Bombers fire head coach LaPolice

[B.C.FAN]

Worst effort I've ever seen:
11 penalties for 96 yards
102 yards of offence
5 turnovers
Dreadful special teams, including a blocked punt TD and two deep kickoffs that were allowed to bounce and be recovered by the Riders.
It can only get better next week for Bomber HC Tim Burke unless he's fired before then.

[Rammer]

Worst effort I've ever seen:
11 penalties for 96 yards
102 yards of offence
5 turnovers
Dreadful special teams, including a blocked punt TD and two deep kickoffs that were allowed to bounce and be recovered by the Riders.
It can only get better next week for Bomber HC Tim Burke unless he's fired before then.

Looks like Burke has lost his locker room already, look out for the pink slip.

What could go wrong had gone wrong for the Bombers, but they have chosen a horrible weekend to offer this egg up. There is always accountability to the fans when you don't show up for biggest rivals.

[Blue In BC]

Typically the Bombers didn't show up for the start of the game. The only difference is that they didn't bother to show up at any point during the game. Should have conceded during the national anthem.

Ugly effort and result.

[WestCoastJoe]

Didn't see the game. Wow

It has looked like a lot of head cases with talent over there with the Bombers, even without the former Mayor of Swaggerville.

Hefney yaps and postures. I love the way he can he play, though, if his discipline is there.

Talent without regard for team concepts gives results like today when they show the dark side of their character.

So many of those guys can really play, as they did against us. That game was their all out effort. Now they probably think, Geez we should have played harder all year for the Easy Rider, LaPo.

[Toppy Vann]

The firing had zero effect...at least for one game as the Riders shellacked the Bombers 52-0. Somewhere Lapolice is smiling

TLKing. Would you not suggest that it had an effect as clearly the gassers and the GM running them too led to the worse loss I can recall - Lapo went to the GC last year.

Wally would appear to be right so far. Changes mid year rarely work.

Tim Burke should fire his DC now. Oh wait he is the DC.

Tim Burke a record in his first game unbroken since 1986 - dubious one - biggest shut out since 86.

Just watched Burke post game interview. Like a deer in the head lights. Said the game was easy. No hard decisions. He is lost in this new job. He had NO time to prepare his thinking or his team. He probably will preside over a disaster from here on in. Down an experienced coach and having to invent stuff on the way.

It was the first time Winnipeg has been shut out in a game since July 29, 1969 — or nine days after Neil Armstrong walked on the moon. It was Winnipeg’s worst LDC loss since getting obliterated 56-4 on Sept. 3, 1995.

Winnipeg Sun and Free Press are ripping Joe Mack. It is going to be tougher on Smoking Joe than on Eric Tillman for trading Hall of Famer Ricky Ray and getting Jyles. Mack got two years more and gave the same to Lapo belatedly. All the timing on that seemed so unlike BC Lions do when they do this stuff outside the season.


It is going to be very hard to keep GM Joe Mack unless Buck's return leads them to some fast wins. The irony is that the Bombers off field with a new stadium coming and sold out stadiums have done fantastically well as a franchise which is good for the league vs the sad situation in Toronto where they got a massive stadium and can't yet improve crowds. That has to be fixed for the benefit of the growth of the CFL and league sponsors.

The faster tempo to practice and gassers was laughable as new tactics to prepare his team to win as those weren't the issues with his team.

At 52 to 0 you'd have to think the players voted as to how they felt about the firing.

The Winnipeg story post game shows that the def. is worse this year and they rewarded their DC with the HC job. This story talks about how the marginal improvement this year over last on Offense is due more to the garbage yards late in games.

"But while some of the points against this season can be explained away by offensive turnovers and the failure of the offence to put together sustained drives to give the defence a rest, the statistical portrait that emerges also shows clearly that Winnipeg’s defence — guided by the man who Mack has entrusted as LaPolice’s replacement, Tim Burke — has had, by far, the more precipitous decline year over year.

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/sports ... 55166.html

Odell willis:

And one former Bombers player — current Saskatchewan defensive end Odell Willis, who was leading the CFL in sacks with nine for Winnipeg at this point last season — says the stats are what they are because of what the Bombers front office did and didn’t do in the off-season.

"When you get rid of all of your marquee players and don’t bring anyone in, the results show," Willis told Regina Leader-Post beat writer Murray Mc-Cormick on Friday.

Burke’s defence has given up a startling number more yards so far this season (408.8, on average, as compared to 301.7 in 2011); they’ve given up almost twice as many touchdowns (23 vs. 13), a shocking number of those through the air (a league-worst 18 this season, as compared to league-best seven last season); and they’ve forced a lot less turnovers, (21 vs. 33)."

[TheLionKing]

TLKing. Would you not suggest that it had an effect as clearly the gassers and the GM running them too led to the worse loss I can recall - Lapo went to the GC last year.

