Bombers out of Grey Cup running, but looking forward to game against Argos

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This article was published 31/10/2015 (3942 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

They may be out, but the Blue Bombers weren’t feeling completely down at practice Saturday about yet another playoff-less campaign.

That’s not to say that watching the B.C. Lions narrowly defeat the Toronto Argonauts, 27-25, Friday in a tilt that ultimately ended any and every chance of the Blue and Gold making a push for the Grey Cup this year, didn’t sting.

“It’s really tough this year because the Grey Cup (game) is here,” said veteran receiver Clarence Denmark after practice. “It’s our job, we have to do it, but it stings just to know we had a chance to be in it.”

The 2015 season will mark the fourth straight year the Bombers won’t be vying for a chance to hoist the Grey Cup; a depressing reality no matter where the coveted game is scheduled.

But for many of the players who stood in the rain Saturday, taking a series of grueling questions from reporters who sought to find out the why behind yet another disappointing season, the focus often drifted from thinking about any what-if scenarios to the business at hand.

After all, the Bombers still have one more game left on the schedule – the season finale against the Argos in Toronto Friday night. And although it won’t mean anything in the standings, it’s the only thing keeping the team from thinking about another long and frustrating off-season.

“Going in to this season, I know me personally, I felt really good about it,” said defensive end Greg Peach. “Things happen throughout a season, balls that don’t go our way and we just have to really look forward to this game and go win this game and go in to the off’-season with a ‘W’ and get ready for next season.”

Head coach Mike O’Shea said he too felt the pain of Friday’s result between the Lions and Argos, but added that relying on other teams this late in the season, isn’t exactly a recipe for success. With a record of 5-12 heading in to the final week and hoping for teams to lose, he said, you don’t leave yourself with many positive outcomes.

“We had opportunities to win other games and we didn’t win them and we put ourselves in this spot,” he added. “When you are relying on teams at the end of the season, you put yourself in a bad situation.”

Whether it’s the first game of the season or the last, O’Shea said he expects to get the best of his team in Toronto.

“There can’t be a letdown because of the circumstances we’re in, they’ve got to go out there and play,” he said. “Every time you step on the football field you’re risking injury and if you don’t play hard, if you don’t play at 100 per cent, you’re putting yourself in a greater risk of injury, so, guys understand that and they also understand that it’s pro sports, it’s a constant evaluation and it’s not just on-field, it’s how they prepare too.”