The Crimpy Ascent up Brokebuck Mountain
- Mike A.
Hoo boy. Well kids, the very sad day we have been putting off has arrived. The moment we have been trying not to consider since the early days of training camp has finally put a brick through our window and if you have been listening to the smart people, you know that the 2011 Winnipeg Blue Bomber season is quite possibly teetering on the edge, staring down into the eternal abyss. Everyone and their grandmother predicted that Buck Pierce would be going down hurt at some point this year. Congrats to all the self-styled fortune tellers out there, your prediction just sailed in. Bunch of worthless Nostradamus’ if you ask me, an Angry Bomber Fan.
Last week we sat and watched a number of terrible things happen in Toronto one after the other. Buck Pierce went down. Backup QB Alex Brink went down. Running backs Fred Reid and then his replacement Carl Volny both went down. And Doug Brown went down as well. Oh and so did Brendon LaBatte and Rodney Fritz. Shee-EEsh. It’s not enough to get stabbed in the upper torso these days from what I gather. Multiple stab wounds are what is needed to put your opponent down for good. The fact that Winnipeg only lost by a point with less than ahem, 4 minutes on the clock is probably one of the better scenarios that could have been predicted if one could have foreseen the carnage on the field last week. Gotta give the Blue and Gold credit for dying with their boots on. I’ve seen them fold a lot worse than that over the years, all things considered.
Here at the Ashburn Compound, I had actually hoped for Brink to get more reps in than he has so far this year. If you’ve watching Pierce week to week, you’ve often loudly exclaimed, “How ghastly to see the number of times that poor chap has been rocked hard!” It’s been open season on this Buck all year long and it was only a matter of time before he was to be helped off the field. The fact that Buck has managed to scrape himself up every time until last week is truly a feat of strength. Come November, a healthy Buck Pierce is more valuable than an unhealthy Buck Peirce tonight at Canad Inns stadium. So move over #1, it’s Alex Brink’s time to call the shots in this nerve-wrecked shithole town.
Winnipeg’s offense is clinically predictable and is making the rest of the team pay dearly with imcompletions, turnovers and horrid penalties. With Alex Brink hopefully in good enough shape to remain upright tonight, one quickly imagines the on-field horrors that await a city that has been gathering momentum and faith in the 2011 Bombers. To see it all dashed and destroyed at home against the Al’s seems cruel, horrible and even worse, familiar. Yours truly just finally lifted his head high enough to feel good about an 8-4 record. It’s not my intent to ring the bells of doom and gloom, it’s just that people like me are very much in the habit of watching seasons slip through our fingers like sands through the hourglass. The haunting specter of Death has not come to watch the game with us tonight, but you just know that the ‘79 two tone Coup De Ville hearse parked outside my house right now is most likely not the property of Jesus, in town with some encouraging words and a bottle or two of the Masi Campofiorin for all.
It seemed to me last week that Brink was much quicker in his decision-making processes than he was last year which is a notable improvement. Provided that he has time to do so, running speedy short passes against Montreal could throw the Al’s off. Coach Lapo will need to deep in his mitt of shit for better ways of keeping his off again, off again O Line on the field. Yes, I said “off” there twice in case you thought that was a typo or something. I’m still not sold on the O Line and with my expectations where they are, it will take an ofensive domination of the Al’s tonight to stop the sad sniffling and head shaking as far as I’m concerned.
And there are also doubts about Anthony Calvillo’s season as well. The man is a living legend and I will be sorry to see him go when he decides he’s had enough of all this. Until then, AC and the Al’s are a middle-of-the-pack team in the east with a 7-5 record coming into Winnipeg tonight. It appears that the Al’s are cashing in their chips this year, having lost to the Greg Marshall’s Riders as well as the Bombers twice and Hamilton twice as well. Montreal is no longer a sure bet and teams facing them need not worry about fielding a squad of Terminators to beat then. Having said that, Calvillo continues to throw some of the best strikes I’ve seen all year including a few last week in Edmonton against the Eskimos before being knocked the fuck out by Marcus Howard in the third. One takes no joy in seeing AC’s limp body literally bouncing off the turf after the initial hit and I’m glad that he was able to get up on his own power. Now that he’s up again, what damage is he possible of doing in front of another stadiu full of crazed and starving fans?
Things are feeling more than just a bit tense around here now. It’s too soon for the crowd to start gatheringdown the street from us. There is a calm in the air that is making me feel uneasy. A lot of really bad things happened last week that Winnipeg was unable to bounce back from despite our best efforts. Montreal comes in today in hopes of some revenge for two weeks ago. They are dangerous and I expect them to be poised and focused. Knuckles and jaws are clenched just a bit tighter in these fall weeks when the stakes on the field become increasingly higher. We are firmly re-positioned as the underdog once again. What message will be sent to the rest of the league tonight at Canad Inns stadium? Fasten your seatbelts ladies and gentlemen; this is not going to be a very smooth ride tonight. We hope to see you on the same side of the abyss when it is all said and done.
Go Blue!
