Glory days have passed the Bombers-Eskimos rivalry by…years ago

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 24/07/2015 (3757 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

EDMONTON — This used to be a big deal, Blue Bombers vs. Eskimos. Yes, Winnipeg and Edmonton — whether the slugfest came in July, November or any date in between — was always a guaranteed marquee matchup circled in bright red on any Canadian Football League diehard’s viewing guide.

And so, it was during a moment while staring out at an empty Commonwealth Stadium Thursday afternoon that an easily-distracted mind went all nostalgic for a spell, reminiscing about some of the names from the past that made this rivalry so special, both on this site and at old Clarke Stadium and back at Polo Park and Winnipeg Stadium.

There were legends such as Ploen and Lewis vs. Parker and Bright in the late 1950s and early 1960s, to Brock, Helton and Holmes vs. Moon, Scott, Kelly and Kepley in the late ’70s and early ’80s, all the way to Jones, West, Walby and Clements vs. Ham, Bass, Sandusky and Gizmo in the years following.

“Bombers-Eskimos was always a brawl,” said Matt Dunigan, who began his Hall-of-Fame quarterback career with the Eskimos in 1983, saw it from the other side as a Bomber from 1992-94 and will serve as an analyst for TSN’s telecast Saturday. “There was a lot of punishment doled out and there was never a lot of love lost.

“When I started in Edmonton, the Bombers were a measuring stick for us to try and get back on track in ’84, ’85, ’86. It was a matchup that always had as much to it as the Battle of Alberta did. They were dog-eat-dog football games, some really ugly battles. And when I was in Winnipeg later on, we always felt like we were the better team. It wasn’t a question of whether we were going to win, it was a question of by how much.

“Man, I was part of some great games with those two teams.”

Over the years, Bombers vs. Eskimos summer matchups were often precursors to the games that mattered in November. Edmonton ran through 35 consecutive playoff appearances from 1972 to 2006, with Winnipeg having captured four titles in five years during their glory years of 1958-62 and then three championships from 1984-90.

Granted, there was that awful blip in the late ’90s when the Bombers stumbled, but yours truly can also remember a conversation with venerable Edmonton Sun columnist Terry Jones on the eve of the 2002 West final. Watching two rosters stocked with talent — from Charles Roberts, Milt Stegall, Doug Brown and Khari Jones with the Bombers to Terry Vaughn, John Avery and Jason Tucker with the Esks — Jones stated: “You kinda get the feeling we could be writing about this matchup every November over the next little while. Just like the old days.”

Yeah, ummm, about that…

This rivalry is where it is today — now simply a Week 5 meeting on the schedule and not the must-see moment it once was — because of what has happened after that ’02 final, won by the Eskimos 33-30. The Bombers began to slowly disintegrate into a laughingstock, missing the playoffs in seven of the 12 seasons since, including five of the last six years.

The Eskimos, meanwhile, would lose in the 2002 Grey Cup, but win a year later and again in 2005 before their own decay began. In ’06 the franchise’s 35-year playoff-appearance streak was ended and the club missed the post-season four times over an eight-year span through to 2013.

The point here — and, yes, we do have one — is this: after years of neglect and mismanagement there is now a sense the shine is finally coming back on both organizations, that Eskimos vs. Bombers might actually mean something again.

A Drew Willy vs. Matt Nicholls QB duel will hardly draw comparisons to Brock vs. Moon, but there is something at stake here, even if it is only July. There are dynamic offensive pieces on both sides, a dominant Eskimos defence that has become their trademark and a Bombers defensive dozen that hopes to establish the same.

There is stability in the front offices and on the sidelines, with general managers Kyle Walters and Ed Hervey having helped restock the rosters and Mike O’Shea and Chris Jones respected leaders working through their first gigs as head coaches.

That said, what’s stopping the needle from being moved significantly is this: the Bombers are winless in their last eight trips to Commonwealth dating back to 2006. And a rivalry doesn’t have legs if one franchise is playing the Washington Generals to the Harlem Globetrotters.

“If you’re getting dominated like Winnipeg has been, it’s just like another two points in the win column for a team like Edmonton,” said Dunigan. “And that takes away from the rivalry. Edmonton’s taken big strides in the last two seasons and is further ahead in getting this right again, but Winnipeg is close behind.

“It’s a start, but there’s still work to be done to returning this rivalry to the days of old. Those were violent and physical games back in my day, but they were meaningful, too.

“I’d love it if these two franchises could get back to that.”

Yes, that’d be a heckuva lot of fun, wouldn’t it? Your move, Bombers.

ed.tait@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @WFPEdTait