Ed Tait is a writer for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers. This article was originally published at BlueBombers.com.
The Winnipeg Blue Bombers have invitations, but will hardly be welcomed to the party with heartfelt hugs and kisses like soldiers returning from a tour of duty.
Yes, the Saskatchewan Roughriders are holding a huge Canada Day 150th celebration Saturday night at their spiffy new digs – the $278 million Mosaic Stadium – and have plans to christen the joint with style.
Namely, with a win over their prairie rivals in front of a sold-out crowd of 33,000-plus.
The Bombers, obviously, would love to spoil the party by figuratively sticking needles in all the balloons, guzzling straight from the punch bowl, snatching the best steak from the grill, ‘accidentally’ busting a lamp or two and – most importantly – exiting Regina with a season-opening victory.
Some meticulously plan parties, others gleefully spoil them.
“That’s exactly it,” began Bombers running back Andrew Harris with a grin after practice Thursday. “This game is going to be nuts. Any time you have a game on a Saturday night in Regina, period… there will be a couple pops in those fans and it’s going to be crazy in there.
“And on top of that, for it to be Canada Day… well, there’s no more ‘Canadian’ a game than the Riders and the Blue Bombers. It’s going to be great. I can’t imagine how it’s going to be and I’m excited to be a part of it.”
A Bombers vs. Riders matchup, regardless of when or where, always comes with its accompanying juicy storylines. This one is no different… at least, from a Bombers perspective.
The Riders are 0-1 after last week’s 17-16 loss to the Montreal Alouettes and obviously don’t want to be in an 0-2 hole in an uber-competitive West Division to start the season.
Couple all that with the opening of the new building – on Canada Day, no less – and there should be cranked-up pressure for the home side.
And the Bombers? They just want to finally get at it after having the Week 1 bye.
“That’s the thing: this is our first opportunity to play and that’s what is most important,” began defensive end Jamaal Westerman. “We know about the rivalry between Winnipeg and Saskatchewan. We know about playing Canada Day and it’s a great way to open the season for us, especially with it being the 150th.
“We know about playing them in their new stadium and that the atmosphere is going to be crazy because their fans are just like our fans. They’re going to have a lot of adult beverages, especially with this being a night game, and will be fired up for this one.
“But for us, this is a chance for us to start the season the way we want and to be trending up. We know they’re a new team and that they’ve improved.”
“We want to start the season 1-0, regardless of who we’re playing and where we’re playing,” added veteran receiver Weston Dressler, a former Rider. “I don’t know if there’s any extra incentive because of the opponent or the stadium that it’s in… that wouldn’t change our mindset one bit, no matter who we’re playing.”
The Riders are expecting a sellout in their new building, which has a capacity of 33,000. The Bombers have spent the last week or so occasionally practicing with piped-in crowd noise to deal with that, but also know that part of handling Saturday night is to soak it all in and not shy away from the experience.
“We’ve got to overcome the noise and at the end of the day, once you get into the swing of things and into that zone, then all that other stuff just adds to the excitement,” said Harris.
“These kind of games, any game, you’ve got to live in the moment. You can’t let the game get too big. It’s like all the kids now, every time something happens they want to take their phones out to try and capture it. Sometimes you just need to live in the moment.”
“For us, we’ve just got to live in the moment Saturday night, embrace it and enjoy it.”
BOMBER REPORT – June 29, 2017
The Blue Bombers are in Regina Saturday night to face the Saskatchewan Roughriders (0-1) in the debut of new Mosaic Stadium.
Here are three things you should know as the club wrapped up its final preparations before heading west…
FOR THEIR EYES ONLY…
The Bombers held a closed practice on Thursday, locking down Investors Group Field to fans and the media. CFL teams are permitted to close one practice a week, although it’s still a bit of a rarity, especially for a game so early in the season.
“It really wasn’t that big a deal,” said head coach Mike O’Shea. “It’s just something our league affords us to do. Other teams do it. We really do appreciate our fans showing up at practices, but it was just an opportunity to do a few things and not do a few things.
“I thought the players were pretty relaxed today. There was a pretty high level of execution. I don’t know if that’s always an indicator. There’s been hundreds if not thousands of coaches who have seen good practices and bad games and bad practice weeks and great games.
“I’m excited. I think I started smiling a couple of days ago, realizing that it’s starting to come to fruition. The execution was good and the energy has been good and the attention to detail has been good. Just a couple of days ago I thought, ‘We’re ready to go.’
SAY WHAT?
On the topic of dealing with the crowd noise, pumping in canned sound into an empty stadium as the Bombers have done recently is one thing, dealing with it in real time is another.
“It’s about making sure everybody offensively has got the cadence figured out and they know what they’re doing,” said head coach Mike O’Shea. “It’s OK to make mistakes in practice, that’s where you make them, and then you show them on film and talk about it in detail a little more so we can execute at a higher level come game time.
“I don’t think you really have to reach for all these new things to do. I mean, it’s been loud in Saskatchewan for a number of years, it’s been loud here for a long time, it’s been loud in domed stadiums for a long time. It’s nothing really new.”
Riders quarterback Kevin Glenn told reporters in Regina this week that the club has some extra bells and whistles planned to further stoke their already-rabid fans.
“I think we have some things in store from the JumboTron to guide things that way,” said Glenn. “We got something for the fans to – how should I put it – to encourage or persuade the fans when to cheer, when to be loud and when not to be loud.
“We’ve got something in store for them.”
FYI…
The Roughriders have reportedly activated veteran receiver Rob Bagg after he missed last week’s game with a lower-body injury and he’ll be taking former Bomber linebacker Henoc Muamba’s spot on the roster. No word yet on whether Winnipegger Kienan LaFrance, who also missed last week’s game for the Riders, would be activated.
Funny moment earlier this week from Westerman, who was asked by Regina reporters in a conference call about the recent success of ‘veteran’ quarterbacks like Henry Burris (from last year), Toronto’s Ricky Ray and Saskathewan’s Kevin Glenn.
“I’ve heard from those three guys,” Westerman said. “They’re eating a lot of vegetables, they’re good with their eyesight, they’re taking all their vitamins, their old-man pills… they have their vitamins going, their vegetables and they’re ready to rock. They’re old guys but they’re NutriBullet (blender) is working extra time… spinach, carrots, tomatoes, a lot of ginseng. They’re ready to go.”
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