THE CORBETT REPORT – August 16, 2013

THE OPENING SONG –  Spinnin’ Wheel by Blood Sweat and Tears

 

What goes up, must come down

Spinnin’ wheel, got ta go round

Talkin’ ’bout Blues troubles it’s a cryin’ sin

CEO’s a goner

Let the spinnin’ wheel spin

They had Garth Buchko, but they

They sent him home

Next the GM all alone

Talkin’ ’bout Blues troubles and will

Will they ever learn

Joe Mack’s unemployed now

Let the spinnin’ wheel turn

Do ya see even just one sign

That the Bombers will win today

Do you wish for just one small sign

Just let it shine, within your mind

And show you this season can’t be real.

Someone is comin’ just for Blue

Wade Miller true and blue

Drop all your troubles by the river side

The bye weeks finally over

Let the spinnin’ wheel fly….huh

Introduction

 

A bye week for most CFL teams is a quiet time.  A chance for players to have a break, head home to their families, maybe go on a mini vacation.  The concern of course, from the team’s marketing department, is that out of sight means out of mind.  So it’s usually okay for a team to make a few minor changes in the bye week.  Maybe a few roster moves, shore up the kicking game with a new kicker, maybe sign an NFL cut or two.  Just a little something to keep the team’s name in the media.  Apparently, the Bombers got the memo.

Welcome to week seven.  Welcome to the Corbett Report.

Cha-cha-changes

Soooooo . . . in case you’ve been doing something productive with your life rather than following the Bombers’ twitter feed, here’s a quick rundown on the changes the Bombers have announced (or in the case of Joe Mack’s firing, had announced for them) and the Corbett Report’s take on them.

August 7, 2014 – Bombers announce alumni autograph signing session on Saturday

 

Willard Reaves, Chris Walby, Trevor Kennard and James will attend and sign autographs.

 

August 8, 2013 – Rumours of Joe Mack’s firing surface

Leaked supposedly by a member of the Bombers Board of Directors, a rumour surfaces and is reported on by Gary Lawless of the Free Press that Garth Buchko has recommended to the Board that Joe Mack is fired.

Outrage ensues about why the Bombers haven’t advised Mack of this.  Well here’s the thing.  The Bombers were obviously in a review of their overall operations.  That process would of course take time. The real wrong here is that someone entrusted to be on the Bombers B of D thought more of himself than the team.  What’s also wrong is how the media, thanks in no small part to social media, ran with the story before ANY comments or confirmation from either the individuals involved or the team.  What happened to journalistic integrity?  You’d never catch the Corbett Report reporting on an event until the story is either confirmed, or fully fabricated to the point of being unbelievable.  Hmmmmmm come to think of it . . . maybe that IS what’s happened this week.

August 9, 2013 – Bombers announce a minor change in the front office

 

At a hastily called news conference, the Bombers announce that Garth Buchko has been replaced as CEO with former Bomber player, Wade Miller.

They then announce that Wade Miller has relieved GM Joe Mack of his duties.  Miller immediately gains the title of sack leader on the Bombers roster.

I think it fair to say that the Joe Mack was no surprise.  His fate was sealed during the off-season.  I mean you don’t post a 6 – 12 record, miss the playoffs and then make no roster moves.  Buchko though? Seems like he was thrown under the bus, literally, the traffic woes during the Bomber preseason game being the catalyst for his ultimate demise.  It’s a popular move because apparently he had the nerve to believe construction companies who kept telling him that the stadium would be done on time!

As for Wade Miller?  My initial reaction was . . . ”our fullback’s back and there’s gonna be trouble”!  Certainly a popular choice, it’s always important to have your CEO able to step in and play fullback should the need arise.  Multi-tasking is the new catch-phrase in the world of business.  He might work out though, from all accounts he’s a no-nonsense, get-to-work kind of guy with some significant business success.  Not to mention that he played for the last Bomber team to win a game (circa 2005).

August 12, 2013 – Bombers add to coaching staff

 

Former Hamilton head coach Marcel Bellefeuille joins the Bombers offensive coaching staff.  (News which onto itself would have been sufficient to keep the team’s name in the media . . . but hey, it doesn’t stop there).

August 13, 2013 – Third Bomber QB of the year to start

 

Head coach Tim Burke announces that the previous two weeks’ starting quarterback, Justin Goltz, will now be the 3^rd string QB with Buck Pearce now being #2 and Max Hall being elevated to number one.  The offensive line starts singing the classic hit “One is the loneliest number that you’ll ever see”.

