Schizophrenics? Darn right

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 26/07/2009 (5922 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Curious, sometimes, how sober second thought can temper knee-jerk reactions.

For example, just moments after an embarrassing — for the offence, at least — 19-5 loss to the Toronto Argonauts on Friday night, head coach Mike Kelly got on the post-game show on CJOB and dropped this nugget: “Certainly, this isn’t a great environment to groom anyone.”

Of course, Kelly was alluding to the struggles of his quarterback Stefan LeFors, who in one half of football had thrown for 30 yards, including one interception, and produced one first down.

When asked to elaborate about said environment, Kelly added, “Just the schizophrenic reaction to wins and losses around here. There’s a level of sensibility that needs to come into play. I don’t know if I’m witnessing all that right now.”

Knee-jerk reaction: Are you kidding me? Mike Kelly has his fingerprints all over perhaps the worst offensive performance in Bombers’ history, and now he’s blaming the fans and media? Boy, that’s rich. Now the effluent is really going to hit the fan.

Sober second thought: Many fans are schizophrenic. They want Kelly canned when the team loses and they hand deliver the head coach beer when the team wins. Geez, who can blame them? It’s been 19 years since their team last won a Grey Cup and there was a stretch in the late ’90s when the club was financially destitute. We’re talking about some lean years.

Same thing for the media. We try our best to stay level-headed but, come on, one first down in a half? In the CFL? If you have any suggestions on how to describe that mess without using adjectives such as “sad sack” and “pathetic,” please let me know.

Undoubtedly, Kelly is being protective of his hand-picked quarterback right now. And, frankly, there was a part of me that was glad that LeFors’ entire family is deaf. Because they wouldn’t have heard the boos raining down from the stands when they announced the winner of a charity food drive draw would get an autographed LeFors jersey.

But here’s the deal: There is absolutely no environment in professional football suited to groom any quarterback who puts up those numbers. Period. And if Kelly thinks fans in Winnipeg have a monopoly on schizophrenia when it comes to their sports franchises, then he doesn’t get out much.

Besides, whatever the environment, Kelly’s bravado generated an air of expectation that is now meeting head-on with reality. Don’t say you weren’t warned. It’s just that no one could have been prepared for such an offensive affront.

So perhaps it’s best, in the interest of sober second thought, to take a breath here. Yeah, what happened at Canad Inns Stadium on Friday night was unacceptable. So everybody booed and the press got in its licks. So we’ve got that one out of our system, right?

There’s still 14 games left in the season. I hope that’s a good thing. And it’s clear that at least one-third of the Bombers, the defence, is capable of holding up their end of the bargain.

Meanwhile, I’m still trying to figure out how LeFors threw for over 400 yards with the Eskimos a couple years back. Yes, in one game, smartie pants. So don’t be so quick to throw the quarterback under the bus.

Because Kelly seems to be stuck in some time warp, with warm and fuzzy memories of the prolific offence under his reign as coordinator back in the mid-’90s. Well, and we’re just spit-balling here, maybe what worked 15 years ago doesn’t work today. You know, kinda like the Backstreet Boys. So some major rethinking of the offensive philosophy is in order.

Look, this can go one of two ways. The Bombers must be a very fragile team right now, because I’ve yet to meet a professional athlete who enjoys being embarrassed on national television.

So Kelly better get a handle on this thing and pronto. Because you’ve got a cosmic alignment of great expectations dashed, a combative head coach (who is just as often very engaging, but can’t seem to help himself), a long-suffering, frustrated populace and a confused, besieged football team that is still wet cement. That has all the makings of a Stephen King novel.

No, it’s probably not the best environment to groom an inexperienced quarterback trying to execute a complicated offence — which may have passed its expiry date — with unfamiliar teammates.

Where, pray tell, could that magical place be?

randy.turner@freepress.mb.ca

Randy Turner
Reporter

Randy Turner spent much of his journalistic career on the road. A lot of roads. Dirt roads, snow-packed roads, U.S. interstates and foreign highways. In other words, he got a lot of kilometres on the odometer, if you know what we mean.

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