It’s Plan B — as in Bishop

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 29/07/2009 (5920 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Just last weekend Michael Bishop was unemployed, whiling away his time in Texas.

This Saturday, Bishop could be the starting quarterback for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers.

If that doesn’t make you nervous, join the bomb squad with haste. They need you.

They say that desperate times call for desperate measures. Or, in this case, a 33-year-old journeyman who in his last CFL start threw three interceptions and fumbled twice. So no team was interested in Bishop’s services this season.

But the Bombers could no longer pass.

No, seriously, they really couldn’t pass.

After a game when three Bombers pivots combined for 66 yards in the air, the call went out for Bishop, in the fervent hope that an athlete with undeniable physical skills might recapture the form that produced an 11-1 record for the Argonauts just two years ago.

There is no guarantee that Bishop will start against the Argos in Toronto on Saturday. But just the fact that the notion is seriously being entertained is drastic and a little frightening.

For example, what other CFL team would be so lacking in confidence in its three quarterbacks that they would summon an outsider and within days throw them in cold? Not a single other team, of course.

So this certainly wasn’t the plan envisioned by Kelly, who for so long had every intention of nurturing and developing starter Stefan LeFors for the future.

Sure, the kid would take his lumps early, get comfortable in the system, take baby steps each week, and by Labour Day be coming into his own.

Sounded reasonable enough. After all, it was clear the Bombers’ defence was stout enough to make scads of production on the other side of the ball unnecessary. I mean, the offence couldn’t be THAT bad, right?

But then came the Half From Hell, one first down against the very mortal Argos (LeFors was 7-of-11 for 30 yards), and the depth of troubles was laid bare to the slack-jawed masses.

"As far as the defence and special teams we’re right on course," head coach Mike Kelly began, after Bishop’s second day of practice Tuesday.

"Offensively, I would have never anticipated this, to be honest with you, having these types of struggles right now.

"I think we’re 128 yards on the ground (average) and 130 yards in the air. That just is hard for me to fathom.

"I think we have players who can play very well in this league but it comes from experience and getting some more playing time," Kelly reasoned.

"That’s why we made a move to bring in the more experienced player, to help out the less experienced ones. We still have faith (in them) at some point. But you have to understand this is a results-orientated business and obviously on the offensive side of the ball we haven’t had any results.

"We needed to stir the pot a little bit."

Um, try putting an outboard motor in the pot.

Perhaps it’s just that Kelly needs an immediate shakeup at a level to rival the carnage at Canad Inns on Friday night. Perhaps LeFors, the centrepiece of Kelly’s entire offensive hopes, just needs to get his bearings.

Yet even if this is a temporary fix, it nonetheless represents a major tangent from Plan A; the plan that called for shipping out Kevin Glenn, trading for LeFors and patiently trying to put all the new pieces together as the 2009 season unfolded.

"I don’t like to see a player have difficulties," said Kelly, when asked specifically about the ramifications for the Other Three now that Bishop has arrived. "But, again, if every decision would be an easy decision you’d have all kinds of leaders. But they’re not.

"This was a tough decision, but this is the right time to do it. There’s still a lot of football to be played. We still are in July. We had to do something, so we did."

Indeed, there’s an argument to be made for throwing LeFors back out there on Saturday, regardless of Bishop’s presence. Why not? You’ve already invested two picks, a whole lot of hope, and a few months in the guy. The worst that could happen is that you go 1-4 with 13 games left. Maybe you get some more definitive answer on LeFors, one way or the other.

Because one thing is certain: Bishop isn’t the long-term answer. He’s a walking stop plug who this time last week couldn’t get a sniff.

Winnipeg Free Press | Newsletter

Dan Lett | Not for Attribution

Tuesdays

A weekly look at politics close to home and around the world.

Sign up for Dan Lett | Not for Attribution

Sign Up

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

Bishop might play. He might even win.

But to be left with a Bishop and three pawns?

Desperate times, indeed.

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.

   Read full biography