Burke cracks down after tempers flare at Bomber practice

Posted: 2:23 PM CDT Wednesday, Jun. 5, 2013 Last Modified: 3:43 PM CDT Wednesday, Jun. 5, 2013 | Updates

Slap 80-plus dudes all fighting for jobs into football gear and crank up the heat a tad -- literally and figuratively – and it’s only natural that the collective blood pressure will rise.

Read this article for free:

or

Already have an account? Log in here »

To continue reading, please subscribe:

*Billed as $4.00 plus GST every four weeks. After 24 weeks, price increases to the regular rate of $19.00 plus GST every four weeks. Offer available to new and qualified returning subscribers only. Cancel any time.

*Billed as $19 plus GST every four weeks. Cancel any time.

Slap 80-plus dudes all fighting for jobs into football gear and crank up the heat a tad -- literally and figuratively – and it’s only natural that the collective blood pressure will rise.

Read unlimited articles for free today:

or

Already have an account? Log in here »

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 05/06/2013 (4501 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Slap 80-plus dudes all fighting for jobs into football gear and crank up the heat a tad — literally and figuratively – and it’s only natural that the collective blood pressure will rise.

And so it went today at Winnipeg Blue Bombers training camp when, during a two-hour practice session, there were a enough fights-slash-skirmishes to fill the holes on the upcoming UFC 161 card. Head coach Tim Burke, who earlier in the week made it clear his distaste for the fighting, actually stopped practice after the second scrap, lined his entire team up on the goal line and made them do up-downs every five yards over the length of the entire 110-yard field.

“A few tempers flared up,” said Burke after today’s practice. “I’m not a big fan of that. You can’t do it in a game, so why do it in practice? If you allow it to happen in practice, there’s a chance it will happen in a game. That’s the main reason.

TREVOR HAGAN / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS
From left, Winnipeg Blue Bombers' Michel-Pierre Pontbriand (39), JT Gilmore (91), Justin Sorensen (68), Alex Suber (21), Shannon Boatman (60), and Kito Poblah (1) were involved in an altercation during practice that appeared to start with Kenny Mainor hitting Steve Morley across the face. Earlier in practice, Jameze Massey (80), and Quintin McCree (70), were also involved in another altercation during an eventful day at Investors Group Field. — TREVOR HAGAN / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS From left, Winnipeg Blue Bombers' Michel-Pierre Pontbriand (39), JT Gilmore (91), Justin Sorensen (68), Alex Suber (21), Shannon Boatman (60), and Kito Poblah (1) were involved in an altercation during practice that appeared to start with Kenny Mainor hitting Steve Morley across the face. Earlier in practice, Jameze Massey (80), and Quintin McCree (70), were also involved in another altercation during an eventful day at Investors Group Field.

“Plus, one of the main things we’ve talked about is respecting everybody. Respect your teammates, respect your opponents, respect the media… believe it or not… just kidding, and respect everybody in the organization and in the community. And when you have fights like that, that’s not a respect for your teammate. We’re going to have a talk about that tonight and how to break these things up.”

The first scrap featured receivers Jameze Massey and Quintin McCree and the second began with defensive lineman Kenny Mainor swinging at offensive guard Steve Morley before Jonathan Hefney and a few others jumped into the fracas. Asked if he planned to take further disciplinary action afterward, Burke said:

“If I can see something on film as to the reason it started or if I see somebody really take a cheap shot, yeah, then I’ll do something about it,” he said. “Those things get to be he said/she said kind of things so unless you really see it on film, you can’t really believe anybody.”

“That was a bit excessive, what happened but it happens,” said Mainor. “You’ve got to leave it, end it today, leave it where it was and not bring it back out tomorrow or any other day.”

Other Day 4 news: