Few untouchables on Bombers
So, Brendan Taman, general manager of what's beginning to look like the worst team in the CFL, the Winnipeg Blue Bombers -- what do you do for an encore? After being forced to dump your good friend, Dave Ritchie, as head coach, your team has taken one step forward, then two steps back.
And that last one, Thursday's 29-13 loss to the Montreal Alouettes, was more like a flying, backward leap off the high platform.
Problem is, you missed the water. At least, your offence did.
"It's probably the most sickening feeling I've had since I've been here," Taman said yesterday, referring to the ongoing malady gripping the Winnipeg offence. "All these guys that I still have confidence in just aren't producing. It's pretty sad to see, actually."
It's time to stop watching it and start doing something about it.
But after gassing the head coach, what can you do?
Put 95% of your roster on the trading block, that's what.
"I will make an attempt, and I have already in the last week or two," Taman said. "Right now, other than maybe two or three players, there's not a lot of untouchables."
It doesn't take a molecular biologist to figure out running back Charles Roberts and defensive lineman Doug Brown aren't going anywhere.
And Taman still believes receiver Milt Stegall can help this team win.
Beyond that, you take your chances.
And yes, that means if the right offer came along for a Bomber quarterback ...
"I won't comment on specifically who, but there is interest in a quarterback or two that we have," Taman said.
Let's see ... nobody wanted Stanley Jackson this year, so that leaves Khari Jones and Kevin Glenn.
"Fortunately enough, there are some players on this team people want," Taman said, managing to maintain his sense of humour. "So that tells you something, that we're not totally bad."
Actually, Mr. GM, your offence is just that -- totally bad. Pathetic, even.
You don't spend as much time going backward as you do forward, as the Bombers did in Thursday's first half, simply by being mediocre.
One yard net offence? That takes things like ineptitude, cluelessness and incompetence.
"That's what stared at me in the paper -- one yard," Taman said. "Had we won that game, it might have masked some of the problems we still have."
As it is, the mask is ripped right off, exposing a bleeding, scarred mess where the face of this team used to be.
"It's probably a bigger challenge than I'd ever imagined it to be," Taman admitted. "We have an MVP of the league two years ago, struggling (Stegall), we have an MVP of the league three years ago, struggling (Jones). This team won a lot of games over the last three years, and a lot of it was due to the offence. Now we can't get a first down. Go figure."
Which is exactly what Taman and the coaching staff were trying to do last night -- go figure it out.
Virtually every player was under the microscope, as team brass pored over the game film.
There will not be a knee-jerk reaction. Expect some decisions possibly by the end of the weekend, or, at the very least, by Tuesday, when the Bombers get back to the practice field.
And don't hold your breath for a blockbuster trade, either. Those are rare in the CFL.
Some players, though -- most likely offensive linemen and, possibly, Jones -- are headed for the end of the bench.
"I don't want to speak for the coaches, but we're at a point now where we obviously have to look at it closely," Taman said of making a change at quarterback. "He's not the same old Khari. That decision's never easy."
Seeing this continue would be much worse.
