Time to take a stand

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 20/09/2009 (6175 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

MONTREAL — The Winnipeg Blue Bombers exited their team meeting room at a downtown hotel en masse and — on what is traditionally one of the busiest media days of the week — were greeted by three regulars from Manitoba and a fresh face from Radio Canada.

No TV cameras. No scrums of reporters thrusting microphones and notebooks into players’ faces.

Heck, Mike Kelly’s pre-game "press conference" was held in the hotel lobby with the boss hunkered down on a sofa with more Bomber staffers looking on than media.

Our point, you ask?

Well, it’s been a long, long time since we can remember a mid-September Bomber game drawing this little attention. Even last year when the Bombers, then 2-8, waltzed into Toronto to play the Argonauts there was at least some hype as Milt Stegall chased Allen Pitts’ CFL receiving yardage record. But this one — a matchup between the sinking Bombers and the powerhouse Montreal Alouettes — was barely a blip on the local radar screen what with the Canadiens in Ottawa for a pre-season game and Metallica playing at the Bell Centre.

And maybe, just maybe, this isn’t a bad thing for the beleaguered Bombers. They’ve certainly generated their share of headlines, most of them bad, in their 3-7 start. But keeping a low profile, even adopting an ‘us-against-the-world’ bunker mentality, might be the perfect tonic for a crew desperately looking for something to cling to before the 2009 season goes up in flames.

"I don’t listen to the outside influences," explained Bomber defensive back Lenny Walls outside the meeting room. "I’ve been in professional football for a while and you really can’t pay attention to what the outsiders say. It’s what happens within the organization that can only make or break whether you, win or lose. No media, no fans, no one outside the organization can help us win or lose a game. They can scream and shout, praise or boo you, but at the end of the day we’ve got to take it upon ourselves to win.

"It’s all about us right now. That’s how it has to be."

The Bombers are more than two-touchdown underdogs for today’s date with the Alouettes and have been referred to this week, along with the usual gong show/circus analogies, as "pushovers" and an "unfolding calamity." That’s the natural byproduct of seven losses in 10 games, the last being one of the worst in franchise history.

But there also has to be a point where, sooner or later, this turns. Where the players stand up and say ‘no more.’ Yes, asking for that turning point to happen here in Montreal, where even some of the most dominant Bomber sides of the last decade have had it handed to them, might be a bit much. But, again, if these guys still don’t at least have hope when they step onto the field, what else is there?

"Last week we spread some excrement all over our own field," said defensive tackle Doug Brown. "But the one thing we have going into this game is opportunity. If we’re successful we’d still only be 4-7 but it would be a statement game that would give people an idea of what we’re capable of. We should take motivation not only from the humiliating defeat we had last week but the opportunity we have to make amends.

"I know it’s been a lot this year. There have been more sideshows than I’ve seen in awhile. None of us are happy to be in the position we’re in right now. But we understand you have to throw all that out the window right now and recognize opportunity.

"I’ve had the luxury of being around long enough that I can remember when we’d be 7-3 at this point and not 3-7," added Brown. "I still have an inkling of what our community is like to play for when you’re a successful football team. Then you understand where all the derision comes from: The passion this team brings from people in the province. We have to believe we’ll get back to that."

ed.tait@freepress.mb.ca

BOMBER game day C3

The Free Press is inviting readers to write their own headline after today’s CFL game between the Blue Bombers and Alouettes. See winnipegfreepress.com for details.