Bombers ready to face the noise in Regina

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This article was published 24/06/2015 (3992 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Winnipeg Blue Bombers know there will be noise come Saturday night in Regina.

And with this commonly known knowledge, the Blue Bombers spent the majority of their practice on Wednesday rehearsing parts of the playbook with some good ol’ simulated crowd noise pumping out of the speaker on the back of golf cart at Investors Group Field.

In actuality, it’s a perfect scene-setter for the hostile environment of Mosaic Stadium.

“As an athlete, you can’t look for anything better than that,” said Bombers receiver and former Saskatchewan Roughrider Kris Bastien. “It makes everything fun and every play competitive.”

Bastien spent the majority of the 2014 on the Roughriders practice roster. But he’s seen the atmosphere the game between Winnipeg and Saskatchewan can create.

“It’s definitely an adjustment,” Bastien said.

The noise proved beneficial, if only to highlight the fact that the Bombers need to better adjust to it moving forward.

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“We made a few mistakes out there because of it, but we will fix them tomorrow and we will be ready for Regina,” Bastien said.

“Drew and I have to be on the same page as well as the 10 other players,” centre Dominic Picard said. Picard spent three seasons with the Roughriders before signing in Winnipeg this past offseason. “But we’ve worked in the past in these kind of situations, Drew and I. We’ve been practicing a few things to be able to handle the noise. We should be fine.”

The Bombers haven’t won in Regina since 2004. But despite the lopsided win-loss column, the rivalry is just as feisty as ever.

“When you get on the field, the rivalry just takes over, but it’s just another game,” Drew Willy said. “ I thought we had a good chance last year, going up there near the end and then they came back and obviously put a touchdown score to win. It was a close game. It’s just a fun environment to be in.”

scott.billeck@freepress.mb.ca

Scott Billeck
Reporter

Scott Billeck is a general assignment reporter for the Free Press. A Creative Communications graduate from Red River College, Scott has more than a decade’s worth of experience covering hockey, football and global pandemics. He joined the Free Press in 2024.  Read more about Scott.

Every piece of reporting Scott produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press‘s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press’s history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates.