If the Winnipeg Blue Bombers are emotionally scarred from Saturday’s crushing last-second loss in Calgary, they were certainly hiding it well some 72 hours later.
The music blared in the Bombers clubhouse after their first on-session practice since losing to the Stampeders 36-34 on the weekend. Justin Medlock was owning the Ping-Pong table, and there was just enough laughter and chatter to serve as evidence that the end of the seven-game win streak is now miles back in their collective rear-view mirror.
And so, any references to moral victories, or measuring sticks, or any attempt to find some sort of silver lining in rallying from a 24-zip deficit was violently stiff-armed to the ground on Tuesday after practice.
“We’re so far past that. We are on to Edmonton,” said head coach Mike O’Shea. “I don’t even remember what you guys are talking about. We lost. But it’s only one.”
“We’re not wounded. It’s not like that. It’s one loss.”
Coach O’Shea
Now, it’s not like the Bombers torched the game film from Saturday’s loss, which dropped them to 8-5 on the season. O’Shea said many of the players were in on Sunday to dissect the tape and there were plenty of admissions on Tuesday that their first half in Calgary was simply not acceptable.
But a club can only beat itself up for so long. Besides, with the Edmonton Eskimos here on Friday it’s not only a short week for the Bombers, but what lies ahead is a glorious opportunity to move closer to a coveted playoff spot.
A win Friday would not only give the Bombers a six-point cushion over the Eskimos (currently 6-7) with four games remaining, it would also mean Winnipeg would own the season series 2-1.
“Any time it’s a Western opponent it’s a four-point game, not a two-point game,” said Bombers quarterback Matt Nichols. “We can really swing the season our way this week. I know how important it is and I’m sure they feel the same way themselves so it’s going to be two teams with a playoff atmosphere.”
If there were any lingering effects from the weekend, they come not from what happened on the field, but what happened to Mylan Hicks late Saturday/early Sunday after he was shot dead at a Calgary nightclub.
“You think about that tragedy… that could have been any one of us,” said Bombers defensive end Jamaal Westerman, fighting back tears. “Our prayers go out to their team, to his family, to his friends. I mean, I’m good friends with (Jerome) Messam and if we would have stayed the night (instead of flying back after the game) we could have been there, too.
“It’s a small league. A guy just comes for an opportunity looking to play ball. You think about things like that and, really, a lot of this stuff seems so insignificant. You know… 23 years-old, he was just coming to Canada to play football and live out his dream. I don’t know him, but it could have been any one of my teammates, any of my friends, my younger brother… it’s just sad.
“It makes you put things in perspective. This is an awesome game to play, a great game, a fantastic league to play in and at times things get testy, but we’re still together.”
Jamaal Westerman
“We still have a brotherhood of players… we know we battle back and forth during the game but at the end of the day you always want guys to do well. Stuff like that (Hicks’ death) makes you think and it kind of weighs on you. His dream was no different than mine or anyone else’s in this locker room.
“I know how his teammates must be feeling, just thinking about it and how devastating it is.”
BOMBER REPORT – SEPTEMBER 27th
NEW HANDS ON DECK:
The Bombers added a couple of import receivers on Tuesday, bringing about Kieren Duncan and Quinshad Davis.
-Duncan (5-10, 180, Colorado State Pueblo) played four seasons with the ThunderWolves as both a receiver and returner. In his senior season, he was All-Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference First-Team Offense and First Team Kick Returner after averaging 30.1 yards per return. He also added 36 catches for 622 yards and six touchdowns.
-Davis (6-3, 215, North Carolina) played four seasons with the Tar Heels, starting 47 of 52 games. He finished his college career with a school record 205 catches for over 2,600 yards and his 25 touchdowns is a school record. He attended camp with the Detroit Lions this year.
OUCH REPORT:
RB Andrew Harris, LB Ian Wild and WR/KR Quincy McDuffie were all back at work on Tuesday in their fight to return from the injured list. Wild took his usual spot with the No. 1 defence, McDuffie had some reps with the starting O, but Harris’ work was limited.