So I get that the Bombers have been struggling at QB.  With a completion rate of 13 of 28 and 112 yards total passing last week, Goltz obviously didn’t impress the coaches (don’t worry Justin, they’ll all be replaced in a couple of weeks and you’ll get another chance).  What I don’t get is the need to assign numbers to each one.  The Bombers have gone from Pearce/Goltz/Hall to Goltz/Hall/Pearce to Hall/Pearce/Goltz in 6 weeks.  Why the need to name your #2 and #3.  Why not just say we’re giving this guy a chance to start and we’ll see what happens from there.  Anyway, if you’re a mathematical progression guy you can see where the above will lead.  By Labour Day it’ll be Pearce/Goltz/Hall.  Spinnin’ Wheel, gotta go round.

August 13, 2013 – Management team meeting leads to more changes

 

At the first Bomber management team meeting, CEO Wade Miller realizes that in all the changes they’ve forgotten to replace Joe Mack.  Former assistant GM Kyle Walters will now be the acting GM, joining the acting CEO, and the misbehaving board members, and the apprenticing QB …..you get the picture.

HEY – Buzz and Boomer still have their jobs! (at time of press)

August 14, 2013 – Chris Garrett cut

 

After leading the Bombers to a win in the 2011 Eastern Final (soooooooo long ago), Garrett missed all of 2012 with an injury and the play of Chad Simpson in 2012 unfortunately made Chris redundant. Bombers also released Marquis Frazier and David James. Sports can be a cruel and unfair business at times.

August 14, 2013 – Sandro DeAngelis named Bomber kicker for Friday’s game

 

Ahhhhhh there ya go,  something for the marketing boys to use to keep the Bombers in the news.  Justin Palardy is obviously miffed, apparently not realizing that the worst kickoff average in the league (by on average 15 yards) had caught the coaches’ eye.

 

August 15, 2013

 

Bombers announce that this Friday’s game is nearing a sellout with over 32,000 tickets already sold.  Explanation??? Easy, the Bombers have become the event in town ever since the public floggings at Portage and Main were cancelled.

Wow, so there you have it.  Just another sleepy bye week in Bomberville.  Just to summarize:

Executives sacked 2, Coaches hired 1, QB’s promoted 1, QB’s miffed 2, Players cut 3, Executives hired 1, Executive promoted 1, Kickers signed 1, B of D member who should be ashamed 1, Mascots still warm and cuddly 1 (sorry Buzz, not so much).

Spinnin’ wheel, gotta go round

Standings

 

			WEST
Team	Wins	Losses	Pts	For	Against	Streak
Sask	5	1	10	210	129	1 Loss
Calgary	5	1	10	204	160	4 Wins
BC	4	2	8	143	142	1 Win
Edmonton	1	5	2	128	169	4 Losses
			EAST
Team	Wins	Losses	Pts	For	Against	Streak
Toronto	4	2	8	194	141	3 Wins
Hamilton	2	4	4	129	187	1 Win
Montreal	2	4	4	135	177	1 Loss
Winnipeg	1	5	2	135	173	4 Losses

 

The Bombers

I remember fondly, June preseason games at the old Canadinn stadium when the Red River Ex was in town.  It was always entertaining watching the circus in the distance when the team on the field . . . okay, that’s just way too easy.

Who knows what to expect when there’s actually a football game to be played.  I wonder if any of the Bombers have looked in the mirror and thought how the turmoil of the last week might just slightly be a reflection of how they played.

That’s the reality though, if the Bombers were 5-1 rather than 1-5 none of the above would have happened.

The Ti-Cats

 

Hamilton isn’t exactly setting the world on fire.  In fact, check the above standings and you’ll see they’ve actually scored fewer points and allowed more points than the Bombers!  As usual, their hopes rest on the arm of Henry Burris.  More and more it’s starting to look like it could be Smilin’ Hank’s last year.

Keys to the game

For the Bombers, it’s all about focus and putting this past week behind them.  Max Hall needs to do an impression of Bo Levi Mitchell, Drew Willy or Zach Collaros and make a believer out of more than just his offensive coordinator.  The rest of the team needs to play like they don’t want to join the guy who hired them in the unemployment line.

For the Ti-Cats, it’s all about capitalizing on the chaos that is Bomberville.  Get an early lead and the fragile Bombers are going to be easy pickings.

Corbett Report Prediction Record

Last week’s record: League 1 – 1, Bombers 0 – 0

Season record: League 12 – 12, Bombers 1 – 5 (coincidence?)

The Prediction

Last game:   Bombers 27 Stampeders 25

Actual:            Stampeders 37 Bombers 24

So take a look at the standings.  One very very bad team is going to make the playoffs.  Which makes this game, the first of two back to back, against the Ti-Cats just about as important a game as you can play when you’re 1-5.  Win this game and you’re right back into the hunt.  The Bombers can be the champions of mediocrity!

Hard to see them overcoming all of the distractions though, unless . . . those autograph-signing Bomber alumni can make it down from the Bomber store . . . then, THEN it’ll all be good.

Bombers 35      Hamilton 21

Elsewhere: Sask over Montreal, Calgary over BC and Toronto over Edmonton

CHEERS!