Bombers’ victory over Als is the first step in winning back fans

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This article was published 10/07/2015 (4051 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

They built the beer snake — again — proudly and meticulously piecing together a lager-and-ale inspired masterpiece of plastic cups.

They kept the Rum Hut humming — again — proudly and meticulously piecing together Saturday morning hangovers like sailors on shore leave.

And just for once, it seemed, the Winnipeg Blue Bombers actually made what happened on the turf — not in the stands and the concourses — compelling enough to keep fans paying attention to the final gun, cranking out a 25-23 victory over the Montreal Alouettes Friday night that had many exiting Investors Group Field wondering this aloud:

Hey, maybe the football gods don’t absolutely despise this franchise after all?

What the Bombers did against the Als in improving to 2-1 on a steamy Friday night wasn’t still without its warts and flaws. It took absolutely everything they had, including touchdowns from both the defence on a Johnny Adams interception return and special teams courtesy of a punt-block score by Teague Sherman, to edge a club that featured a rookie QB at the controls in Rakeem Cato who wasn’t even with the Alouettes at the start of training camp.

Heck, Cato was so far down the depth chart even just a couple of weeks ago Sonny Wade (Google him, young grasshoppers) seemingly had a better chance of returning to take the first snap than this unknown longshot from Marshall University.

But with the number of empty seats at their spiffy palace growing by the game — the announced attendance was 25,605, in the continuation of a downward and alarming trend — the Bombers did just enough to keep their faithful entertained and, perhaps, convince some of the more fickle to give this bunch another shot at their entertainment dollars.

It’s not supposed to be this complicated, selling pro football in this town. It’s not supposed to be about religiously adopting the ‘under-promise/over-deliver’ mantra, especially during a year in which the Grey Cup will be held here on the last Sunday in November.

Still, it sure as hell has been that way since IGF opened. And, again, here is the stat to prove it: Friday’s win over the Als ‘improved’ the Bombers record in their own building to just 5-15.

FIVE-AND-FREAKING-15.

Hammering that stat home even further — until Friday, the Hamilton Tiger-Cats had as many wins in the joint as the Blue and Gold.

Hello.

So, here’s the thing Wade Miller, Kyle Walters, Mike O’Shea & Co. certainly understand by now: Bombers fans have been so beaten down over the last quarter century — suffering through five Grey Cup defeats since the last win, surviving the Jeff Reinebold reign of error and the Joe Mack debacle — they’ll settle for any semblance of competitiveness.

They’d kill for another win in Regina — especially if it came on Labour Day — and for a Banjo Bowl that didn’t end in heartache a week later. They’d be ecstatic if home games in October and November meant something in the standings. And if this squad were to actually play host to a playoff game? Well, don’t even go there, people. It’s July.

But most of all, this franchise’s long-suffering fans just want any kind of sign the men who pull on that gold helmet and blue jersey understand what’s involved here, that the video evidence of the last championship in these parts is becoming so blurry it makes the Zapruder film look like high-def.

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Friday’s win doesn’t answer all those questions and soothe all the concerns in one three-hour effort. It is, however, a start, ending a five-game home losing streak that dates back to late last August and features a whole pile of heartache and broken promises in between.

It takes time to build a contender, even longer to piece together a champion. But just a little bit of hope, the kind that was served up Friday, could go a long way to providing some sort of belief this latest blueprint might just yield a foundation that won’t crumble.

After all, home — to paraphrase the old saying — wasn’t built in a day.

ed.tait@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @WFPEdTait