams group and the way they’re playing with Steven (Jyles), Toronto can be a dangerous unit.”

The Argos present a number of challenges — among them, quarterback Jyles.

Jyles was deemed expendable by Bombers GM Joe Mack last off-season and dealt to the Argos for draft picks. He came off the shelf just last week after spending the first 11 games dealing with a shoulder injury.

The pivot looked mobile and sound of arm and had the Argos in position to knock off the Saskatchewan Roughriders before melting in the final quarter.

Another week of practice reps and the ultimate in motivation (everyone wants to trash the team that dumped them) will make Jyles dangerous.

“You always want to beat your old team,” said Bombers defensive tackle Doug Brown, holding court with the media at a downtown Toronto hotel on Friday afternoon.

“It’s like a scorned lover. It seems like all these (former Bombers), Bryan Clark, now Jyles and the biggest is Kevin Glenn. They won’t tell you they want to beat you more than anyone else but they do.

Have you seen the smile on Glenn’s face when he does something big against us?

Remember his doggies all jumping in that boat in our end zone? I’ve never seen anything more sickening than that from a Blue Bombers perspective.”

True to form, Jyles said ‘no biggie’ when quizzed about today’s game against his old mates.

“I don’t have any hostility toward those guys, I don’t hate any of those guys, it’s part of the game. The truth of the matter is, we lost a lot of close ball games so it’s easier to blame the quarterback,” said Jyles, following a brief workout with the Argos on a rainy day in Hogtown. “I got to do a better job of not putting myself in the same position here.”

Jyles says he got mixed messages from the Bombers last winter.

“I kind of saw it coming when they decided not to extend me.

When I talked with LaPolice and our offensive co-ordinator (Jamie) Barresi a week before, they said, ‘no you’re coming (to Winnipeg). ‘You’re going to be here.’ I had a mindset that I was going to be back in Winnipeg,” said Jyles. “A week later, I get the phone call that I was traded to Toronto. It was a bit of a surprise, but then again it wasn’t. When they don’t extend you, there’s a reason.”

Atmosphere is always a factor in Toronto as the Argos play in the moribund Rogers Centre. Vast and sterile unless loaded with fans, the stadium’s emptiness can suck the life out of a team.

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The Argos are conditioned to dealing with life in this funeral home but for visiting teams, it’s an adjustment.

A ninth win won’t lock up a playoff spot for the Bombers but it will put them on the verge. Passes straight to the East final in recent years have been the private property of the Montreal Alouettes.

Stealing that pass key would be a major triumph.

Champs don’t blow anything, including games like today’s.

gary.lawless@freepress.mb.ca