It’s right there in the black and white of the game notes culled together by the Canadian Football League’s ace statistician, Steve Daniels.
And the numbers, historically speaking, do not seem to favour the Winnipeg Blue Bombers as they head into the second game of their home-and-home doubleheader with the B.C. Lions this Saturday in Vancouver.
Consider: dating back to 1996, the Bombers have been in 41 back-to-back sets and have swept only four of those series, splitting 20 others and we’re swept 17 more. That’s not just an ugly total, it’s ugly with a capital ‘UGH.’
Still, here’s the other way to look at this – and it certainly is how the current Bombers are approaching this weekend: two of those four back-to-back sweeps have come in in the last couple of seasons and the club is 6-2 in its last four doubleheaders, with the two defeats coming in the opening games.
So, over to you, Andrew Harris on all of this…
“That’s old news,” said the Bombers running back with a shrug. “That’s the past. I’m not looking at the past. I know that we had a good week of practice. We’ve got good momentum right now and we’re ready to go to Vancouver to win a game. I can’t really comment on the past.”
That was a common refrain in Bomberland this week as the club prepared for Saturday’s sequel. There is considerable angst building in Vancouver – the Lions have lost two straight after winning their opener and are contemplating a quarterback change – and the Bombers expect their opponent to get up off the mat swinging, especially in front of their own crowd.
“In front of their fans they’re definitely going to try and make it a different game,” said defensive back Kevin Fogg. “You have to expect that because at the end of the day, they’re professionals and they don’t want to come out and have a game like they did last week and not bounce back from that.
“These back-to-back games are always so crucial to hone in on what you are supposed to do and not get so happy if you played well the first game. They’re going to come and give us their best shot… especially in their place.”
That’s the thing here… football types are also trained to live in the moment and not revisit, for example, a stretch between 2005-2015 when this franchise suffered through 26 sets of back-to-backs without a sweep, losing both games 13 times and splitting 13 others.
Those numbers, just like the doubleheaders Bombers head coach Mike O’Shea has lived through during his days as the boss here, will mean diddly squat when the ball is put on the tee Saturday night.
That’s why O’Shea offered this after practice Thursday when asked why it is difficult for teams to win both games of a back-to-back:
“I don’t know that it is,” he began. “We had some success against them in the first game and we’ve got to make sure that the players learn from their mistakes and prepare like they always do.
“I don’t know if we’re concerned with it being back to back… we approach everything like it’s just the next game. It’s a game against the B.C. Lions, not the second game against the B.C. Lions, right?
“You know what worked. You plan for two games, so you have some stuff left over from the plan and the players understand that they made enough mistakes that they can correct them and play better than we did.”
BOMBER REPORT | July 12, 2018
The Bombers completed their final full practice today in advance of flying out to Vancouver tomorrow for Saturday’s game against the B.C. Lions. Here are some notes and quotes from today’s session…
OUCH REPORT:
LB Chandler Fenner has not practised this week, but Bombers head coach Mike O’Shea would not rule him out for Saturday’s game.
“Some guys don’t need to practice,” said O’Shea. “We’re talking about veteran players, we talk about this all the time whether they need any reps in practice or not before they play. It’s based on the individual, but with veteran guys you can usually figure it out. They’re in meetings and he’s a pro. We’ll make that decision closer to when we have to set our roster.”
The club could move Maurice Leggett back to the strong-side linebacker spot if Fenner can’t go, but could also move around the linebackers – Jovan Santos-Knox, Kyrie Wilson and Ian Wild – who flank Adam Bighill as another possibility.
O’Shea did confirm that linebacker Shayne Gauthier, who leads the CFL in special teams tackles, is “not going to be ready for us for a few weeks, for sure.”
VETERAN FACE ON BOARD:
Jeff Hecht has made a career out of scrapping, fighting and clawing for every paycheque he’s earned over an eight-year CFL career that has taken him from Montreal to Calgary to Saskatchewan and now Winnipeg.
The Edmonton, Alberta/St. Mary’s Huskies product was undrafted back in 2011, despite good testing numbers. And when he lines up for the Bombers Saturday night, it will be his 101st CFL game.
“I’m ready to go,” said Hecht on Thursday. “I needed a couple of days to get the playbook down, like anybody does. The thing about football is it’s pretty simple, it’s just the different language different coaches use, different wording and different verbiage. That’s the main thing.”
Hecht got the call from the Bombers not long after injuries to Derek Jones and Shayne Gauthier have hurt their Canadian depth. And to get the call from an organization that puts such a high value on special teams – President and CEO Wade Miller, GM Kyle Walters and O’Shea all cut their teeth on specials – was a bonus for Hecht.
That said….
“My expectations for myself will never be exceeded by anyone’s expectations for me. I hold myself to an exceptional standard. I would expect them to hold me to the same in that I won’t want to disappoint them.
“Excuse my language, but when I first talked to Mike O’Shea when I got here I said, ‘I’m not here to (expletive deleted) around, I’m here to win.’ That’s all he needed to hear. I think it’s going to be a solid relationship moving forward.
“One thing that has allowed me to be successful is my football acumen, if you look at my combine numbers and the fact I went undrafted, it’s really the only answer as to why I’m still here eight years later. That, and my work ethic… personally, I’ll put that against any human being on two legs, to tell you the truth. That and my football IQ have helped me adapt and stay ahead of the curve rather than constantly playing catch up.
“Being undrafted, but playing this long is definitely a thing I hang on to. It might not be the prettiest eight years, because this is my fourth team now. It’s not the most storied career. But I have been to two Grey Cups, I have a Grey Cup ring and my name is on the Grey Cup. That’s forever. No one is going to take that off there. Being a guy who had to break the door down and was then allowed to stay – very much like Mike Miller, who is also an undrafted guy – it’s one of my most important accomplishments.”
NEW/OLD FACE BEHIND CENTRE IN B.C.?:
The Lions haven’t confirmed as much, but indications Thursday from Vancouver hint that B.C. might be handing the starting QB chores to Travis Lulay.
At #BCLions practice: Travis Lulay heading to meeting with Wally Buono & medical staff but two affirmative votes on his return as starter are in and the QB is leaning the same way. Lulay: ‘My message (to Lions) is I’ve had a good week’
— Lowell Ullrich (@FifthQtr) July 12, 2018
“You know both of them,” said O’Shea. “They’ve both been in the league for a while. Is there a little difference? Sure. But we prepare against different quarterbacks all the time, so we’ll see come game time who’s back there.”