“He was out there running around a little bit today,” said O’Shea when asked for an update on Harris. “Usually the way we do it is he’ll go see Al (Couture, Bombers athletic therapist) now, he’ll look at it and we’ll see how it feels tomorrow morning and go from there.”
FYI:
Flanders was in the locker room after practice, both his hands coated in wax and then enclosed in sealed clear plastic bags filled with air. It was, needless to say, an odd look.
“I’ve never heard of it until I got here,” said Flanders, grinning. “I don’t know what it does. It’s supposed to keep my hands soft.”
Flanders has been solid in relief of Harris, with 30 carries for 197 yards and two TDs in his last two starts. But to answer a common question these days, O’Shea doesn’t see the two of them on the active roster at the same time.
“I get asked that a lot,” said O’Shea. “Not right now. The way we’re built and the way the offence is running I don’t know how you get them both on. We could design a package to get them both on the field at once, but there’s only one ball. Then you’ve got to think about who is coming off… the way we’re building our roster week to week right now it doesn’t look like that (is possible) right now.
“He’s been more than capable. Timothy Flanders has been excellent. Andrew is our starting tailback and when he’s ready to come back we’ll make that decision. Timothy was very good in camp and we liked him for a reason. He’s been an exceptional pro. He knows his role and when his time came he’s done exceptionally well for us. But when Andrew’s healthy, we’ll play Andrew.”
That’s a tough deal for Flanders, but he also knows he can only control what he does daily at practice and, if he is in the lineup, what he does when the ball is in his mitts.
“I’m impressed with myself, especially with me being on the practice squad for mostly the whole season,” said Flanders. “I’m just going to wait, see what happens this week and hopefully I can put on another good performance.
“I thought I showed what I can do in the preseason and again against Calgary, one of the better defences in the league. We didn’t win, but I’m just trying to show them what I can do and maybe they’ll trust me more.”
ONE MAN’S OPINION:
Here’s Westerman when asked to respond to post-game comments from Stampeder QB Bo Levi Mitchell, who referred to the Bomber defensive end as a dirty player.
“I saw (his comments). I don’t really want to talk about that. If you watch the film you see what’s up, you see what’s happening on the field. As a quarterback, he’s got five guys protecting him so I guess it’s easy to talk when you are behind five guys.
“It’s a brutal game at some points. Sometimes you can’t take anything. And sometimes you look and say, ‘Man, what’s that guy doing to him?’ And then you watch it on film and you go, ‘Oh, he kind of started it a little bit.’ We play hard. We play to the whistle and the only people I care about are my teammates and my coaching staff. That’s really what I’m focused on.”
BLUE NOTES:
Former Bomber K Sergio Castillo, cut adrift earlier this month, has now been released as well by the Ottawa REDBLACKS… For those Bomber fans asking, Bud Grant will be at Friday’s game for his Ring of Honour ceremony, but will not be available to sign autographs… Not practicing on Tuesday were LB/DB Teague Sherman, safety Macho Harris, and receiver Darvin Adams. Justin Cole was back at his spot at end on the starting defence… Nichols really wanted nothing to do with the idea that Saturday’s game represented a step forward. That question, the players believe, has already been answered. “We just feel like we have a good football team here. We’ve talked about it for the last few weeks… we feel like we can beat anyone as long as we play good football. I’m not big into moral victories. A loss is a loss, a win is a win. When we win games all we talk about is being one point ahead of them at the end of it. We don’t care about how it happens, I don’t care about stats or anything like that. I care about this team winning football games and we didn’t win last week so we’re going to try and get back to winning this week.”
SHOW OF SUPPORT:
The Bombers will wear gold ribbon decals on their helmets this Friday in support of Childhood Cancer Awareness. As well, for every hat sold in the Bomber Store on game day, the club will donate $5 to charities that support childhood cancer patients and their families.
The Dream Factory and Ribbons for Rylan will also be collecting donations in the Tailgate at the Plaza presented by Duraco Windows before the game on Friday.
“Our hearts go out to all the Manitobans who have been touched by childhood cancer,” said Hannah Pratt, Director of Community Relations. “We are proud to support this very important cause to help create awareness and also to raise money for our partner organizations.”
