Today’s Bomber Report

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 10/09/2009 (5923 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

FYI

Bits and pieces, notes and quotes from around the CFL…

The Eskimos have tied the can to former Bombers offensive co-ordinator Rick Worman and replaced him with ex-Alouette whiz Kevin Strasser, who returned to the CFL from Portland State last month as a consultant. Edmonton boss Richie Hall cited the standard ‘philosophical differences’ in making the move… New Grey Cup odds are in: Montreal is the front runner at 2.20, followed by Calgary (2.88), Edmonton (9.0), Saskatchewan (9.0), Hamilton (10.0), B.C. (14.0), Winnipeg (41.0) and Toronto (81.0)…

DE Kitwana Jones, cut by the Esks, has signed with Saskatchewan. A CFL source told the Free Press the Bombers were mildly interested… Gibson’s Finest CFL Players of the Week for the Labour Day games were released Wednesday and, ta-da!, there are no Bombers. Lions tailback Martell Mallett was the offensive star, teammate JoJuan Armour was the defensive star. Toronto’s Andre Durie was the top special teams player while Ticats receiver Dave Stala was named Canadian player of the week… The Grey Cup champs just got a little better and a lot deeper: the Stamps announced Wednesday the return of defensive end Charleston Hughes, who tried out for the Philadelphia Eagles, and D-tackle Tearrius George, who was in the camps of the Dallas Cowboys, Miami Dolphins and New Orleans Saints…

All the buzz in Toronto this week is about the job security of Argos head coach Bart Andrus, who is 2-7. GM Adam Rita and personnel guy Greg Mohns apparently snapped at Globe and Mail reporter Dave Naylor when he asked about Andrus’ status after the Argos loss on Labour Day. The league fined Rita $500 on Wednesday. And Rita said this to The FAN 590 in Toronto: "We have to stay the course. For the last few years we’ve been changing and doing different things. I know the job (winning more games) seems insurmountable at this time, but we’re the last ones to give up." The Argos have talked of taking the offensive co-ordinator role away from Andrus…

Toronto did make one move on Wednesday, dumping RB Jarrett Payton… TSN posted huge numbers for its Labour Day Classic games, topped by the Bombers-Riders clash, which drew 982,000 viewers — making it the most-watched sporting event on Canadian TV on the weekend. That game was followed by Edmonton-Calgary (979,000), Toronto-Hamilton (844,000) and Montreal-B.C. (750,000).

Love this shot (above) sent to me by regular reader and diehard Bomber fan Matt Maruca. It was taken after the Labour Day game and features Bombers head coach Mike Kelly and lookalike Joe Blacker. Both will be at this Sunday’s Banjo Bowl with Blacker again dressed like the Bomber boss.

Of all the stuff coming out of the Alouettes’ protest of the officiating fiasco last week, we like this comment the best from QB Anthony Calvillo and courtesy the Montreal Gazette: "We’re all human. There were mistakes we made on offence. The refs are going to make mistakes. It’s part of the CFL. The refereeing has improved 100 times from when I entered the league." On Wednesday, the CFL declared the game result would stand … The Esks have averaged 47,544 in their Labour Day sequel game with the Stampeders over the years and were at around 38,000 tickets sold on Wednesday.

— Tait

In and out

Safety Ian Logan (hamstring) is showing lots of progress and participating in practice and it’s likely he’ll go on the roster for the injured Brady Browne (elbow). Browne is expected to miss six weeks.

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Back to back

Bombers coach Mike Kelly on the prospect of playing Saskatchewan on consecutive weekends: "It’s a unique quirk of the CFL. I embrace it. It’s kind of fun. As an old baseball coach I like the chance to dust yourself off after a loss and try and beat them the next day. I love these two weeks of the CFL schedule."

The rest of the way

"Now is the time. We’ve got nine games to go. Six are at home and six are against East division opponents. We need to find some consistency," said Kelly, with the Bombers sitting at 3-6 at the midpoint of the season.