Blue have feasted on ‘Cats

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 25/10/2012 (5042 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

This is the part of the Winnipeg Blue Bomber-Hamilton Tiger-Cat storied rivalry Glenn January will reminisce about eagerly…

It’s been six straight wins for the Bombers over the Ticats dating back to last season and including the 2011 East final victory that catapulted them to the Grey Cup.

And this is the part of the Bomber-Ticat storied rivalry January, Winnipeg’s mammoth left tackle, would just as soon forget…

The last regular-season game of 2009 with the Bombers needing a win for a shot at the playoffs. And that memorable — or not-so memorable — moment when a handful of Ticats celebrated a late touchdown by hopping into a fishing boat parked in the end zone.

“You know what,” said January after practice Wednesday, “that whole scene is still very vivid. That still resonates in my mind whenever I think about going up against these guys late in the fall. They came in here and really spoiled our party.”

Winning streaks against one rival are common in this wacky little loop, but asking around Wednesday there was no clear consensus as to why the Bombers have regularly taken the Ticats over their knee in the past two seasons (the last loss came on Aug. 13, 2010).

The coaching staffs, personnel and starting quarterbacks have changed. The wins have come here in Winnipeg and in Steeltown. They’ve come in the heat of the summer and on those frigid days late in a season.

If there is any one link, it’s this: five of the six Bomber wins have featured Buck Pierce at the helm — Joey Elliott threw for 406 yards in the other — and the ground game has been dominant.

“I don’t know, maybe it’s the way they scheme our offence and the way we prepare for them,” said Pierce with a shrug.

“It’s just confidence and when you have success against a certain group, you just go out there and you play loose. You have a good confidence about what you see and the concepts going in and a good understanding of what personnel you’re going up against.”

Added safety Ian Logan: “I don’t know. I guess you could say it’s the same reason why Calgary has kept beating us. Saskatchewan, too. Maybe it’s because we’ve played them so many times we now have some sort of edge. But there’s no real explanation to the advantage we have over them.”

Nor does there need to be any plausible explanation. Just as there is no real logical reason for two 5-11 teams to still have a shot at a playoff spot this late in the season.

In order to qualify for the post-season, the Bombers would need a couple of small miracles to unfold. First, the Edmonton Eskimos must drop their final two games. And then the Bomb Squad, which hasn’t won consecutive games since last August, must grab wins in the last game in Ivor Wynne Stadium history on Saturday and over Montreal in the final contest at Canad Inns Stadium.

“Back-to-back last-game evers in two stadiums… a lot of history here,” said January. “There’s a lot of storylines to be written about this week. But the only one we care about is, ‘Bombers maintain playoff hopes.’ “

ed.tait@freepress.mb.ca Twitter: @WFPEdTait

DE-CLAWING

A brief look at the current six-game win streak the Bombers have going over Hamilton:

Win No. 6 — Sept. 21, 2012:

Hamilton 12 at Winnipeg 34

Buck Pierce throws for 288 yards, Chad Simpson rumbles for 134 and the Bombers snap a four-game skid to give Tim Burke his first ‘W’ as head coach.

Win No. 5 — Aug. 16, 2012:

Hamilton 25 at Winnipeg 32

Joey Elliott throws for 406 yards, Simpson rushes for 86 and the Bombers score 17 points on six Ticat turnovers

Win No. 4 — Nov. 20, 2011 (East final):

Hamilton 3 at Winnipeg 19

In what was supposed to be the last game at Canad Inns, Pierce starts, but it is Chris Garrett and the O-line is dominant in chewing up 190 yards along the ground to send Winnipeg to the Grey Cup.

Win No. 3 — Oct. 7, 2011:

Winnipeg 33 at Hamilton 17

Pierce throws for a TD to Greg Carr, Garrett rips off 131 yards and Brandon Stewart returns a Kevin Glenn pass 89 yards for a score.

Win No. 2 — Aug. 26, 2011:

Hamilton 27 at Winnipeg 30

Remember these days? The Bombers post their fifth-straight win to go to 7-1 as Pierce throws for two TDs.

Win No. 1 — July 1, 2011:

Winnipeg 24 at Hamilton 16

Opening night, and the Bombers rally from a 16-9 halftime deficit for the victory, the critical play an Alex Suber interception return.

SWEET MEMORIES

OR HORRIFIC

NIGHTMARES?

Some thoughts from the Bombers on playing in the last game at Ivor Wynne:

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Buck Pierce — “It’s a great stadium. The visitor’s locker room is in a little bit in need of some upkeep, but it’s always a good atmosphere when you play there… It’s just good quality CFL tradition playing there… the dugouts and having everybody yell at you from the sidelines and up top. It’s always a fun atmosphere to play in.”

Ian Logan — “That stadium definitely has special meaning for me. We won the Vanier Cup there in 2005 when I was in my fifth year at (Wilfrid) Laurier.”

Tim Burke — “I’ve got some terrible memories there, I know that. Last year in our opening game when we beat them out there, that was a good memory. I still remember (Alex) Suber doing the “plank” in the end zone.

“But I’ve had a lot worse memories there. When I was in Montreal, two years in a row they beat us something like 50-7. Not very pleasant. I’ll be glad to see that old thing torn down.”