Pity the young Bomber fans

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 26/10/2014 (4055 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

If you were born on Nov. 26, 1990 and are a fan of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, our sincerest and deepest condolences.

History tells us, after all, the last Bomber championship was won one day earlier, on Nov. 25, 1990, in a 50-11 thrashing of the Edmonton Eskimos at BC Place. And, just for the record, the videotape evidence of that game is now looking as grainy and ancient as the Zapruder film.

So for those who took their first breath in late November of 1990 — or in the many football seasons since — this stat is going to sting:

It has been 8,736 days — or 23 years, 11 months and one day — since this city’s storied football franchise last won a championship.

This just in: That number is only going to grow significantly after the championship drought was officially extended Saturday night in south Winnipeg with a 28-23 loss to the B.C. Lions that seemed to perfectly encapsulate the 2014 season.

Quarterback Drew Willy, who will need a team of masseuses to nurse him back to health when this season is over, was sacked three times in the first quarter and was indecisive after that while being dropped seven more times before the clock read 00:00.

The defence limited the Lions to 95 yards rushing, but couldn’t stop the run when the team desperately needed the ball back in the dying moments — twice giving up nine-yard runs by Keola Antolin inside the final 2:20 that were then converted into first downs.

So, yeah, this was a movie that Bomber fans had already seen play out over and over and over again this season with the same gruesome conclusion — even if the coach refused to acknowledge that proverbial light at the end of the tunnel was, in fact, a 300-yard freight train about to splatter his bunch all over the tracks.

There was Mike O’Shea afterward at his media session, still seething but trying to maintain his composure, when he was asked if he was feeling angry or sad after being eliminated from the playoffs.

“Shocked,” he began. “I believed we were going to make the playoffs. I have nothing prepared for this moment because I believed we were going to be in the playoffs.

“It’s always that way for me. There’s no other way to be.”

Now maybe O’Shea, Kyle Walters, Wade Miller & Co. are the architects who finally build the squad that ends the longest championship drought in the franchise’s history.

They have a quarterback in Willy and depth behind him in Brian Brohm and Robert Marve. They have unearthed and recruited some decent new import talent in Moe Leggett, Brian Johnson, Dan Unamba and Paris Cotton, among others.

But the issues that plagued this team in years past — and were glossed over in a 5-1 start through July — continue to haunt. The roster needs a serious injection of talent from the true north strong and free, particularly on the offensive line. That’s been an organizational need for years, not months.

Still, it’s more than just that. The receiving corps has a solid piece in Clarence Denmark, but lacks a legit deep threat and features two starters who spent more time in sick bay than on the field in Nick Moore and Cory Watson.

The defensive line and linebacking corps have some interesting pieces, but the front seven was repeatedly manhandled. That might be personnel, but more and more questions are being asked about the scheme, too.

The cold, hard truth is there is no easy fix. The answers are seldom found in CFL free agency. They come from the draft, from using this new and extensive scouting system to find more talent on both sides of the border.

That’s hardly a news flash. Neither is this: The Bombers have now missed the playoffs in five of the last six years. In an eight- and nine-team league.

A suggestion: You know that spectacular statue of Bud Grant that was unveiled outside of the stadium this week?

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Some would suggest a clock be erected right beside it, one that counts up, tallying the years, months and days since the last Grey Cup.

One monument is a salute to the Bomber glory days. The other a not too subtle reminder for those who walk through the front doors every day.

ed.tait@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @WFPEdTait