Blue one missed kick from 5-0

Club enjoys hot July, but who knows what August brings?

By: Adam Wazny Posted: 1:00 AM CDT Saturday, Jul. 30, 2011

Five games in July and the Winnipeg Blue Bombers have never sounded better.

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Five games in July and the Winnipeg Blue Bombers have never sounded better.

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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 30/07/2011 (5186 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Five games in July and the Winnipeg Blue Bombers have never sounded better.

Apologies for the clumsy Blue Rodeo reference come with an ask that you consider this: If kicker Justin Palardy connects on a late field goal into a stiff breeze against Calgary, the Bombers are cruising into the long weekend with a swagger worthy of an undefeated team.

And who saw that before the season?

MIKE DEAL / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS
The Bomber defence ganged up on the Lions Thursday night, allowing B.C. only 297 yards of offence. — MIKE DEAL / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS The Bomber defence ganged up on the Lions Thursday night, allowing B.C. only 297 yards of offence.

Go back to 2003 — eight years ago — that’s the last time the Bombers jumped out to an impressive 4-1 start. That Blue edition finished with an 11-7 record when the dust settled, so trust yourself that bigger and better things could be coming for the 2011 Bombers.

Note the usage of the word ‘could’ as a way to keep things in perspective.

Perspective. There’s been a lot of that around the organization this week after the sudden passing of iconic coach Richard Harris. His death leaves a big void in the soul of the club and while the players responded with an exhausting 25-20 win over the B.C. Lions Thursday night — an effort built on a numbness not many could truly get their heads (or hearts) around — one wonders how things will play out when they return to the practice field Monday.

“GOOD MORNING, BIG BLUE!”

That was Harris’ familiar greeting to players as they would stretch before practice on the Canad Inns Stadium field turf most days. His deep voice would boom across the field and reverberate into the corners of the upper deck, as a handful of players would bark pleasantries back at him.

It’s those little Harris-isms the players say they’re going to miss the most, those tiny windows into what kind of man he truly was, and those absences will eventually morph into one large heavy entity that will surround the club as the stages of grief go through their natural progression.

Again, this past week in Bomberland has been about shock; about trying to explain why unexplainable things happen to great people and trying to keep things in perspective in relation to pro sport and real life.

The next challenge for this group off the field is just starting.

“It’s going to be hard,” defensive end Odell Willis said after the contest. “But that’s what life is — challenges you got to get through. Just like football. It’s hard work.”

They say things get easier over time. Put that in perspective as it pertains to the July just churned out by players, a stellar four-win showing that took this same club a full season to accomplish last year. Now ask the question: Do things get easier over time for this club — a group that has been together for over a season now — or have they just taken advantage of lesser opponents through the first month?

The accountants in the tempered expectations department will tell you three of the wins this year have come against clubs that are a combined 1-8 this young season (heading into Friday’s action). Does that cast a shadow on this July sunshine for Winnipeg or does it merely mean that in an eight-member league, some teams have to win and some teams have to lose?

Paul LaPolice, who spent most of the 2010 season trying to keep things in good lighting as the losses on a 4-14 disaster mounted, attempted to put his current record in perspective Friday.

“It’s early,” the Bombers head coach said, speaking to how quickly fortunes can change. “I mean, we’re 4-1, we matched our win total from one year ago in five games. I would say it’s a perspective thing.

“We are a few things away from being 5-0; we’re probably a few things away from being (2-3). So, you just have to keep staying the course. I’m sure the B.C. Lions are a couple things away from being 3-2 themselves.”

With all that’s happened this season — both between the lines and between each other — it’s been quite a July for the Bombers, one many will never forget.

A new month starts Monday.

adam.wazny@freepress.mb.ca