Bombers searching for a few good men down south

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 23/08/2010 (5872 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

AS the players and coaches settle into this bye week, Winnipeg Blue Bomber fans will also hang their jerseys in a closet or stuff them into a drawer, taking their own a break from football to re-visit things like life or families.

The question is: Will those supporters want to don that same jersey once the intermission ends?

Forgive this broken record, but for the third straight season the Bombers are into the league break with a disastrous win-loss showing and preaching serenity to a following that is tired of hearing the same old story as to why their team isn’t very good.

Sitting at a shameful 2-6 mark, the 2010 Bombers are no better than last season’s 3-5 or the 2-6 comedy of errors put forth at the start of the 2008 campaign.

Once again, patience of those holding jerseys of their favourite players — both past and present — is stretched thinner than a new stadium budget, but if you listen to the people responsible for the position of the team these days (last in the East Division), no one is wearing this 2-6 start more than they are.

"If you look at the recent history of the club, some of the things the city and the club have gone through… I can understand it," Bombers GM Joe Mack said from Charlotte, N.C. Saturday, prior to the NFL pre-season game between the Carolina Panthers and New York Jets. "The players are more affected by it than anyone. This is their livelihood, right? Winning is the bottom line.

"I know the fans are frustrated, and I understand that. We’re frustrated, too."

Also not pleased with how they look in this 2-6 outfit are the players. True, if the CFL playoffs started today the Bombers would be in (thanks to the crossover rule and the one-win stumbles by Edmonton and B.C.), but that means little to the Winnipeg side.

"The cookie hasn’t crumbled the way we would have liked it to," right tackle Kelly Butler said following the 39-17 loss in Montreal — the fourth straight Winnipeg defeat. "You’re judged by your record and we know the hard reality of where we’re at right now.

"It doesn’t look good….it’s not good."

A 2-6 mark usually screams for change but unfortunately for those doing the barking, all that yelling will probably be for naught. The message out of the Bombers brain trust — which includes Mack and head coach Paul LaPolice — is that there will be no quick fixes; no drastic overhaul or massive roster purge during the bye.

Over the weekend, Mack told the Free Press that only a few new faces will be in camp when the Bombers get back to work next week, as the search for players who have more upside than the ones currently on the roster is not as simple as grabbing some guy off the street and crossing your fingers. NFL camps are starting to shrink in size, yes, but those bubble players aren’t quick to head to Canada just yet, not with more lucrative practice roster spots in the four-down game still up for grabs.

"That’s not an excuse, though," Mack said, noting that part of the goal heading into this season was to establish some stability within the organization. "The overall accountability has to start with me — and I accept that. There are some things that I’ve seen that we’re excited about, but I’m disappointed in how we’ve finished games. It’s unacceptable.

"We need to be better and I believe we will be better."

adam.wazny@freepress.mb.ca