Bob Irving
CFL.ca
Resiliency is a word we hear quite often in sports. It is used to describe a trait that teams must have if they are to overcome adversity. The “resiliency” of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers is once again being put to the test on the heels of a twp-game losing streak. And this time it’s a different kind of test.
The Bombers lost back to back games to Saskatchewan in early September, and were outscored 72-32 in the process. The sky was falling to many of their fans, but the Bombers rebounded impressively with a win in Montreal.
Now, the Bombers face the challenge of picking themselves up and dusting themselves off after a pair of excruciatingly close losses and heart-breaking setbacks at the hands of the Argonauts and the Alouettes.
The Bombers shot themselves in the foot with turnovers and penalties in coming out on the short end of a 25-24 decision in Toronto on Sept. 24th. To make matters worse, the Bombers lost four starters during the course of that game, three of whom were not able to suit up against Montreal last Friday night in at Canad Inns Stadium.
One of those three was quarterback Buck Pierce, and despite a heroic fourth quarter performance by Pierce’s backup, Alex Brink, they were unable to complete their comeback bid against the Als, losing 34-26 in front of another sell-out crowd of 30,500.
This one had a particularly dramatic ending. The Bombers were behind 29-6 in the third quarter and at least half of the 30-thousand plus headed for the exits on a cool September evening. But a blocked punt that was returned for a touchdown by rookie Henoc Muamba turned the momentum of the game around and Winnipeg fought back to cut Montreal’s lead to 32-26.
After a curious pass interference call against the Alouettes with eight seconds left, the Bombers found themselves in a first and goal situation on the Montreal one-yard line.
However, two unsuccessful quarterback sneaks later, the Bombers dragged themselves to their locker room, depressed and devastated that they blew a chance to win by failing twice to convert what should be one of the simplest plays in football.
There was much controversy about the officiating. Fans were in an uproar believing Brink got into the end zone on the first sneak. They also felt there should have been one second left on the clock after the second failed plunge from the one. Bomber head coach Paul LaPolice, as he always does, refused to make a major issue of the calls.
He pointed to four Winnipeg turnovers and the colossal failure from the one-yard line as the primary reasons Winnipeg lost.
The burning question for the second-year Bomber coach was “How does your team rebound and overcome the disappointment of back-to-back setbacks in games you could have, maybe should have won?”
LaPolice responded “I think they will get over it, short memory spans, they’ll get over it. I think that’s something we’ve done a good job of. There are many different levels of investment. Make sure yours is as high as it can be.”
“Hamilton is a good team that’s playing well, we have to get focused, if we’re worried about this past loss and not ready to play the Tiger-Cats on Friday night in Hamilton, it will be a long night.,” said he coach.
“We need to remember we are still in first place. I know we have lost four of our last five, but fortunately the season series with Montreal isn’t over yet, they come back here three 3 weeks, we just have to take care of our business in the next couple of weeks.”
The Blue Bombers five games left and all figure to be crucial.
LaPolice agreed that his team’s “resiliency” will be put to the severest of tests when they visit a Hamilton team that is coming off decisive victories over Calgary and Toronto.
