Easier said than won

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 02/09/2016 (3324 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

After disposing of the Edmonton Eskimos, Hamilton Tiger-Cats, Toronto Argonauts and, most recently, the Montreal Alouettes, en route to their first four-game win streak in years, the Winnipeg Blue Bombers may face their biggest challenge yet as they enter the second half of the schedule with a record of 5-4.

The challenge doesn’t seem like at challenge at all, really, with the Bombers facing their arch-rival Saskatchewan Roughriders — 1-8 and dead last in the CFL — in what will be the 54th edition of the Labour Day Classic game in Regina Sunday afternoon.

As different as these teams appear on both paper and film, history shows it doesn’t matter what’s happened up to this point, no matter where one or the other team sits in the standings heading into the long weekend, its the Riders who’ve often come out on top.

With that bad taste in your mouth, here are five storylines to keep in mind for Sunday’s game:

FEELING GOLDEN… WAIT A MINUTE

The Bombers enter this game the undisputed favourite; betting sites first opened the lines with Winnipeg favoured by five points.

As much as the Bombers have proven to be the better team this season, Sunday will be no freebie.

Perhaps Bombers fans know this best. After all, it’s been 12 years since Winnipeg has won a Labour Day game in Regina, dating back to the Kevin Glenn era when the Bombers pivot, now with Montreal, led the team to a 17-4 win in 2004.

Since, the Bombers have lost 11 in a row, being outscored 389 to 188. There have been close games (three times Winnipeg lost by less than a touchdown) but more often it’s been a tire-fire, with the average margin of victory being 18.5 points.

Leaving fans to ask once more: will this finally be the year?

A ROUGH RIDE

Speaking of tire-fires, perhaps the only thing worse than the Saskatchewan Roughriders on the field this season is their actions off it.

Under new general manager and head coach Chris Jones, the Riders have become the league’s laughingstock, making headlines for a series of blunders that include practising with number of ineligible players. A league investigation resulted in a $60,000 fine and $26,000 reduction to the team’s salary cap for next season. Just this week the team made the controversial move of signing defensive lineman Khalif Mitchell, who besides being considered one of the dirtiest players ever to lace up a pair of cleats has also drawn ire for posting anti-Semitic messages on Twitter.

On the field, the Riders have just one victory — a 30-29 victory over Ottawa in Week 5 — and are currently riding a five-game losing streak. Quarterback Darian Durant is still winless (0-7) despite playing well and without four of his starting offensive lineman, including Canadians Brendon LaBatte and Chris Best. Durant’s contract is also set to expire at the end of the season, making every game quite literally a must-win. On defence, they’re near the bottom of almost every statistical category.

Given that, is there such thing as a dangerous 1-8 team?

“It’s irrelevant,” said head coach Mike O’Shea. “They’re a dangerous team no matter what their record is.”

WELCOME BACK DRESS

There’s a sandwich in town still named after him. And Bombers receiver Weston Dressler, who met his fiancée during his eight seasons with the Riders, still calls Saskatchewan home in the off-season.

Indeed, Dressler was a beloved figure in Riderville, a pivotal part of the receivers group before Jones issued him his release in January. At the time, Dressler made his disappointment public, tweeting he’d wished Saskatchewan would have tried harder to keep him. Less than a month later he signed a two-year deal with the Bombers.

Sunday will mark his return to Mosaic Stadium for Labour Day, only this time in enemy colours.

“Probably some of both,” said Dressler, who was asked whether he thought he’d be cheered or booed. “You never really know what to expect.”

As much as it will be a welcome back for Dressler for fans in green, it will also be a welcomed return to the Bombers lineup. Dressler has missed the last three games with an undisclosed injury, and only resumed practising this week with the Bombers first-team offence. Prior to the injury, Dressler looked to be finding his groove, recording 18 catches for 229 yards and a touchdown in his last six quarters of play.

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY

Friday marked a year to the day the Bombers acquired quarterback Matt Nichols, trading a conditional seventh-round pick to Edmonton in an effort to save their season when starter Drew Willy pulled up lame with a season-ending knee injury.

After a 2-5 record with the Bombers last season, that saviour appears to have finally arrived. Nichols is now the starter, despite Willy having a clean bill of health, and has led the Bombers to wins in all four of his starts.

“I’ve found a home here,” said Nichols. “I feel like I’ve grown a lot as a player. It will be another good experience for me going on the road in Regina, Labour Day Classic, my first time doing this and I look forward to it.”

Nichols is one victory away from setting a career-high for most consecutive wins in a season with five, and you’d have to think there’s no better place to do it than on the road against the Riders.

“There’s nothing better than 30,000 people being extremely quiet after a big play,” said Nichols. “That’s almost as good as when your home crowd erupts after a big play. I look forward to getting out there.”

Winnipeg Free Press | Newsletter

Mike McIntyre | On Sports

Thursdays

Keep up to date on sports with Mike McIntyre's weekly newsletter.

Sign up for Mike McIntyre | On Sports

Sign Up

I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement.

ON A ROLL…

It would be unfair not to mention the Bombers defence. After all, they’ve been the hottest storyline of late, with at least five turnovers in each of their last three games, including a combined 12 interceptions.

Equally unfair would be to expect that kind of production every game, which then begs the question: just how long will the defence keep rolling?

“I say every week we shouldn’t expect this to continue,” said O’Shea. “I just keep saying that and they keep on trying to prove me wrong. However they choose to do it, that’s fine with me.”

jeff.hamilton@freepress.mb.caTwitter: @jeffkhamilton

Loading...

Jeff Hamilton
Multimedia producer

Jeff Hamilton is a sports and investigative reporter. Jeff joined the Free Press newsroom in April 2015, and has been covering the local sports scene since graduating from Carleton University’s journalism program in 2012. Read more about Jeff.

Every piece of reporting Jeff 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.