Change shows promise

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 18/06/2009 (6189 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Let the record show that Stefan LeFors’ first heave as quarterback of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers was a 30-yard wobbler to Terrence Edwards.

No fanfare was required. Nothing special. Just a tentative pass to a wide-open receiver.

But it was a start, nonetheless.

And while we’re at it, Kevin Glenn’s toss as a Hamilton Tiger-Cats pivot was an incomplete in-route to Scott Mitchell, who slipped on the cut. Glenn’s second attempt was picked off by Blue Bombers’ James Johnson.

Ah, the memories.

After all, Glenn threw his fair share of picks during an uneven career with the Bombers, which ended last year when the veteran quarterback was unceremoniously dumped by new head coach Mike Kelly.

Then there’s Johnson, who will forever be remembered in these parts for his brash thievery in the 2007 Grey Cup when, as a member of the evil Saskatchewan Roughriders, he hauled in three Ryan Dinwiddie attempts.

Dinwiddie? Old Blue Eyes is history, too.

So are about half of the Bombers who muddled to a 8-10 record last season under Doug Berry, who is currently puttering around his house in Florida.

Yes, it appears that Mr. Kelly has finished his, um, tinkering. I haven’t seen these many new faces since Joan Rivers stopped touring. Clearly, Kelly, and his lieutenant, John Murphy, the Bombers director of player carousel, have been busy little beavers over the last few months.

Indeed, if Kelly’s arrival has created anything — I mean, other than a surplus for local real estate agents and U-Haul trailer renters — it’s been the angst that comes with the uncertainty of change.

The aforementioned LeFors is the poster boy for that personnel upheaval. He’s the linchpin of the new administration. It’s simple, really. If the lefty LeFors is the real deal — as Kelly had not only claimed, but doubled down by releasing Glenn — that will go a long way in allaying the fears those fretting about the new head coach’s brash ways.

It will also take pressure off Bombers GM Lyle Bauer, who brought in Kelly, who brought in LeFors. It’s trickle-down football-nomics that goes like this: Well, it looks like Bauer wasn’t hanging out with Jim Beam when he recruited his old buddy Kelly. And Kelly wasn’t carelessly forfeiting two high draft picks to acquire LeFors — with all of five games of CFL experience — from the Edmonton Eskimos.

At least, that’s the first impression from the Bombers first exhibition test against the Tiger-Cats last night. Take it for what it’s worth; one-quarter of work (for LeFors) during a glorified scrimmage with a Hamilton team that — believe it or don’t — is undergoing an overhaul that would make the Bombers blush. No points were rewarded, either.

Still, as the Bombers jumped out to an early 19-0 lead in the first quarter, you could sense the ledge-sitters inch a little closer to safer ground. Kelly and Bauer, meanwhile, must have had a little bounce in their steps this morning, too.

Yeah, we know that showing up the Hamilton Tiger-Cats in an exhibition game at home — while fielding a whack of starters in the first half — it’s exactly going to shed shivers up the spines of the 1972 Dolphins. But you can only work with the evidence presented, and it’s that LeFors looked composed and confident. Not one pass attempt looked even close to being intercepted, which is rather impressive in a game of revolving personnel and offensive schemes still under digestion.

And it wasn’t just LeFors, either. Bryan Randall came off the bench next, displayed his elusiveness, and then later threw a 52-yard strike to receiver Romby Bryant, who in his sophomore season will be looked on to fill the void of a former Bombers named Milt Stegall, who you may have heard about.

And while it wasn’t the harshest test, the Bombers’ defence — employing a front-seven that will rival any in the CFL — didn’t give Glenn a sniff and shut out the Tiger-Cats in the first half, when the Bombers held a commanding 26-0 lead.

Some stuff happened in the second half, and we’re pretty sure it was important for a lot of guys in blue and gold uniforms. We’ll worry about them some other time.

For now and for the immediate future, for Kelly and for Bauer, this is all about No. 17. It’s about winning.

So far, so good.

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.

   Read full biography