I certainly didn't expect to see this result. Good old fashioned butt kicking. At least the Bomber faithful won't have to wait long for a rematch. They play them again next week

[Hutch85]

Hey Mack, how did that personnel move work out for you? Oh.. 52-0, eh?

Maybe LaPolice will get Mack's job now... at least Winnipeg played when he was around.

(yes, I know... it's only one game, etc. I have a soft spot for Winnipeg, but 52-0?? Come on.)

[notahomer]

I almost never turn a CFL game off before the final gun, this was an exception.

I know the Bombers will do better in the rematch...how can they not improve????

[joe kapp22]

To me, I see the subtraction of all of the talent under Mack's reign after a GC season and am not surprised at all with what I've seen.

[DanoT]

In football, as in life, timing is everything. Bet Joe Mack wishes he had waited one week before firing LaPolice. I thought it was bad optics to fire the HC after a strong game but tough loss to BC, but now after this disaster it looks like LaPo did not "lose the room", but Mack sure has as new HC Burk never really had a room to lose.

It will be hard to run Mack out of town only because he doesn't live in town.

IMO Marc Trestman is the best GM candidate around.

[Blitz]

In football, as in life, timing is everything. Bet Joe Mack wishes he had waited one week before firing LaPolice. I thought it was bad optics to fire the HC after a strong game but tough loss to BC, but now after this disaster it looks like LaPo did not "lose the room", but Mack sure has as new HC Burk never really had a room to lose.

It will be hard to run Mack out of town only because he doesn't live in town.

IMO Marc Trestman is the best GM candidate around.

I find it sad that Tim Burke is wearing this huge loss. Its easy to forget that LaPolice had no experience as a Head Coach prior to his hiring in Winnipeg. Tim Burke had an excellent record as a defensive coordinator in Montreal and came over to a 2-16 team and it was his work as defensive coordinator that has mostly turned the Bombers around.

Certainly the timing of the firing of LaPolice was bad. Perhaps it was a wrong decision. However, Burke has worked hard for his opportunity and deserves better.

It will be interesting to see how the Bombers move forward from the ashes of this game.

[Blue In BC]

To me, I see the subtraction of all of the talent under Mack's reign after a GC season and am not surprised at all with what I've seen.

The only talent lost during Mack's reign was Labatte and he was headed to Regina regardless. You can't blame him for Doug Brown retiring can you?

Carr, TJ Harris, Lobandahn, Reid, Willis, Kent, Hargreaves are fringe players at best this season. In the case of Reid, he's not even in the league.

The injuries early on were crippling and it is difficult to turn that around. Ironically the Bombers current record is about the same as the LIons in 2011 at this point in time. Not that I expect the Bombers to resoundingly turn this around, but they do have some talent. Where they are lacking is in all levels of the coaching staff.

Is Burke the answer? I don't think so. The defense has not played well since last LD.

[Blitz]

To me, I see the subtraction of all of the talent under Mack's reign after a GC season and am not surprised at all with what I've seen.

The only talent lost during Mack's reign was Labatte and he was headed to Regina regardless. You can't blame him for Doug Brown retiring can you?

Carr, TJ Harris, Lobandahn, Reid, Willis, Kent, Hargreaves are fringe players at best this season. In the case of Reid, he's not even in the league.

The injuries early on were crippling and it is difficult to turn that around. Ironically the Bombers current record is about the same as the LIons in 2011 at this point in time. Not that I expect the Bombers to resoundingly turn this around, but they do have some talent. Where they are lacking is in all levels of the coaching staff.

Is Burke the answer? I don't think so. The defense has not played well since last LD.

I agree that Joe Mack does not deserve the total flak he is getting. Willis had slid as a defensive end as the season wore on in Winnipeg last year and he brought a lot of backage. The only real loss of talent was Labatte as you note and there was nothing Mack could do about that or Borwn's retirement. Perhaps Mack could have signed some free agents but he spent the money on re-siging players that were in Winnipeg.

Offensively the Bombers lost Garrett to injury. There has been inconsistency at the quarterback position due to Buck's injuries. Offensive scheme has also been a problem and that comes down to coaching. The defense has also slid since last Labour Day as you note. The Bombers are 6-14 since that point last season. Perhaps they were not as good as being a Grey Cup contender, their win in the Eastern Final.....a one game turnaround after being on a slide to go into the playoffs in 2011.

I don't just see coaching as the problem. I think there is a player leadership and chemistry problem in Winnipeg. This is a very undiscplined team with a lot of egos that interfere with a team concept. Perhaps this is the time for a few key player changes that might hurt short term but would allow the rebuilding process to begin.

[ziggy]

If they bounce back next week all will be forgotten (well kind of), if they fold again next week its all over. Has to be embarassing to be schooled like they were.

[TheLionKing]

http://www.tsn.ca/cfl/story/?id=404512