The Corbett Report, June 24, 2016

Introduction

Greetings! Welcome back to another season of the Corbett Report. It’s once again been an interesting season in Bomberville. At the end of last season it seemed like there was going to be a mass leap off of the Bomber bandwagon. So much disgruntlement, so much frustration, no Grey Cup again, no play off appearance. It would have been easy for the Bomber brass to take a “stay the course, we have the makings of a good team”, but they knew that wouldn’t cut it with the dwindling faithful. So they did what they felt they had to do. They dove in head first into the free agency pool. From Weston Dressler to Andrew Harris, the Bombers opened the cheque book in an attempt to shore up the leaking fan base.

Last year I wrote: “Stability and continuity produce championship football teams. Look no further than the Calgary Stampeders for proof of that. This season may still be a challenge and Bomber fans need not get their hopes too high, but at some point in time the front office turnstile has to stop turning and rebuilding has to become building.“

With their quarterbacking core remaining consistent from last year, a healthy Drew Willy and the addition of some proven veterans this may just be the year that the Bombers achieve that goal of stability. It better be, anything short of a trip to the playoffs and that Bomber wagon may just become a planter.
Welcome to 2016. Welcome to the Corbett Report.

Cha-cha-cha Changes

When you’re 5-13, miss the playoffs, lose 6 of your 9 home games, and get outscored 502 – 353, it’s a safe bet that changes are in order. Gone is veteran Terrance Edwards, kicker Lirim Hajrullahu and defensive back Matt Bucknor. New to the roster are receivers Weston Dressler and Ryan Smith, kicker Justin Medlock and of course, home grown boy, running back Andrew Harris.

The coaching staff didn’t escape the winds of change either, as Paul LaPolice returns to the team as offensive coordinator.

On paper, a much improved team. Too bad they don’t play the game on paper.

The Bombers

You can’t always use pre-season as a thermometer for how a seasons going to progress. That being said, there’s a reasons for the Bomber faithful to go….hmmmmmmm after watching the preseason game. In particular the play of staring QB Drew Willy seemed somewhat uninspiring. Against Ottawa he was 11/15, good percentage but good for only 87 yards. Against Montreal he was 3 of 6 for 52 yards. Don’t forget as well the Bombers actually had a losing record when he went out for the season last year with injury. So the big question mark for me is the Bomber offense and Drew Willy’s ability to run it. Fortunately, unlike last year, the Bombers have a proven veteran in Matt Nichols. Don’t be surprised if come November, he’s the man leading the team out of locker room.

On defense, the Bombers look like a much-improved unit this year. That’s a good thing as they may be needed to keep the Bombers in games while the offense matures.

The Alouettes

The Als last year struggled miserably at the QB position. They’re answer comes in the form of the Rodney Dangerfield of the CFL, Kevin Glenn. The much-maligned Glenn is now playing with his 6^th CFL team, he hasn’t played with Ottawa or Toronto although he was on their roster as some point in his career. Only Edmonton hasn’t had Glenn on their roster. Entering his 13^th CFL season the 37-year-old Glenn has quietly worked his way up to #7 in the all time passing leader list in the CFL. With 46,266 yards passing to date, he’s one good passing season away from Ron Lancaster. Still, as with Dangerfield, Glenn can’t get no respect. Perhaps this last stop on his CFL tour will prove to be lucky one as he seeks a Grey Cup to prove his neigh sayers wrong.

As usual, the Als defense remains the strength of their team. The Bombers offense will need to get some yardage early to gain some confidence against the veteran Als defensive unit.

Keys to the game

So with all of that said, here are the keys to the game:

For the Bombers to win

• Hold onto the ball – ALWAYS, hold onto the ball
• Erase the memories of 2015. Score early and gains some confidence
• Don’t let Kevin Glenn pick you apart

For the Alouettes to win

• Get to the QB. The verdict is still out on whether the Bomber O-Line has improved
• Home openers always sees a pumped up crowd, scoring early will have the Bomber faithful moaning “here we go again”
• Challenge the Bombers secondary

 

History

Much of my love of the Bombers centres around their rich history. In particular, the first decade that I had season tickets it seems that I never saw a Bomber loss at home. An integral part of the team in that decade was O-Lineman Chris Walby. Already a CFL Hall of famer (2003) tonight Walby will be the first inductee to the teams “Ring of Honour”. It’s a fitting recognition of one of the Bombers most passionate and tenacious players that helped the team to the 1984, 1988 and 1990 Grey Cups.

This year, fans get to vote for 1 inductee to the Ring of Honour per game. After the initial 9 are inducted, there will be one inductee per year. Good on the Bombers for taking a page out of the Eskimos and Stampeders play books. The current Bombers could do well by studying some of their history.

The predictions

It’s week one so the crystal ball is still a bit cloudy but let’s go with:

• Hamilton over Toronto (Ricky Ray isn’t getting any younger)
• Edmonton over Ottawa (Grey Cup rematch – same result)
• Calgary over BC (Wally or not, BC hasn’t done much to improve)

And of course in our feature game:

With all the changes the Bombers made in the off season it is not unreasonable to expect them to start slow this season and ramp up as the season progresses. June is always a time for optimism in Bomberville. I’m drinking the blue Kool-Aid this time of year.

Bombers 28   Alouettes 22