Blue playoff hopes rest on one powerful, but flawed, arm

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 22/10/2009 (5831 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Look, it’s all well and good that Troy Westwood has been hauled kicking and screaming for joy out of retirement.

Even if Westwood is so old that if he breaks down they don’t make the parts anymore to fix him. That shouldn’t be a problem. There’s only three regular-season games left and it shouldn’t be hard to properly motivate the 42-year-old punter. In fact, it’d be real easy.

Just before Westwood goes out on the field, hand him the ball. But glue a picture of Doug Berry’s head on the pigskin first.

Problem solved. Yer welcome.

But what’s left on the bone of the 2009 season for the Bombers, now a tepid 6-9, won’t hinge on whether or not Westwood can get another few kicks at the Canad. No, the ultimate fate of the Bombers hasn’t changed, and it falls largely in the hands of one Michael Bishop.

And if Bishop’s tenure so far with the Bomber tells us anything, it’s that the man came as advertised; enviable physical tools, a world-class arm, erratic to distraction and given to fatal lapses in judgment.

Remember, though, that Bishop was a break-the-emergency-glass response to the jarringly horrid offensive start to the season. He came in stone-cold, thrust into an unfamiliar unit with a dead-from-the-neck up offensive system.

So the rifle-armed Bishop was understandably cut some slack. So when his numbers didn’t jump off the page, there was no call for immediate panic. Slowly but surely, however, Bishop appeared to become more comfortable in the role and take increased ownership of the team. So by the time the Bombers rebounded from a dreadful 3-8 start with three consecutive victories, there must have been skeptics out there (me included) who were beginning to reboot their thinking on Bishop.

I mean, what if this guy, with all these athletic tools, was finally beginning to harness the propensity for errors? What if Michael Bishop was “getting it?” Because for the Bombers, so sorely lacking in one major department, it would have been the missing link. A veteran quarterback who could manage the game, limit turnovers and allow defence and special teams, by far the team’s sweet spots, to carry the day.

That’s the rub about Bishop, however. Just ask them in Toronto. Ask them in Regina. He’ll tease you, turn a busted play on its head and throw a dart 50 yards downfield off his back foot. He’ll get in a rhythm, protect the ball, and make just enough big plays to get the job done.

In fact, Bishop most recently did it three times in a row, enough to make you say, “Hey, he’s done it for a month. Why won’t he just continue, and maybe even improve?”

That’s a good question. And the first human being to find the answer will make the guys who split atoms for a living look like Junior Chemistry Club. Because if Bishop could somehow find a semblance of consistency to his game, he’d probably be a star.

At the very least, a consistent Bishop would return to the form that saw him go 11-1 as a starter for the Argonauts in 2007. But it just never seems to reach another level with the gunslinger from Galvaston.

In fact, it’s why Bishop was available to the Bombers mid-season in the first place, because in his last game as a Rider in 2008, in the playoffs, Bishop turned the ball over five times — three interceptions and two fumbles.

Some might have been shocked by Bishop’s decidedly awful performance in a 24-21 loss to the B.C. Lions last week. Some might have been disappointed. But given the evidence Bishop has amassed in his several CFL seasons — including 171-of-324 for 2,357 with 11 TDs and 16 INTs this year — you should shrug: “Hey, it was only a matter of time.”

Look, without Bishop, the Bombers would have been sunk long ago. Without him, they’d be sunk for the rest of the season, too.

But if you’re trying to calculate the Bombers’ playoff hopes — which barring the unforeseen could well be decided in a Week 18 showdown with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats — save yourself some brain juice.

The Bombers will go as far as Bishop can take them. That means remaining composed in the pocket, throwing up a few of his patented Hail Marys, and limiting fatal turnovers.

Bottom line: In a year of parity, when you can only count on the Alouettes to win and the Argos to lose, the Bombers with a Good Bishop could break some hearts.

The Bombers with a Bad Bishop would break some, too. It’s just that they’d be wearing Winnipeg jerseys, is all.

randy.turner@freepress.mb.ca

Randy Turner
Reporter

Randy Turner spent much of his journalistic career on the road. A lot of roads. Dirt roads, snow-packed roads, U.S. interstates and foreign highways. In other words, he got a lot of kilometres on the odometer, if you know what we mean.

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