Dislocated courtship

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 12/09/2010 (5537 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

It’s about Jesse Lumsden, and his current courtship with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers in the immediate wake of the loss of Buck Pierce.

Takes about a nanosecond to connect the unfortunate dots, doesn’t it, the irony that the Bombers would be negotiating to sign The Most Unfortunate Player in the CFL just after putting The Unluckiest Player in the CFL on the nine-game disabled list.

Gentlemen, start your wincing.

Really, haven’t the Bombers brass learned their lesson already the hard way? Doesn’t losing Pierce only to turn around and bring in Lumsden — with his agonizing history of shoulder injuries — amplify the trepidation on Maroons Road?

Of course it does. But that’s just optics. One lost gamble shouldn’t alter the risk or outcome of another.

The downside is self-evident, of course. The Bombers sign the Canadian power back, Lumsden arrives and talks about how the shoulder problems are behind him, and everybody crosses their fingers. Then Lumsden gets hurt.

Just saw that movie. Didn’t like it. The ending sucked.

So let’s all agree Lumsden, to speak the blunt reality, is damaged goods. Maybe he’s just in denial, unable or unwilling to walk away from a game that for him once held unlimited promise.

That’s the thing about Neil Lumsden’s baby boy; not only did he burst onto the CFL scene in 2005 with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats displaying such potential, but he was such an alluring anomaly — a dominant running back with a Canadian passport.

Dude, that’s a sight as rare as a Bombers Grey Cup parade.

In fact, having what was to be Lumsden’s comeback season last year in Edmonton unceremoniously end in just his second carry, watching all that hope get crushed — again — was one of the most sympathetic sights in recent league history. At least, until Pierce was jobbed by the fates last week in Regina.

But for what it’s worth, what do the Bombers, a 2-7 outfit and already playoff dogs, have to lose? And what could a team in desperate need of a boost in any form gain? At the very least, Lumsden will sell a few tickets.

The only caveat, granted, is that any contract the Bombers offer Lumsden is performance-based, reasonably protecting themselves from what befell the Eskimos in 2009. That’s a given. Conversely, if Lumsden stays healthy and produces, he gets paid.

Minimize the financial risk and give the kid a chance. It’s his life. If it doesn’t work out, the bobsled awaits.

After all, sometimes, a player finds a team because neither has any other more attractive options. This could be one of those cases.

Either Lumsden’s shoulder is his Achilles heel (for good) or the Bombers get what the Tiger-Cats and Eskimos always wanted: A potential ratio-breaker who finally reached what was widely thought to be mouth-watering potential.

The odds would be stacked against the Bombers. Ditto Lumsden.

And any Bombers faithful still ruing the loss of Pierce might only end up with another kick in the gut. Just the thought of watching a crest-fallen Lumsden leave the field of battle with his arm dangling by his side again gives pause to the entire enterprise.

But just ask yourself…

What, it could get worse?

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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