B.C. Lions Over the Frostbitten Winnipeg Blue Bombers in Grey Cup Final, 23-34
The long winter has finally set in for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, who lost in the Grey Cup Finals last Sunday to the B.C. Lions, 23-34. Winnipeg has always been a cold city, smack dab in the middle of the Canadian prairies where a typical wind chill will freeze stiff the veins and arteries of any mammal out for too long. But this year’s winter will be colder still for the Bombers, as I’m sure they’ll be rethinking every missed opportunity, every blown play and every oversight.
The grim reality is that the Bombers, who started the season at 7-1 and campaigned as Swaggerville till their back to back losses to the fledgling Saskatchewan Roughriders, should have been the team to beat. With top defensive player of the year, Jovon Johnson, and a defensive line that prided itself on toughness, Winnipeg encapsulated a coaches ideal of holding other teams at bay with stubborn passion. And with Buck Pierce as their starting quarterback, who threw for 3348 yards and was named an offensive player of the week in September, it was conceivable to see the Bombers as the 2011 Grey Cup champs. So why did they come up short?
To answer that question, a brief look back at the game is necessary. The Lions passed for 320 yards, rushed for 91 and scored 16 points off field goals. They were uninhibited from the first to the last quarter, owing probably to their home field advantage, but also to their incredible ability to win games throughout the season. They started slow, losing their first five and looked to be heading for the Western Conference basement. Yet, after a surprising turnaround, the Lions finished the regular season at 11-18. Their offense was a tour du force, led by Travis Lulay, who threw for 4815 yards and 32 touchdowns. Everyone knew they were the hottest team in the league before the big game, but it was still unsure how on fire they really were against good defensive teams, since they had lost both their regular season games to Winnipeg.
B.C. obviously played better than what could have been predicted from their past games against Winnipeg – the stats prove it – but what the stats fail to show is the overall psychology of the game. The Bombers seemed timid and out of place. It was like they were playing for the first time in a foreign country. They knew the rules, but was it polite to gain first downs? Would the authorities hand out harsh penalties for anyone that angered the hometown boys filling the stadium? Would there be another Vancouver riot . . . (smashed store fronts, drunken escapades up light polls)?
Tensions like the last infiltrated the media and blogging world, and nobody knew exactly what would happen, but THAT didn’t seem to be the cause for Winnipeg’s loss. It was simpler than peripheral media chatter: it was the Bombers inability to make big plays. In the dying minutes of the fourth quarter, Pierce finally connected for two touchdowns. But by then it was too late. An unsuccessful Winnipeg onside kick and a final Lions field goal sealed the game. B.C. was hotter than the Bombers expected.
When the frigid Winnipeg nights drag and the thermometer plummets to -30 Celsius and the car won’t start and the water mains under the streets freeze and blow through the ice and asphalt above, the Bombers will learn to ignore the speculation from the press. They’ll turn off their TVs, stop reading the sports page, disconnect their internet and listen to only Top 40 radio. Yup, they’ll all move further north, way into the Canadian Shield, where their winter will be colder still till spring and then training camp.
By Aaron Talbot
Pro Football Fans Staff Writer