Angry Bomber Fans

Crappy Honker Award - Buck Pierce

by H.F. Salisbury

In the great tradition of recognizing “Cactus” Jack Wells and the Happy Honker Award given out on C-Job radio here in Winnipeg, I present for you yet another installment of the Happy Crappy Honker Award given to an individual(s) for a fantastic unforgivable performance directly related to the continued floundering of our once beloved Winnipeg Blue Bombers. This award is handed out after every Winnipeg Blue Bomber loss.

I hate issuing this award.  Especially when I could just as well copied and pasted a previous entry.  The more things change, the more they stay the same.  As much as this should go to the CFL officiating crew, I’m not going to cop out with that one.  We had our own destiny under control.  Win against the 4 - 12 Argonauts and grab first in the East.  Have a bye week.  Get healthy, Go Blue!!!  Simple right.  WRONG.

We can’t ride our Defense to victory each week.  We can’t put ourselves in a “need a major comeback” each week.  We have to score points.  Offense is important and our Offense is not carrying its weight now.  We are the second worst passing offense in the league.  

Buck Pierce got knocked out of the game.  On the play he injured his leg he attempted to throw the ball to a receiver on the East sideline.  He threw a wobbler off his back foot, and floated a gift up to Byron Parker, who intercepted the pass and ran it back 50 yards for a touchdown setting a CFL single season record for 9 interceptions for a touchdowns.  It was a poor decision to throw that ball to that spot and it was an even poorer pass.  Rookie mistake.  Bush-league at best.  

We only lost the game by 5 points.  Turnovers are bad.  Turnovers which yield points for the opposition are a guaranteed way to get a nomination or in this case the choice for this weeks Crappy Honker Award.  Come on down, limping all the way to collect it Buck.  

   

The Numbers Never Lie - Banjo Bowl

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By Professor Kelly

 Hello Angry Bomber Fans! This week is the Banjo Bowl. Winnipeg will look to avenge their 27-7 loss to their bitter rivals the Saskatchewan Roughriders. Let’s recap the Labour Day game.

Buck Pierce was 20 for 28 with a completion percentage of 71.4, through for 209 yards, no touchdowns or interceptions. He ran 4 times for 19 yards and 1 lost fumble. Alex Brink replaced Pierce late in the game. He was 3 for 7 with a completion percentage of 42.9, through for 25 yards no touchdowns and 1 interception. He ran 2 times for 3 yards.

 Darian Durant was 13 for 21 with a completion percentage of 61.9, through for 232 yards, 3 touchdowns and no interceptions. He ran 6 times for 39 yards.

 Fred Reid ran 14 times for 35 yards with an average of 4 yards per carry and no touchdowns. He also caught 2 passes for 21 yards.

Wes Cates ran 18 times for 45 with an average of 4 yards per carry and no touchdowns.

 The Bombers new receiver Kito Poblah caught 9 passes for 89 yards with an average of 9.9 yards per catch. His longest reception was 25 yards.

 Weston Dressler and Chris Getzlaf combined for 5 receptions, 103 yards receiving and 3 touchdowns. Chris Getzlaf had the longest reception of 38 yards.

 Bombers’ defence only recorded 1 sack by Merrill Johnson and 1 turnover which was a forced fumble by Pierre-Luc Labbé.

 Saskatchewan’s defence recorded 1 sack by Jerrell Freeman, 1 interception and one forced fumble by Jerrell Freeman.

 Bombers kicker Justin Palardy was 2 for 3 with an accuracy of 66.7%

 Chris Milo was 2 for 2 with an accuracy of 100%

 Bombers Punter Mike Renaud punted the ball 7 times for 271 with an average of 38.7 yards per punt. His longest punt was 60 yards.

 Chris Milo punted the ball 7 times for 289 yards with average of 41.3 yards per punt. His longest punt was 53 yards.

 The keys to success:

1)      The Bombers need to sack the quarterback more then just once!

2)      The Offence needs to score touchdowns.

3)      Punt the ball farther, Renuad’s average was 38 yards per kick.

Until next week, Professor Kelly is out.

The Numbers Game

Looking for a serious stats breakdown of the CFL? ABF’s newest (and youngest) writer tackles the numbers in a new column for Bombernation.

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by Professor Kelly

Hello Angry Bomber Fans. This week we will be looking at the stats for week 6, when your Winnipeg Blue Bombers (4-1) take on the Edmonton Eskimos (5-0). The Eskimos are looking to stay undefeated after 5 games. The Blue Bombers look to stay in first place in the East and try to beat their number of wins from last season of 4.

 Let us start with the quarterbacks.  For the visiting Eskimos, Ricky Ray is 102 for 152 with a completion percentage of 67.1, 1492 passing yards, 94 running yards, 10 touchdowns and 1 interception. For Winnipeg, Buck Pierce is 75 for 121 with a completion percentage of 62, 1032 passing yards, 112, 6 touchdowns and 4 interceptions.

