The Bombers’ take on the ‘cheap’ issue:

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 05/11/2010 (5768 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

PRESIDENT Jim Bell weighs in on the business operations of the football team:

ON THE TEAM’S REPUTATION FOR BEING TIGHT: “I’ve heard that from time to time, but I don’t hear it as much anymore.

And when I say ‘anymore’ it’s not just this year, I haven’t heard it as much over the last few years. I would say this when we look at spending dollars on anything, whether it be in football ops or sales and marketing, you like to get the best bang for your buck.

“And with all due respect, when I look at the financial statements from around the league I would argue that there’s too much fat. Granted, there were times — not that long ago, 10 or 11 years ago — when the Winnipeg Football Club was down and out. But if you look at recent history, some of the teams that have gotten into trouble, in my view, have had a lot of fat. I don’t believe for a minute that this club is cheap.”

ON HOW TO CHANGE THAT PERCEP­TION: “Can we do things to improve the professionalism of the club? That is something I would not be averse to looking at. The professionalism of the club falls under the overall integrity.

Are we trying to enhance that in every way? Absolutely we are. But you don’t just throw money to the wind. It needs to be part of an overall strategy, whether it be in football or on the busi­ness side.”

ON HOW A NEW FACILITY WOULD CHANGE THE FRANCHISE’S REPUTA­TION AND SERVE AS A MARKETING/ RECRUITING/IMAGING TOOL: “I have to believe it will. And I think it will change the image exponentially.

“All else being equal and we’re going have to player ‘X’ and we have a state­of- the-art facility vs. something less…

yes, that could tip the scales in your fa­vour. Our club along with David (Asper) at Creswin is making sure we take care of all the amenities on game day.

“We’re having to get by for another year. We’ve seen the plans for the new place, but I don’t think we can even im­agine what it’s going to look like when the ribbon is cut and we walk into a new facility. It will be like a breath of fresh air for our football players, for our fans and for the community.”

NOTE:

TWO minor corrections since the ser­ies began being published: A CFL source said the Bombers no longer hold QB Colt McCoy’s neg list rights.

The sixth-round draft pick traded to Saskatchewan, according to the CFL head office, was not part of the Adarius Bowman-Dan Goodspeed deal. Instead, it was in the trade that brought James Johnson to Winnipeg. In any case, two of the three 2011 picks traded by the Bombers — for Lenny Walls, Johnson and current Bomber Kelly Butler — involve players no longer here.

— Tait