Time for Big Blue to man up

Good teams bounce back from adversity, bad teams quit

By: Gary Lawless Posted: 1:00 AM CDT Monday, Sep. 12, 2011

It would be easy to ask where the swagger is now, but it's more important to wonder if it will return.

Read this article for free:

or

Already have an account? Log in here »

To continue reading, please subscribe:

*Billed as $5.77 plus GST every four weeks. After 52 weeks, price increases to the regular rate of $19.95 plus GST every four weeks. Offer available to new and qualified returning subscribers only. Cancel any time.

It would be easy to ask where the swagger is now, but it's more important to wonder if it will return.

Read unlimited articles for free today:

or

Already have an account? Log in here »

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 12/09/2011 (5381 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

It would be easy to ask where the swagger is now, but it’s more important to wonder if it will return.

Getting punched in the mouth is not a rarity — it happens to most little boys on the school yard before they get their first kiss. How one reacts to a rough ride says a lot and in professional sport it’s inevitable that a team must accept and handle or be doomed to fail.

JOE BRYKSA / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS
Swaggerville this, Bomber fans: Roughies’ QB Darian Durant gives the Winnipeg crowd some of his own swagger after the game was in hand. — JOE BRYKSA / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Swaggerville this, Bomber fans: Roughies’ QB Darian Durant gives the Winnipeg crowd some of his own swagger after the game was in hand.

No doubt the Winnipeg Blue Bombers quit in Sunday’s 45-23 unravelling against the visiting Saskatchewan Roughriders and now they will need to state their intentions going forward.

So Blue Bombers, what will it be? A smack or two and the beginning of the end, or will these blows be absorbed and used as the adversity that can forge a team into a champion?

Is it one-two and punt, Blue Bombers? Or will it be jab-hook-uppercut, slip into the ropes and come out smoking?

Did that flashy 7-1 start leave the Bombers gassed at mid-race coming up on the clubhouse turn?

“We have to keep playing. We know what the problem is. We just have to make the corrections and be ready to go,” said Bombers defensive back Jovon Johnson. “We need to respond. It starts with guys knowing what they have to do and being ready to play. You have to respond no matter what the situation is and no matter how much adversity you face. Right now we’re not doing a great job of responding and we have to step up to the challenge.”

Two quick losses to the Roughriders and the Bombers now sit 7-3 — still in first place in the CFL’s East Division, but hitting the road for two in a row starting Sunday against the Montreal Alouettes.

Three straight defeats is a definite possibility, but with the state of the CFL this season, three straight losses would not be catastrophic.

JOHN WOODS / THE CANADIAN PRESS
Bombers’ Greg Carr (84) provided one of the few highlights with this first-quarter snag. — JOHN WOODS / THE CANADIAN PRESS Bombers’ Greg Carr (84) provided one of the few highlights with this first-quarter snag.

No team has stepped forth to declare itself a clear-cut favourite. In fact, there isn’t an excellent football team in the country. There’s a couple of good teams and Winnipeg can call itself one, but certainly there’s no monster in Canada right now. Montreal? Nope. Calgary? Inconsistent. Edmonton? Maybe not even the best in Alberta. Winnipeg? Well, they’ve lost two in a row and looked dreadful in doing so.

But what’s the next act for the Bombers? Redemption or deterioration is the question.

Will a couple of measly losses turn the Big Blue into Little Boys Blue? One would hope not but the test is upon them, and how they deal with it as an organization from top to bottom is the story to watch.

GM Joe Mack has players to find and add, coach Paul LaPolice and his staff need to derive better execution from their charges and the men on the field have the most explaining to do.

“We’ve definitely got a big one this week. The defending Grey Cup champions. We’ve got to be ready to play,” said Johnson. “We have to get things corrected and corrected fast. We jumped out of the gate and that really helps. I don’t expect to lose three games in a row, but if that happens we live with the results and we keep playing. The season is long and we’ve got lots to play for. You never quit. It’s the nature of the business — you get beat. It’s how you react that counts.”

They’ve wagged their collective tongues quite a bit, just begging the rest of the league to throw it in their face. Now that’s happened two weeks in a row and this is no time to get all quiet. Rather this is time to find your roar and unleash it again. Whimpers and whispers are for losers.

Almost no one goes undefeated and a tough spate has to be expected for all but the most exceptional of teams.

boris minkevich / winnipeg free press
Receiver Terrence Edwards can't contain his emotion as the Bombers ran their losing streak up to two Sunday. — boris minkevich / winnipeg free press Receiver Terrence Edwards can't contain his emotion as the Bombers ran their losing streak up to two Sunday.

Remember, this team was 4-14 just a year ago, so to expect a smooth ride to the post-season borders on foolish.

The Bombers have been fun to watch this season and they’ve had some moments. But the leaves haven’t even begun to change and there’s plenty of meat left on the CFL schedule.

Winnipeg is bleeding a bit, but as my dad used to say when he put a bandage on my skinned knee, “It’s a long way from the heart.”

gary.lawless@freepress.mb.ca