Despair begins to take its toll

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This article was published 21/09/2009 (5913 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

MONTREAL — They are offensively challenged, horribly mistake-prone and excruciatingly painful to watch. And if it wasn’t official before, the Winnipeg Blue Bombers’ season is precariously close to being flushed down the toilet.

Not surprisingly, as part of the byproduct of their eighth defeat in 11 games, the Bombers are reacting by making major changes.

Despite a valiant defensive effort and decent work by their special teams, the Bombers were manhandled by the Montreal Alouettes 33-14 Sunday afternoon in front of another Molson Stadium capacity crowd.

Afterward, the club announced they had traded receivers Romby Bryant and Arjei Franklin to the Calgary Stampeders, along with a third-round pick in the 2010 Canadian Draft and the rights to a negotiation-list player for receivers Titus Ryan and Jabari Arthur, a Canadian, defensive end Odell Willis and fourth- and sixth-round draft picks in 2010.

The Bombers fell to 3-8 with the loss to the powerhouse Als, now 9-2. They are four points out of a playoff spot and trail the B.C. Lions, 5-6, who would qualify as a crossover team if the season ended today.

"We’re getting to the point where when we play a top-tier team that you wonder if we’re even going to be competitive out there," said a despondent Doug Brown in a morose Bomber locker-room. "There’s nothing worse in football than having that feeling of despair where you wonder, where you hope that you can be competitive.

"It’s hard right now. The worst part about it… the record is one thing, but when you (expletive deleted) fly home and get off the plane and walk through the airport. You just know what everyone is thinking. This organization is too proud to let this continue. It’s so disappointing."

The Bombers actually opened the scoring on Sunday when Fred Reid smashed up the middle for a four-yard TD. But the offensive highlights were almost non-existent after that as the Als outscored the visitors 33-7 the rest of the way. Winnipeg managed just 162 yards offence and 11 first downs, while Michael Bishop and newcomer Casey Bramlet completed just 10-of-27 passes for 158 yards with three interceptions and one TD — a Bishop to Adarius Bowman connection that was good for a 55-yard major.

The Alouettes, meanwhile, rolled up 460 yards of offence as part of a dominant performance that — continuing an alarming trend for the Bombers — saw them on the field for 17 minutes and six seconds more than Winnipeg. Anthony Calvillo completed 28-of-40 passes for 338 yards and one TD — to Avon Cobourne — while Cobourne also scored once along the ground. Damon Duval rounded out the scoring by connecting on all five of his field-goal tries.

Bombers head coach Mike Kelly did conduct some post-game interviews but did not oblige the two Winnipeg newspaper reporters who were in the locker-room and requested to talk to him afterward. This after apparently being ordered to conduct those interviews by president and CEO Lyle Bauer. Here’s what Kelly did say to the media that weren’t in the locker-room, specifically about the quarterbacks:

"Our quarterbacks are Russell Stover chocolates right now. You never quite know what you’re going to get. Bishop did some things in the first quarter. He had some success and was battling. Then things got away from us. We’re just trying to go with someone who has a hot hand and can function. We’re struggling right now at the quarterback position. Being able to function is a challenge sometimes. You just go with your gut and see if you can get something going."

The Bombers have been outscored 88-24 in their last two games and have committed 18 turnovers in their last three. Meanwhile, even the normally reliable Reid was bottled up by the Als and held to just 18 yards on 11 carries.

"It’s frustrating," said Reid. "Nobody wants to lose. We’ve got to do something to turn this thing around. We need to come out to practice next week and work hard, work like we’ve never worked before. We’re not out of this thing. That’s what everybody needs to realize. We’ve got to keep fighting and plugging away. And, other than that, we’ve got to keep our head up."

ed.tait@freepress.mb.ca

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