Good effort, better Buck next time

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 20/09/2011 (5438 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

My, how the seasons do change this time of year. Thanks to a 25-23 win in Montreal Sunday afternoon, the Winnipeg Blue Bombers are enjoying a dramatic reversal of fortune as summer turns to fall.

With an 8-3 record Winnipeg is in top spot in the East Division, four points up on the Alouettes and two points up on Calgary and Edmonton (both 7-4) for the overall CFL lead.

Not only did the Bombers beat the team in a game everyone was waiting for, they also have completely distanced themselves from the 2010 season — a 4-14 nightmare that featured such memorable highlights as out-of-town-scoreboard wishing and dreaming of a crossover playoff position.

No talk like that this year — the complete opposite, in fact — but don’t go looking for champagne in the coach’s office just yet.

“It feels good to be able to come in and know we control our destiny,” coach Paul LaPolice told reporters Monday. “We feel good that we can control our destiny. All this stuff (being at the top of the league) isn’t important — it’s important at the end of the year.”

The players have an extra day off today before hitting the practice field Wednesday in advance of a meeting with Toronto Saturday night. And what about those two-win, last place Argos — any concern of a possible emotional letdown from the Bombers, having just vanquished the team everyone said legitimate contenders would have to beat?

The Saskatchewan film is still in the DVD player.

“I tell the guys, ‘Look what happened before when we faced a 1-7 team,'” LaPolice said. “As I talked to (Montreal coach Marc Trestman) after the game, this is a league where anybody is going to beat anybody. This is pro football and the parity is there. We have to play a very good football game, on the road, in a place that’s difficult to win.

“Toronto is a different atmosphere — it’s like playing a game in a mall,” LaPolice added, referencing the low hum coming from a typically small and disengaged crowd at Rogers Centre.

BETTER BUCK: LaPolice was thrilled with the game management and vision of quarterback Buck Pierce, who went 20-of-29 for 312 yards and two touchdowns Sunday afternoon.

There’s still room for improvement, LaPolice said. “Truly, I think he can play better. I told him a couple weeks ago — you can be the best in the league. He just has to keep playing.”

EARLY TURN: Bombers slotback Cory Watson’s 92-yard catch-and-run early in the first quarter against Montreal was the first sign of the remarkable things that were to come the rest of the game.

Watson came up nine yards short of the end zone, but it didn’t matter as quarterback Buck Pierce found Greg Carr for the touchdown two plays later.

Watson suggested his run served more of a purpose than just setting up the game’s first touchdown.

“I think it was more to get the fans out of it. The fans here are really quite loud, as you could tell at the end of the game. And once we got that big play, they weren’t nearly as loud as they are normally. That helped a lot.”

Not many observers were expecting the Bombers to win in Montreal and Watson said experience suggests critics will continue to underestimate his team even after the big win over the Alouettes.

“It’s always the case. It’s always the case that no one seems to take us seriously. So we just have to go out and prove it every day.”

TOUGH TICKET: The home rematch with the Alouettes (Sept. 30) is sold out, but the Bombers have kept the temporary bleachers (an extra 500 seats) along the south end zone in place.

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Those tickets are on sale now. Winnipeg is working on a five-game sellout streak at Canad Inns Stadium.

EXTRA POINTS: LaPolice doesn’t plan on making a change at the kick return position. Tim Brown, who fumbled once and had little impact on field position, will get another chance in Toronto… The Bombers suffered no injuries in Montreal.

adam.wazny@freepress.mb.ca

— with files from Paul Wiecek