Strap in fans, it could get even worse

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 21/08/2010 (5715 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

PAUL LaPolice stood outside the crampedWinnipeg Blue Bombers locker-room late Thursday night, the frustration clear on his face and disappointment obvious in his voice.

In the distance, the scoreboard was still lit up with the final score from the Bombers’ sixth loss in eight games — Montreal 39Winnipeg 17 — but deep down he had to know those numbers provided only a hint as to all the issues that plague his outfit.

In fact, as he patiently an­swered questions from a pair of Winnipeg scribes the first-year head coach looked very much like a man about to enter a confessional to provide a long list of his team’s sins.

And there are many.

Now, one of LaPolice’s carved-in­stone coachingmantras — one he preaches every day to his team — is to "define reality, then give hope."

Tough sell, that, in the middle of a four-game skid.

And while nobody asked me, here are some of the realities from this perch — most of them obvious to anyone who has watched the free fall:

This is a team that has consistently stumbled out of the starting blocks, takes some ridiculously stupid penal­ties, has been hampered by injuries but is far too thin in its overall depth.

This is a team that needs at least one more receiving threat for a corps that drops too many gimmes, isn’t getting enough production from its linebackers, still has some placekick­ing concerns, is horrible in protecting the ball and has some questions in the secondary.

This is a team, at 2-6, that is last in the East Division and sixth over­all. That said if the playoffs began tomorrow, the Bomb Squad would be a crossover team through theWest Div­ision as they sport a better record than the B.C. Lions and Edmonton Eskimos, both 1-6 and currently on a bye week.

This is a team that would need to go 5-5 in their final 10 games just to match last year’s 7-11 record but also faces Grey Cup finalists Saskatchewan andMontreal twice and the Calgary Stampeders once more during that stretch.

But before friends and family scramble to keep the sharp objects from Bomber diehards, remember this goofy circuit seldom eliminates any team before October. And that is the basis of the hope to which LaPolice & Co. are currently clinging and trying to pitch.

And here is the hope fromwhere we’re sitting:

A healthy Buck Pierce gives the team a talented quarterbacking duo that has been lacking in these parts for a long spell. Whether it’s Steven Jyles starting and Pierce coming off the bench — as we suggested earlier this week — or the reverse, this team has depth at the most important position on the field. Pierce may be ready by Labour Day.

When the likes of Ian Logan, Ter­ence Jeffers-Harris andMarcellus Bowman exit sick bay, the starting lineup gets a considerable boost.

Even with their struggles, the of­fence has been light years away from last year’s ineptitude. The defence, well, that’s an entirely different story.

Although he has a busted thumb, Titus Ryan was cut by the Dallas Cow­boys and — if he should return healthy — would give the Bombers a deep threat to offset Terrence Edwards. His presence would also potentially wake Adarius Bowman fromhis summer­long slumber.

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.

Defensive back Jonathan Hefney, last year’s East DivisionMost Out­standing Rookie, is on the bubble with the Detroit Lions. Listed far down on the depth chart, he could be released but then placed on the practice roster in Detroit. If he’s cut loose, there should be a long-term deal awaiting his signature here inWinnipeg.

Somehow amid the losing and with the exit of popular teammates like Ike Charlton and Alexis Serna this locker-room– this coming from some of those inside it — remains tight. But that cohesion is also a fragile charac­teristic that gets tested if the losses mount.

Finally, here is the harshest reality of all: there are no quick fixes here — not unless this teamwants to commit the same errors previous regimes have made by sacrificing draft picks for im­mediate help — and an airlift of NFL cast-offs is hardly a proven cure.

So strap in and hold on, Bomber fans, because this could get nastier before there are clear skies again. But you already know that reality. What every­one is begging for now is some cold, hard evidence of the hope.

ed.tait@freepress.mb.ca