Blue have settled into losing as a way of life

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 25/10/2015 (3936 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

There are any number of ways to break down where things went wrong — again — for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers Saturday. And to examine where all that leaves this team and organization as another campaign slips away.

Another slow start… too many turnovers… poor tackling… mental miscues… inconsistent offence… inability to run the ball… a huge disadvantage in the time of possession… muffed kicks…

It all sounds so familiar, doesn’t it?

But what was also hammered home in the 27-20 loss to the Ottawa Redblacks for those faithful who did make it to Investors Group Field — many, it seemed, solely for the massive 50-50 that was more than $300K, or for the usual pilgrimage to the Rum Hut — was something much simpler:

This team is just not good enough.

Again.

We know what you’re thinking here: Gee, thanks, Captain Obvious. But look, the autopsy on this bunch will be officially written in depth in a couple of weeks when the last spike is jammed into the 2015 season. Who stays, who goes, what needs to be fixed gets further analyzed then, as six teams begin Grey Cup quests and this crew is left playing the spectator for the fourth consecutive season and sixth time in seven years. 

Sure, there are some other rather meaty factors at work here that affect how this team is evaluated. Without Drew Willy, Paris Cotton and Chris Randle, a Bombers squad still short on star power was missing three of its best for a good chunk of the season. Their absences have been critical.

But when a team’s last four losses have been by a grand total of 13 points, it’s not just about bad luck or a blown call by the officials, or who’s in or out of the lineup. It’s about talent. And this team still isn’t deep enough across the board to survive making those critical mistakes at critical moments that has left them at 5-12.

As an example, let’s use the last really dominant Bombers team for comparison. The 2001 squad, which went 14-4 and set a club record with 12 straight wins — and, yes, gagged in a Grey Cup loss to Calgary — also won eight games by a touchdown or less. That team had eight players on the CFL all-star Team.

This 2015 Bombers team didn’t have a Milt Stegall to pull down a pass in triple coverage on the last play in Saturday’s loss. It doesn’t have a Charles Roberts to slip through a seam at a clogged line of scrimmage for a big gain. There is no Juran Bolden to pick off a Henry Burris dart with nine seconds left in the half, instead of having it result in a Chris Williams touchdown. And there is no Doug Brown to push the pocket or extend his 6-8 frame to take away a throwing lane.

This team, instead, is stacked with a bunch of dudes who bring their lunch boxes to work every day… and then have the bullies pilfer their sandwiches and cookies when it’s time to chow down. Every damn day.

It was all so old seven years ago, let alone watching it happen all over again to a Redblacks team that was 2-16 last year, but upgraded significantly over the winter.

“Any time you lose, man, it’s not a good feeling,” said Bombers defensive back Lin-J Shell in another morose post-game Bomber dressing room Saturday. “This touches us to the heart. It stings because, as a group, you always wonder what you could have done more. As a team we’ve got to minimize the small mistakes. That’s all it’s been all season, just one mistake here, one mistake there and it’s devastating.

“We’re still chasing this dream. Hopefully when we get back (after their bye week) we still have the opportunity to chase it. Right now it just stings so much. 

“You battle it out every week, man,” Shell added. “You want to come into a locker-room where everybody is singing and smiling. We want to give something to our fans. It’s disheartening when you can’t give your fans a chance to party every weekend. That’s the heaviest part of this whole situation.”

Shell has touched on the bigger picture here. No team has lost more than the Bombers — 21-50 — since the start of the 2012 season. They are also now 7-20 in their three years in their spiffy new stadium. There’s no other way to describe that other than bloody brutal.

Saturday’s loss ended just like so many others over the last little while, with Burris & Co. driving 76 yards on 11 plays in the dying moments and then crashing in on a third-down run from the one with 48 seconds left. The Bombers then countered with a drive to the Ottawa 23, but a last-ditch shot into the end zone was batted away.

Again, Bomber fans have been there, seen that.

“We’re living in a world of hope right now,” said Bomber coach Mike O’Shea afterward.

The concern is that hope, even for the most fervent Bomber fan, is fading. And has been for some time now. Apathy has set in with this franchise and that has to be even more frightening than missing the playoffs — again — and a quarter-century championship drought.

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.

ed.tait@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @WFPEdTait