The Corbett Report, June 24, 2022

Introduction

So this is my 40^th year as a Blue Bomber season ticket holder and about the 42^nd year of watching the Bombers.  The outcome hasn’t always been what a fan would hope for, but the entertainment value has always been there.  Whether it was the domination of the Cal Murphy-lead teams, the 1988 surprising Grey Cup victory under Mike Riley, or even the sandal-wearing, dog-loving era under Jeff Reinbold, there’s always been something entertaining in following the exploits of the Bombers.  Heck even the disastrous years with Mike Kelly at the helm were entertaining.  

The Bombers over the past 40 years have played in THREE different divisions (East (21), West (18) and North (1), under too many coaches to count, with too many quarterbacks to remember (although seriously who could forget TJ Rubley).  And how about their record in those years? How many times has this Bomber fan ended up being disappointed? Well here are the win-loss records by decade:

            1980s  71-48 (60%) – 2 Grey Cups – Sort of sucked me in

            1990s   88-92 (49%) – 1 Grey Cup – Ahhhhh remember the 80s?

            2000s   90-88 (51%) – 0 Grey Cups – Lots of ups and downs

            Then there’s the 2010s.  They need to be broken into two halves    

2010-2015   35-73 (32%) – 0  Grey Cups – missed the playoffs 5 of 6 years WTF?

            2016-2021   55-31 (64%) – 2 Grey Cups

What’s the point? I don’t really have a point, I’m an accountant, I like numbers!

Seriously though, if you look at the above it’s easy to see that like anything in sport you’re likely to be disappointed as many times as you come away happy.  That is of course, if the entertainment value of sport is measured only by wins and losses.  If the entertainment value is measured as, well, the entertainment value of simply attending games and cheering on your team, then the stats are out the window.  In the last forty years?

            Bomber’s winning percentage                                      51%

            Bomber’s entertainment percentage                          100%

As the song says, Blue makes me so very happy.

Welcome to week 2.  Welcome to the Corbett Report.

The Standings

WEST DIVISION

RK	TEAM	GP	W	L	T	PTS	F	A	HOME	AWAY	DIV
1	Saskatchewan	2	2	0	0	4	56	29	1-0-0	1-0-0	1-0-0
2	Winnipeg	2	2	0	0	4	38	29	1-0-0	1-0-0	0-0-0
3	Calgary	2	2	0	0	4	63	57	1-0-0	1-0-0	0-0-0
4	BC	1	1	0	0	2	59	15	1-0-0	0-0-0	1-0-0
5	Edmonton	2	0	2	0	0	31	85	0-1-0	0-1-0	0-2-0

EAST DIVISION

RK	TEAM	GP	W	L	T	PTS	F	A	HOME	AWAY	DIV
1	Toronto	1	1	0	0	2	20	19	1-0-0	0-0-0	1-0-0
2	Ottawa	2	0	2	0	0	29	38	0-1-0	0-1-0	0-0-0
3	Hamilton	2	0	2	0	0	43	63	0-1-0	0-1-0	0-0-0
4	Montreal	2	0	2	0	0	46	50	0-0-0	0-2-0	0-1-0

It’s not a good look for the league that the West has won every inter-divisional game so far this year but you do need to drill down on some of the numbers.  With the exception of a couple of Western games (BC vs. Edmonton and Sask vs. Edmonton) the games have all been close.  The wins could just have easily fallen into the Eastern division W columns.

Live update: Montreal just annihilated the Riders, so there’s that.

Bombers

With success comes great expectations.  Okay, that’s not even a saying but with respect to the 2022 Bombers it’s the truth.   Going back to the intro through, if the Bombers of 1998 had opened the season with an 2-0 record, they’d have been lining up for a Grey Cup parade at Portage and Main!  That team finished 3-15 and opened the season 0-10.  So yeah, I know, a 2-0 record is pretty special.  It seems though, that in Bomber nation, it’s just not enough to get it done it’s become HOW you get it done. 

The concerns?

• Not enough out of the running game
• Porous secondary
• Inconsistent kicking game
• Too many yards allowed
• Anemic aerial attack

To read some of the comments from Bomber fans one would have thought they’d gotten blown out 60-0 in their first two games.  I’d suggest that they’ve simply played like Champions.  Finding a way to win even when not at the top of their game.  The good news? There’s lots of room for improvement on both sides of the ball and hey, they’re still 2-0.

Ti-Cats

I know that there are many cliches about luck, making your own luck, etc. but seriously, how unlucky have the Ti-Cats been.  Last week’s 33-30 overtime loss to the Stampeders seemed to mirror the 2021 Grey Cup loss to the Bombers.  After blowing a 28-0 lead the game ended with an overtime loss where the Cats threw an interception to deny them a chance to tie the game. Sound familiar? That’s the OT finish in the 2021 Grey Cup (in case you haven’t rewatched that game 329 times like I have)!  The Ti-Cats are a better team than their 0-2 record suggests.  The Bombers better not be taking them lightly tonight.  (But hey, does O’Shea ever let his team take anyone lightly?)

Keys to the game

For the Bombers to win

• Quit missing kicks!  Bombers have won a lot of games in the past two years without a consistent kicking game.  That can’t go on.

• Air it out.  Zach needs to stretch the Ti-Cats secondary

• Win the turnover battle.  Bomber’s defence, while giving up lots of yardage, have still allowed only 29 points in two games this year but their “Bend don’t Break” success this year can’t hold up forever

For the Ti-Cats to win

• As with any team visiting the Bombers, take a lead into half-time to quiet the crowd

• Get pressure on Collaros

• Win the time of possession (Bombers can’t score if they don’t have the ball . . . hmm . . .well, maybe they can)

The record

Corbett report predictions so far this year:

                        CFL                                         3-5 (38%)

                        Bombers only                         1-1 (50%)

Yeah, basically I’m underperforming the Randomizer.

The predictions

First the other games:

Montreal win their home opener over Saskatchewan

Calgary win at home over the lowly Elks

Toronto win on the road over the Lions

And for our feature game:

Have the Bombers gone to the well too many times? Is this finally the Ti-Cats’ night to get the monkey off their back? Have the Bombers offence lost a step without Harris and Lawler? Will the Ti-Cats ever admit that keeping Evans over Masoli was a mistake? Some of these questions will be answered tonight.

Bombers 24 Ti-Cats 21

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