Big Blue history 101

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 06/06/2010 (5912 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Winnipeg Blue Bomber veterans and wannabes, meet the Brown Bomber, Joe Louis.

New head coach Paul LaPolice had a number of items to address in his first speech to the troops on the eve of the opening of main training camp Saturday night, not the least of which was educating everyone on the origins of the team’s nickname.

For the record, the local football 12 got its moniker from legendary sports writer Vince Leah during a game against the University of North Dakota in 1936 in which he wrote “these are the Blue Bombers of Western football” in reference to Louis, the heavyweight champion known as ‘The Brown Bomber.’

“I’m going to tell them about who we are, who we’re named after and why and go into that a little bit,” said LaPolice during a break between meetings on Saturday.

“When I worked here before (2002-03) I didn’t know we were named after Joe Louis. I just think it’s a neat story and he was a tremendous boxer and he can knock people out so we’ve got some things to show the guys… there’s a lot of things we can emulate that he did.”

All Bomber players were required to report by Saturday as the team completed its physicals. LaPolice and other staff members were to address the entire squad before the whole bunch takes to the field as a team this morning. And, based on chats with some of the returnees, there is a sense of optimism as the 2010 season opens — and a desire to put 2009 in the rear-view mirror.

“We had a lot of distractions going on last year and I just wanted to get past all that and just focus on this year and all the good things that are going on with the new coaches… get all of that stuff from last year out of my head,” said running back Fred Reid. “I believe we can do some good things by not having all those distractions.”

And with a new regime at the controls, all the veterans are well aware of one of the realities of pro sports: change can be good, but it also means every player has to start over to curry favour with the coaching staff.

“It’s definitely good for everybody to be able to start fresh,” said cornerback Jovon Johnson, the team’s Most Outstanding Player a year ago. “It just forces everybody to have to go out and compete and win the job all over again, which is perfectly fine with me. It makes the competition out the roof and guys are going to come in and compete because everybody wants to play. With a new coach staff nothing is set in stone.

“From the things we through last year… it was a lot to have to deal with. But with the new coaching staff and players I think we’re building something special.”

ed.tait@freepress.mb.ca