Eskimos keen to de-swagger Bombers

By: Chris O'Leary Posted: 1:00 AM CDT Saturday, Oct. 15, 2011

EDMONTON -- The Winnipeg Blue Bombers are putting together a stellar season and they'll be the first to tell you about it.

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EDMONTON -- The Winnipeg Blue Bombers are putting together a stellar season and they'll be the first to tell you about it.

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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 15/10/2011 (5162 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

EDMONTON — The Winnipeg Blue Bombers are putting together a stellar season and they’ll be the first to tell you about it.

Swaggerville touched down in Edmonton on Friday, and the team that’s tied for the best record in the CFL (9-5, with Montreal) is looking to complete the regular-season sweep over their hosts, the 8-6 Edmonton Eskimos.

They’re only a game apart in the standings, but the Bombers and the Eskimos are worlds apart when it comes to persona. Simply put, Swaggerville would not fly in Edmonton under head coach Kavis Reed.

Swaggerville is a land where chest thumping gets you in the door and talking smack is the currency. It’s where big defensive plays — and there have been a lot of them this year — are howled over, while players break out in theatrical celebrations for their fans. That’s what happened when the Bombers laid a smackdown on the Eskimos in their previous meeting — a 28-16 win that saw the Winnipeg defence back up its talk, shutting the Eskimos down after an 11-point first quarter.

The game was decided well before the fourth quarter was over and that’s when the Bombers started preening to a sold-out crowd at Canad Inns Stadium.

“We definitely want to even the score,” said Eskimos quarterback Ricky Ray. “They took it to us in the second half of that game and they made a lot of plays on us. They’re coming to our home field, so we have to protect our home field like we did last weekend and keep it coming.”

“What happened in August, we’ve still got a bitter taste in our mouths,” Eskimos linebacker T.J. Hill added. “We’re going to go out there and try to return the favour.”

If they do return the favour, it’ll be without the boisterous celebration. The closest the Eskimos may have come to swaggering this season was when defensive back Rod Williams hauled in an end zone interception against the B.C. Lions in Week 3. He posed in the end zone while teammates pretended to take pictures of him.

Reed squashed that type of activity quickly with a few firm words for him on the sidelines. Williams was so worried over what had transpired that he said he lost sleep between the team’s days off and its return to practice, out of fear he’d be released.

— Postmedia News