Mack trots out familiar refrain in defence of his record, wobbling team

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This article was published 07/09/2012 (4947 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Blue Bombers GM Joe Mack finally faced the music Thursday, dancing around the current state of his football club through mentions of the past and future.

In real time, though, people talking about his last-place team and his employment status, things are getting loud.

"I understand that you’re disappointed — so am I," Mack told a large media gathering at the Blue and Gold club, when asked about the noise surrounding his club and the screams for his head following Winnipeg’s 2-7 record through the first half of the season.

Thursday’s press conference was the first time Mack addressed the media since his club lost 52-0 to the Saskatchewan Roughriders in the Labour Day Classic last Sunday. The beatdown was the fourth worst defeat in franchise history and the second time the Bombers lost by 30-plus points this season. It was also the first time the Bombers had been shut out since 1969.

Winnipeg hosts Saskatchewan for the annual Banjo Bowl Sunday.

Mack’s name has been in heavy rotation the last couple weeks, a frequency that traces back to the firing of former head coach Paul LaPolice last month.

While the move to dismiss LaPolice can be justified (he shared the same overall record as Mack), the timing of the decision came under severe scrutiny, with the Bombers playing their best football after a slow start to the summer.

Mack, who is the target of a Facebook petition page called Fire Joe Mack (the page had over 4,300 "likes" Thursday afternoon), boasted how well the Bombers played before LaPolice’s firing, but stumbled on his lines when asked why he made the move when the team appeared to turn the corner.

"I don’t think it’s constructive to re-visit why that decision was made," he said.

Mack holds a regular season mark of 16-29 in his two-plus seasons, a record that was a point of emphasis Thursday.

His club team missed the playoffs in 2010, only to bounce back to be a Grey Cup finalist in 2011. Things were looking up, but after an inactive free agency period and some questionable personnel moves that saw the club rid itself of experienced talent, things went south again.

If the post-season were to start today, the West Division Riders (4-5) would earn a cross-over spot and bounce both Winnipeg and Hamilton from the East.

"I’m the general manager, it’s going to fall on me," Mack said.

Does his job hinge on making the playoffs this year?

"That’s beyond my control," he said. "I really think everybody should have every confidence that this board will do whatever they think is necessary for the betterment of the club. They are very, very passionate about this team. They’ll take a distinctive overview of what’s best for the club."

From Mack’s perspective, the current state of the Bombers wasn’t all doom and gloom, though.

He went out of his way to praise his bosses (the board), complimented the fans for their patience and pointed to the positive things that have occurred (East Division title, the nine straight sellouts, and the overall net profit of $2.3 million the club pulled down last season) since taking over football ops in 2010.

He defended decisions to purge the roster of experience and his Canadian draft record, pointing out the hits (Cory Watson, Henoc Muamba) while asking fans to wait for the apparent misses (Jade Etienne).

He proudly trumpeted the club’s overall condition (financially and roster-wise) coming out of the 2009 campaign, as well.

It was a nice walk down memory lane and a positive forecast of brighter days.

Unfortunately, for Mack, most people live in the present. He knows better than anyone that professional football is a results-based business, and when a team has only won 16 times out of 45 games, preaching patience to a fan base that is sick and tired of not seeing any results on the field for the past 21 years doesn’t really hold a beat.

For Mack’s Bombers, the song remains the same.

adam.wazny@freepress.mb.ca Twitter: @wazoowazny

Mack links woes to coach’s death

One of the more interesting aspects of Joe Mack’s press conference was when the Bombers GM linked Richard Harris’s death to the current plight of the club.

"We’ve had a fairly rough year for the psyche of the team," Mack said Thursday morning, addressing the media for the first time since Sunday’s 52-0 embarrassment in Regina. "It started with the death of coach Richard Harris. I knew that would have a big impact on our players. As I reflect back… it had a much bigger effect on the psyche of the team than I even realized. And there were other things that maybe compounded that. There were things beyond the team’s control."

Mack went on to say he felt there were "residual effects" still present from the July 2011 passing, adding "there were emotional feelings that some of the players were still dealing with." Mack felt something was absent in his club during training camp, but couldn’t get specific when asked what he did to rectify that feeling.

"That’s an organic thing," he said, telling the room he hoped the missing ingredient would present itself naturally. "I don’t know if much could have been done, to be honest. It’s just the dynamic of the whole group of players evolving."

Looking nothing like the team that went to the Grey Cup last November (an accomplishment that occurred in the same time frame Mack referenced), the Bombers have trotted out a number of reasons for their poor play. Injuries, the stadium debacle, the schedule — subjects once taboo within the organization — are now being voiced; excuses the team fought hard to dismiss at the start of the year.

Mack told Thursday’s press conference that he has a good handle on the room and believes he has a good rapport with the players. Those same players dismissed the suggestion the club was still getting over Harris’s death.

"A lot of people within the organization still feel the pain of his family and what he meant to us as a coach, but I don’t think people are still lingering over the passing of coach Harris," said Jovon Johnson. "It’s not emotionally attached to this season. We’ve moved on, because in this business you have to."

Note: Johnson wasn’t told of Mack’s comments to ensure an honest answer Thursday — not that the always-frank Johnson wouldn’t give an honest take. He was asked what he would say to those who think Harris’ death still factors into the team’s 2-7 record or the 52-0 blowout loss it incurred last Sunday, and his answer wasn’t surprising.

"They don’t know what they’re talking about," he said. "It had nothing to do with passing of coach Harris or the emotions of the passing of coach Harris, it was more so they (the Riders) did to us and what we didn’t do to defend ourselves."

Head coach Tim Burke said he didn’t notice anything missing from the club during training camp, but added that he was probably too wrapped up in his defensive co-ortinator duties to notice. "Maybe Joe, from seeing it in a third-party perspective, could see something like that," Burke said. "What’s the old saying… you can’t see the forest for the trees, because you’re in so deep that you maybe can’t see that. It could possibly have been that way, I just didn’t notice it myself."

[View the story “Mack speaks, and fans respond” on Storify]