Every week, Blue Bomber offensive lineman Brendon LaBatte takes you behind the scenes with his weekly, “Brendon’s Blog”.
Brendon’s Blog – Kickoff in the Hammer
Written by: Brendon LaBatte
Welcome!
I’m really excited to be able to communicate weekly with the great fans of the Canadian Football League and in particular, the amazing fans of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers.
As I’m sure most of you are, I too am glad training camp is over, and we’re finally moving into the regular season. We open up our season on the road in Hamilton and leave bright and early tomorrow morning. Our flight leaves at 8:00 a.m. to Toronto, then we hop on a charter bus and head over to Hamilton and right to the stadium for a walkthrough.
After seeing the Ti-Cats four times last year in the first seven weeks and not since then, it’s going to be fun to reacquaint ourselves with our rivals to the east. The trip to Hamilton will always serve as a refresher for me. I played my first professional game ever in Ivor Wynne Stadium so going back I’m able to recall my mindset of when I was a rookie. I remember telling myself I would be good at the things that didn’t require talent (stay on side, know my assignment) and give maximum effort until the whistle. I had already accepted that physically I might lose some battles but I wanted to learn from it and be ready to go the next play.
I remember the feeling of how desperately I needed to become an employee of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers. I still try to model my game off the same principles but going back to that stadium and listening to the same songs as I did for pre-game four years ago when this dream all began is always exciting. Heading to battle in hostile territory (Ivor Wynne is unique in that the fans are 10 ft away from the sidelines, right on top of the dug out benches, so we can hear everything, but listen to nothing) and being one of the twelve men on offence can have its challenges. The noise can make communication more difficult, but far from impossible.
We’ve come along ways in terms of communication and recognition of opposing defences from a year ago, but this week will be our real test. Our preparation will be reflected in how well we adapt to the situations that arise during the football game. Season openers usually feature a look from the defence that we haven’t seen before. Coaches have been scheming for almost eight months and they have little tricks that they’ve been waiting until week one to use. We need to be ready for this and if they do get us the first time, its imperative that we don’t let it happen again. Making adjustments as the game progresses is something you’ve got to be ready for every game but particularly in week one.
The key to the Offensive Line is getting all five brains to think like one. There is a lot of subtle communication that needs to occur to protect Buck, and spring Freddie – we have the fortune of blocking for some great football players. Teams around the league are aware of this and may try to attack us in ways that put extra stress on the Offensive Line. We need to recognize, adapt, and execute as a group when this happens in order to stay a productive offence.
Thanks for reading the first ever instalment of Brendon’s Blog, I appreciate each and every one of you and look forward to posting next week. Now, it’s time to pack for the Hammer.
