Bombers glued to boob tube

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This article was published 12/11/2011 (5256 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Buck Pierce and Paul LaPolice will watch casually with family and teammates. Brendon LaBatte will watch the line of scrimmage almost exclusively. Jovon Johnson will watch as though it’s a college class, pen and notebook in hand. Jonathan Hefney won’t watch at all.

And Doug Brown will watch Sunday’s CFL East Division semifinal between the Hamilton Tiger Cats and Montreal Alouettes like a jaundiced horror movie aficionado, hoping all the main characters get it in the end.

“We’ve played Montreal three times and Hamilton three times already this season, so realistically I don’t know how much new they could throw out there,” Brown said this week.

“And other than that, you just sit there and hope everyone gets hurt — all the key starters and playmakers and everything. You just hope they all drop one after the other, like dominoes.”

Brown kids, of course. More or less. But the point is made — the Bombers will be helpless spectators with vested interests when the Ticats and Als beat up on each other Sunday afternoon for the right to face Winnipeg at Canad Inns Stadium in the East Final on Nov. 20.

The Bombers will study the Hamilton-Montreal game all next week in the film room.

“I will probably see that game 10 times by the time we’re done,” says Hefney, who will miss the TV broadcast Sunday because he’ll be in Tennessee watching his five-year-old daughter compete in a cheerleader competition.

So against that backdrop, is there much to be gained other than entertainment value from watching tomorrow’s game live on TSN? There seem to be two schools of thought in the Bombers locker-room.

Jovon Johnson, perhaps illustrating why he was his team’s nominee for most outstanding player and the East Division nominee for most outstanding defensive player, says he’ll be taking careful notes all game long. “I’ll be paying attention to many details of the game — from alignment to route-running to timing and everything…

“I’ll watch both sides of the ball, whether it’s special teams or the other two teams’ offence. I will watch every single special teams play, every single offensive play as if I’m on the field watching the game… I will have a pen and pad with me wherever I am watching the game and I’ll definitely be taking notes, getting ready to play the game from the TV version.”

LaPolice, of course, will also be a keen observer Sunday afternoon. But he says the real work was done earlier this week when the coaches drafted game plans for both Montreal and Hamilton — and will resume late Sunday night when the films that teams are provided every week will arrive.

“I think we get that film about 11:30 at night that same night,” said LaPolice. “So we’ll be able to have Monday and Tuesday to evaluate it. Truly on Sunday, it’s a day to hang with your players and your family and enjoy the process of just seeing who you’re going to play.”

The films the teams are provided show different angles than fans see on TV — an end zone shot, for instance. But LaBatte says there is value in seeing a game played out live on TV too. “I’d say 80 per cent of a game is pretty much going to be what you expect. So what you watch for is the other stuff, the little changes player-wise or positional shifts.

“It’s fun to watch, of course. But it’s still work and so you have to watch with a close eye.”

Pierce says the most valuable part of watching Sunday’s game for the Bombers is precisely that — they get to watch instead of having to play.

“Obviously, you’re looking for anything new they might do,” said Pierce. “But I think the good thing about it is we’ll be around our teammates and be able to sit back and watch the game and enjoy that first-round bye.”

paul.wiecek@freepress.mb.ca