Burke to Bombers: don’t overthink, this is Zen football

By: Ed Tait Posted: 1:30 PM CDT Friday, Oct. 18, 2013

It can be a tough gig trying to motivate a football team on the fast train to nowhere. But while Tim Burke has yet to come up with the theme or details of his pre-game speech to his Winnipeg Blue Bombers, he does have an idea or two rolling around in his head.

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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 18/10/2013 (4368 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

And so here’s the gist of what he’ll tell the troops prior to Saturday’s home date with the Toronto Argonauts (2:30 p.m. TSN/CJOB), a matchup of the best and the worst of the CFL’s East Division.

“The thing we’ve tried to focus on in the last few weeks is just play it one play at a time, reading your keys one play at a time, performing your technique one play at a time,” said Burke Friday after the Bombers’ pre-game walkthrough at Investors Group Field. “Don’t dwell on what happened previously in the game. Don’t think ahead about what could happen or what we need to do in the future. Just concentrate on that one play.

KEN GIGLIOTTI / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS
Winnipeg Blue Bomber coach Tim Burke: 'play it one play at a time.' — KEN GIGLIOTTI / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Winnipeg Blue Bomber coach Tim Burke: 'play it one play at a time.'

“I guess we’re into Zen football.”

Yes, the 3-12 Bombers will try to channel their inner “Namaste” Saturday when they play host to the Argos who, at 9-6, remain atop the East despite consecutive losses to the Hamilton Tiger-Cats. A loss would officially eliminate Winnipeg from the postseason – the Edmonton Eskimos were knocked out last week – and set the six teams advancing to the CFL playoffs.

But keeping that faint hope alive has hardly been spoken about in Bomberland in recent weeks.

“We’re not out,” said Bomber quarterback Max Hall. “Obviously, I’m going to be cliché and say we’re going to take it one game at a time and all that stuff. But what we can control is this week and if we win this week we might have another chance next week to stay in the playoffs. But, having said that, we’re all still playing to keep our jobs, No. 1. And, No. 2, I also think it’s a pride thing. We want to go out there and play well. We get another chance to play in front of our fans, who pay good money to come watch us play. We want to give them a show and beat a really good team if we can.”

The Bombers, who haven’t won consecutive games since August of 2011, will make two changes to their starting lineup – Mike Sims-Walker will start at wide receiver for the injured Aaron Kelly while Jeremy McGee will step in for Desia Dunn, also on the injured list, at the nickelback spot.