Big Blue 10-1 dogs to win Grey Cup

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This article was published 15/06/2013 (4476 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

THE oddsmakers have rendered their verdict and they don’t think much of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers’ chances to win this year’s Grey Cup.

The website www.bodog.ca issued its Grey Cup odds Friday morning and assigned the Bombers the longest shot on the board at 10-1.

Bombers head coach Tim Burke said that sounded like an opportunity to him.

“Maybe I will slip down to the U.S and lay a bet,” Burke laughed during his daily media availability following practice at Investors Group Field on Friday.

Burke wondered what information the oddsmakers based their prognostications upon.

“They’ve got to make some odds somehow. The hard thing, I think, for guys who set the odds is they don’t really know the inner workings of teams. Especially in the off-season, I imagine that would be really hard.”

The bodog website proclaimed the B.C. Lions favourite to win this year’s Grey Cup at 7-2, followed by the Calgary Stampeders at 4-1, the Montreal Alouettes at 9-2, the Toronto Argonauts at 11-2, the Saskatchewan Roughriders at 13-2, the Hamilton Tiger-Cats at 7-1 and the Edmonton Eskimos at 9-1.

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When the Bombers released two of their four training-camp punters Friday, it was pretty clear the verdict was in: Incumbent Mike Renaud’s done more than enough to win back his job.

“It’s the nature of the business,” Renaud said of the cuts of Winnipegger Brett Cameron and Australian Tim Hutchison. “It was to be expected. You just keep moving forward. The coaches obviously made a tough decision.

“I’ll just keep doing what I’m doing and the rest will take care of itself.”

Renaud, entering his fifth CFL season, said 2013 is his best training camp ever.

“I don’t know if it’s necessarily because of the competition but I trained really hard and I’m healthy and want to do the best I’ve ever done,” he said.”

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Punter Billy Pavlopoulos, who remains, now has time to make the case to stay on the practice roster.

“Mike’s really performed well,” Burke said Friday. “We didn’t see anybody beating him out and we felt like Billy was probably the next best guy.”

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— The Bombers released LB Chad Faulcon, DL Marcus Hyde, DB Sam Pope and DB Jawann Westerman.

— DB Jonathan Hefney was back practicing one day after Burke said he’d be out for a week with an injured toe.

— Wiecek / Campbell