 For the running backs the Blue Bombers have Fred Reid. He has 374 rushing yards on 84 attempts with an average of 4.5 yards per carry and 1 rushing touchdown. The Edmonton Eskimos have Jerome Messam. He has 274 yards on 55 attempts with an average of 5.0 yards per carry and 2 rushing touchdowns.

 There are a lot of receivers but I will only take the leading receiver of each team. For the Eskimos, Fred Stamps with 578 receiving yards on 50 receptions and 5 touchdowns. For Winnipeg, Terence Edwards with 272 receiving yards on 11 receptions and 4 touchdowns.

 The defensive line for the Bombers is lead by Odell Willis with 11 tackles and 7 sacks. For Edmonton their line is lead by Greg Peach with 7 tackles and 3 sacks.

The Eskimos secondary is lead by Rod Williams with 18 tackles and 3 interceptions. For Winnipeg, Jonathan Hefney with 30 tackles, 1 sack and 1 interception.

The Bombers kicker is Justin Palardy. He is 14 for 19 with an accuracy percentage of 73.7. For Edmonton, Damon Duval, he is 11 for 14 with an accuracy percentage of 78.6.

 Edmonton’s punter is Damon Duval. He has punted 37 times for 1664 yards with an average of 45 yards per punt, he also has 4 singles. For the Bombers, Mike Renaud. He has punted 41 times for 1762 yards with an average of 43 yards per punt. He also has 2 singles.

 The Winnipeg Blue Bombers have a total of 1171 passing yards which is ranked 7^th in the league, as for Edmonton they have a total of 1492 which is ranked 2^nd in the league. Winnipeg is ranked 2^nd in the league in rushing with 562 and Edmonton is in 1^st with 614. Winnipeg has 205 team tackles which is ranked 4^th in the league and Edmonton has 182 tackles which is 6^th in the league.

The Bombers are tied for 2^nd with 7 interceptions and the Eskimos are 1^st with 8.

The Bombers are 1^st in sacks with 21 and Edmonton in 4^th with 8.

Winnipeg is 5^th in points for with 124 and Edmonton in 2^nd with 153.

Winnipeg is in 1^st in points against with 97 and Edmonton is 2^nd with 99.

 This should be a good game. Until next week, Professor Kelly is out.

Four for Game Four

by Tony “Tee” Martin

Four things the Bombers have to do this week in The Big Smoke if they want to come away with the win. I didn’t say anything about protecting Buck, because that’s as obvious as Wade Miller’s waist line.

1. Fred Reid Needs a Big Game: Over the first three games, the former Mississippi State product has rumbled for 237 yards. He is currently averaging 4.6 a carry, with one touchdown. The big red flag here is that his longest run has been 13 yards. 13 yards? Seriously? I had to double check that stat to make sure I wasn’t going crazy. Reid needs to consistently break 100 yards for the Blue to succeed. Also, LaPolice needs to stop trying to plow him up the middle every second run. Surely an offensive genius like Professor Coach LaPo can draw up some different running plays and shake things up.

2. Receivers Need To Stop Dropping Passes: Too many passes are being dropped and this needs to stop if the Blue & Gold have any chance this season. You don’t win games when your receivers drop passes that hit them in the numbers.

3. Pressure on Cleo Lemon: While the QB’s job isn’t on the chopping block yet, this may be one of Lemon’s most important games in the CFL. He needs to show he can turn this team around and the Bomber defence need to shut him down. The D have been the Blue & Gold’s bread and butter and this can’t change. The offence is sputtering and the D has stepped up big time.

4. The Special Teams Need to be Special: The Blue need to contain the Argos on punt and kick returns and hopefully come up with some turnovers. Perry “Pink” Floyd and Jovon Johnson need to keep what they’ve been doing and give the team great field position. I’d love to see Floyd run one back in Rocket Ismail’s old stomping grounds.

Betting on the Game?

The Bombers are 3-0 against the spread so far this year. Wpg are 6-2 ATS in their last 8 Saturday games. Head to head, the under is 11-2 in the last 13 meetings. Under is 37-17 in Toronto’s last 54 home games.

Our resident gambling degenerate PacNu is a blazing 10-2 so far this season. Let’s hope he can keep that up.

Go Blue!!!

The PacNu Report - Week #2

The PacNu Report is back!!! Like all of us, Pac wants to bust the bookie WCLC this year and this site is the ONLY place for his picks.

PacNu blasted out of the gates in week one, nailing all of picks. 4-0 is a nice way to start things off.

Although he is a die hard Blue & Gold fan, Pacnu likes Toronto both ways - to cover the spread (+1.5) and the Proline win. With the Bombers banged up and the fact Toronto likes Canad Inn Stadium as much as Wade Miller likes buffets, he doesn’t like the team’s chances.

In the other Friday night game, The Pac Attack likes Calgary’s on the road and thinks they’ll cover the 2.5 points.

On Saturday, Pac figures Montreal will win on the road and cover those 1.5 points. 

A big fan of betting ties, Pac is all over the Hamilton/Edmonton game. He thinks it will be a close one.

Good luck!