Six friends await Burke’s return from Regina

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This article was published 31/08/2012 (4783 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Winnipeg Blue Bombers head coach Tim Burke got off the practice field at Canad Inns Stadium Friday afternoon to find a present waiting for him — a six-pack of the India Pale Ale he told reporters earlier this week is his chosen beverage.

“I got a nice six-pack of IPA sitting on my desk,” Burke announced to reporters, adding he only knew one thing about the provenance of his present.

“I’m sure,” surmised Burke, “that it didn’t come from another province.”

Burke, of course, got into the good-natured spirit of Labour Day Week on Thursday when he jokingly told reporters that his taste for the bolder IPA beer, as compared to something lighter like a Pilsner, was simply yet more evidence of the increased manliness of Manitobans over Saskatchewanians.

Burke said he will likely hold off partaking in his gift until after this Sunday’s highly anticipated Bombers game in Regina against the Saskatchewan Roughriders, Winnipeg’s first test since former field boss Paul LaPolice was sacked last weekend and replaced with Burke.

The question, of course, is whether Burke will be imbibing Sunday night in an act of celebration or commiseration.

Burke said Friday, after his team’s last full practice in advance of flying to Regina on Saturday, that he feels his team is ready for the Riders — and he’s as ready as he could be after just his first week ever as a head coach.

“I think the team is most definitely (ready) and I guess I am too. I mean I still have to bone up on some situational things that could occur in a game. I’m going to talk to a couple of other people about it who have been a head coach and just, you know, make sure I’m ready for the game. But I’m pretty close.”

Among the people Burke intends to consult is former CFL head coach Tom Higgins, who is also now the league’s head of officiating.

FIELDNOTES — SB Terrence Edwards, LB Marcellus Bowman and QB Buck Pierce were all back on the practice field Friday after missing Thursday’s session…The Bombers announced Friday that they have put up 250 additional seats for sale for the Banjo Bowl at Canad Inns Stadium Sept. 9. The extra seats are in the southwest corner of the stadium and will be sold, beginning at 10 a.m. Saturday, for $41 apiece.