411 on today’s Bombers game

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This article was published 18/07/2015 (4035 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Unwelcome Return

CALGARY — Winnipeg head coach Mike O’Shea hates talking about his playing days, but he brought it up Friday when a reporter asked him what it will be like for Bombers offensive lineman Stanley Bryant to make his return to McMahon Stadium. Bryant played the previous five seasons for the Stamps.

“I don’t they’re going to throw batteries at him. I don’t think they’re going to dump milk on him,” said O’Shea with a laugh.

Wait — batteries and milk? What?

“Coming back to Calgary,” O’Shea explained, “is a little different than going from Toronto to Hamilton, thankfully.”

O’Shea bounced between Hamilton and Toronto and then back again twice during his 16-year CFL career. At one point during all that shuttling between southern Ontario teams — O’Shea didn’t specify which time — he said fans weren’t happy he had signed with an arch-rival.

“Some kid dumped something on me as I was leaving the field at halftime,” said O’Shea. And throwing batteries? “Well yeah, there were some guys who wouldn’t stand near me. I had to stay in the dugout.”

NOT-SO-RAW ROOKIE

Calgary head coach John Hufnagel was keeping his sense of humour this week even as he deals with a plague of injuries to his offensive line.

Asked about starting CFL rookie Garry Williams this weekend at the key left tackle position, Hufnagel pointed out the former Carolina Panther — who had 21 starts over six seasons in the NFL — isn’t exactly a raw rookie in the pro game even if this is his first CFL start.

“He’s worked hard, he’s ready to play,” Hufnagel said of Williams. “It’s not like he just got off the bus — although one more injury and maybe someone would have got off the bus.”

Hufnagel also got a laugh when he was asked by a reporter for help pronouncing the name of OL Karl Lavoie, who is going on the Calgary roster this week.

“Karl,” Hufnagel deadpanned.

FLAGS ON THE PLAY

Stampeders QB Bo Levi Mitchell sent out a tweet from his personal account recently, commiserating with all the CFL fans who think too many penalties being called in the CFL this season.

Mitchell lived to regret the tweet. “I think I was probably a little premature in saying what I said,” said Mitchell. “It was probably the hot-headed-ness of being in a game and seeing all the (penalties) called against us.

“It’s not really my place to say and that’s something I’ve now learned,” Mitchell grinned. “Huf did a good job making sure I realized it.”

Indeed, Hufnagel said Friday he has no problem with the penalties that are being called in the CFL this season, which included 19 flags against his own team in a win on Monday.

“I told my team the referees did a better job calling the game than we did playing by the rules,” said Hufnagel. “We’ve got to learn to play by the rules better.”

O’Shea agreed with Hufnagel.

“If it’s a foul, it needs to be called,” said O’Shea. “I’d hate to see where this game would be if the refs assumed how a penalty would actually affect a play and decided on their own that it had no material affect on the play.

“I think that would be dangerous to do that.”

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While penalties are up in the CFL this season — in part because of a series of rule changes in the off-season — they’ve been slowly declining as the season has gone on. There were an average of 30 penalties called in Week 1, 28 in Week 2 and 27.5 in Week 3.

Forty-five per cent of penalties this season have been “preventable fouls’ — a broad category that includes thinks like offside and illegal procedure.

Preventable fouls are up 20 per cent this season over last, while “technical fouls” — things like illegal contact and interference — are up 35 per cent over last season.

ROSTER CHANGES

The Bombers will make two changes to their game day roster today. Former NFLer Nate Collins goes on the roster in place of injured defensive tackle Bryant Turner and Troy Stoudermire replaces Justin Veltung as the team’s returner.