Buckle up Bomber fans

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 10/07/2009 (5934 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Just to recap for those of you at home who may find it hard to keep up with the goings on in Bomberland, Mike Kelly’s first regular-season week as the Winnipeg Blue Bomber head coach went something like this:

"ö His best Canadian, defensive tackle Doug Brown, missed the 2009 lid-lifter with meningitis and is out again for today’s home opener against the Grey Cup champion Calgary Stampeders;

"ö He had a major mutiny when receiver Derick Armstrong refused to take the field in a two-point loss to the Edmonton Eskimos. Ultimately, after failing to trade a three-time 1,000-yard receiver, Armstrong was released outright;

"ö He watched his kicker tie the game in Edmonton on a last-play 47-yarder only to miss on his second attempt after being iced on the first by Eskimo head coach Richie Hall with a perfectly-executed time out;

"ö His on again/off again war with the local media reaches a climax three days before his first game and he refuses to do any interviews;

"ö And, just for kicks and giggles, he went after some of the Bomber diehards who called into his radio show and questioned both his credentials and his sanity. So, how do you like the gig so far, Mr. Kelly? Just a normal week at the helm of the Bombers, right?

"There hasn’t been anything normal, really, since I took over here," said Kelly Thursday after the Bombers completed final preparations for their date with the champs. "Remember, I’ve also been displaced in my personal life by not being in my condo (severely damaged this spring by a water-main break, forcing him to live out of a hotel). But when you’re put in a leadership role you just have to adjust and adapt the best you can and not let things distract you from the task at hand.

"I just continue to try and add order while there’s disorder around us."

Well, ummm, yeah, about that…

You see, if we’ve learned anything about the new Bombers boss over the last little while it’s this: His idea of ‘adding order’ is another man’s description for dumping a supertanker’s worth of gasoline on a three-alarm fire. The Bombers may be 0-1, but they do lead the CFL in one unofficial statistical category: juicy headlines.

Miss a day following the soap opera this bunch has become and it’s like skipping an episode of Lost.

All of which brings us to tonight’s home opener, when 27,000-plus fans will get their first up-close look at Kelly’s troops. (And to all you disgruntled followers, the game is being billed as a tribute to Milt Stegall, NOT ‘Burn The Coach In Effigy/Bring Your Own Molotov Cocktail Night.’)

Said Kelly of the match-up — his voice dripping with sarcasm — "Well, we’re just lucky to be on the field with the defending Grey Cup champions. I mean, we’re the land of misfit toys, right?"

Actually, right now that’s a perfect analogy. These ’09 Bombers remain, for the most part, a mystery. Just as is the man leading them.

One thing is for certain, though, like it or not Mike Kelly has got a lot of Irish in him. A fence-sitter he is not.

"Yeah, for sure I know we’re under a microscope," said Kelly. "But know this: I will defend myself, I will defend my players and I will defend this organization.

"I don’t know why anyone has a right to think they can just arbitrarily start degrading the efforts of people in this building without having some substance to their comments. If you ask me a question of substance, I’ll give you an answer of substance. If you want to attack me, you’d better duck. It’s that simple. That’s how I am. I don’t know how to be anyone else.

"Look, as long as I keep doing what I’m doing and keep my blinders on I KNOW things will work out. And I am absolutely enjoying myself. I love coming to work. And we’ll just keep working at this thing and I know the effort the coaching staff and the players are giving and eventually it will all be reflected on the field. You just go on and do the best you can.

"Besides," added Kelly with a grin, "the way I look at all this is I’ve lived a full life. If I get hit by a bus right now it was still a pretty good ride."

Buckle up, Bomber fans, for Week 2 is about to begin…

ed.tait@freepress.mb.ca