No time for sad reflection

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 22/10/2009 (5832 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

There was lots to hang one’s head about following last week’s frustrating and entirely avoidable loss to the B.C. Lions but for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers this is no time for a pity party.

The Bombers will have to leave the moaning and groaning to the ticket-buying public as feeling sorry for oneself will not help the cause with the world beater Montreal Alouettes heading to Winnipeg for another big game this Saturday.

The Bombers (6-9) remain locked in a tie for second place with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats (6-9) with three games left on the schedule for both teams. The teams will finish the regular season against one another in Winnipeg on Nov. 8. There’s a chance that game will determine who hosts the East Division semifinal (see box), making the next few weeks of the schedule all-important for these two teams hoping to turn so-so seasons into playoff glory.

“There are a lot of guys that are probably still caught up in it. It was an opportunity to make things a lot easier going down the stretch. With a short week and all, you can’t let it linger. It’s a real deflating thing to have happen, to miss out on that many opportunities to win and a chance to set yourself up for a possible post-season date,” said Bombers veteran Doug Brown. “But with the best team (the Alouettes are 13-2) in the CFL coming to town your focus has to be on them. This team doesn’t like to walk through doors and windows like the one afforded to us by the B.C. Lions last week. We like to try and walk through walls. That’s the Blue Bombers’ way in 2009.”

There are any number of clichés — “don’t get too high with the wins and too low with the losses,” jumps out at us — that are applicable to the Bombers heading down the stretch. The fact is the team is still in the race for a playoff berth and each game from here on out is bigger than the next. The memories have to be short.

“If we don’t forget about the week before, and then you get in there against a team like Montreal, it can really hinder your performance,” said Bombers cornerback Jovon Johnson. “We can keep a bit of last week with us because we felt it was a game that we should have won. When you lose and you know that the other team physically outplayed you, it’s easy to put behind you. But we felt like we played the better game last week and didn’t get the outcome we wanted. So we have that on our conscience and we can use that to help us get ready for Montreal.”

Bombers coach Mike Kelly says the game in the windshield has to be the focus and not the one in the rear-view.

“We had an opportunity to take a step forward. The silver lining is that we didn’t take a step back. We stayed even. We’re in a position where we understand the challenges before us,” said Kelly. “We didn’t create anything more difficult for ourselves but we didn’t help ourselves. I’m still trying to put that game away as best I can because to me it was a blown opportunity.”

gary.lawless@freepress.mb.ca

The rest of the story….

The Bombers and Tiger-Cats share second place in the East and will spend the final three weeks of the season fighting over which club will host the East semifinal (Nov. 15). Second place gets the home game but third doesn’t automatically earn a berth in the game as a crossover club from the West could bump off an East team if it has a superior record.

Winnipeg (6-9)

Saturday, Oct. 24 — Montreal at Winnipeg

Sunday, Nov. 1 — Winnipeg at Montreal

Sunday, Nov. 8 — Hamilton at Winnipeg

The Bombers could arrive at that final game against Hamilton with one win less than the Ti-Cats and still get take second place with a win in the season finale as that would pull them even with the Cats and give them the tiebreaker. The same goes for the Tiger-Cats.

Hamilton (6-9)

Friday, Oct. 23 — Hamilton at Toronto

Saturday, Oct. 31 — Saskatchewan at Hamilton

Sunday, Nov. 8 — Hamilton at Winnipeg

The Ti-Cats have an edge this week as they face the lowly Argos and this should be a free spot on the bingo card while the Bombers battle the league-leading Als.