Watching film no answer

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This article was published 28/08/2015 (3163 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

They’ll watch the film. Oh, will they watch the film all right. In fact, they’ll watch the hell out of it in the next few days.

That’s what the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, to a man, spit out ad nauseum after every defeat. They won’t point fingers, they won’t call anybody out publicly.

And — absolutely under no circumstances — do they make any kind of blanket statements or rash judgements until they meticulously go over the videotape evidence.

Well, we can spare them the time and the effort: this is not a good football team and nobody needs to press play, pause or rewind on Saturday’s 36-8 loss to the Calgary Stampeders to reach that conclusion.

The Bombers skidded to the midway point of the 2015 season at 3-6 with the latest in a series of stink bombs dropped at Investors Group Field.

Oh sure, they were without their starting quarterback, tailback, deep threat and centre in Saturday night’s massacre. And, yes, there is still a half season of football left to be played.

But here’s a number to munch on while we all play coroner over the next few days and attempt to determine the latest cause of death for a franchise again in a serious nosedive:

Since opening 2014 at 5-1, this football team has gone 5-16 over its last 21 games.

Roll that around again one more time, Bomber fans, and then spit.

Look, if it’s true that there is no sin worse than losing in professional football, then we’d tack on this addendum when it comes to the Bombers: there’s no sin worse than losing AND being boring at the same time.

And Saturday’s contest in south Winnipeg had zilch-o entertainment value. Robert Marve & Co. amassed just 135 yards net offence, the longest play from scrimmage only 15 yards. There were too many penalties and too many breakdowns in what has become an all too predictable result.

Those in attendance — the announced crowd was 27,148 — crowded the Rum Hut, again, when it began to unravel in the third quarter, and brought out a chorus of boos, again, as the Stamps wrapped their fingers around another win and squeezed hard.

But there was also a sense of indifference from the faithful as this one unfolded, as if booing this bunch wasn’t even worth the effort.

That’s the dangerous thing for this franchise right now, especially with the scaffolding for extra Grey Cup seats in the south end zone there as a reminder there will be football played here in late November. Because the collective malaise toward this team from this town might just have reached its zenith.

Afterward, Bombers head coach Mike O’Shea fell on the sword again for his troops and his staff. But asked what it was like to hear that fan discontent rain down, the second-year boss offered up an honest take:

“That’s painful,” he said.

“As a group they understand how important these fans are to us… They keep coming out and it’s tough to expect them to keep coming out when we put a second half together like that. At halftime the fans still had some real hope, they were still loud through the third quarter.

“And to see them leaving, it’s pretty difficult, and rightly so. We need to do better for them. They’re great fans.”

That’s never been in doubt, through this long 25-year championship drought, through the Jeff Reinebold era, through five shots and five defeats in the Grey Cup since the last title in 1990.

But they’re tired of losing. And they’re weary of not being entertained.

A scene from the Bombers dressing room after the game… Maurice Leggett, his jaw clenched, his frustration obvious, stood in front of his locker and looked mad enough to spit rust.

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Asked what he was thinking, he paused for a moment.

“I’m angry. I’m just very angry,” he said. “Each and every player has to look themselves in the mirror and ask, ‘Why am I here?’ ”

That’s a good question. And it’s one even the most loyal in Bomber Nation must have been asking themselves as they exited IGF Saturday night.

ed.tait@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @WFPEdTait