MONTREAL — The respect and admiration flow both ways between the Winnipeg Blue Bombers and Montreal Alouettes in salutes to the organizations, to the coaches and players.
That much was obvious Friday during media sessions to on the eve of today’s Eastern Semi-Final between the two clubs when the plaudits flowed freely between coaches and players alike.
Well, nicey-nice time is over. Now it’s time to grab grass and growl at each other for a chance to move on to the Canadian Football League’s final four.
And it should be a ring-a-ding-dong dandy.
Mike O’Shea and Jason Maas at Friday’s media conference
“I think we’re pretty-evenly matched,” said Blue Bombers head coach Mike O’Shea on Friday. “It’s going to be good, hard-nosed exciting football. There’s going to be a lot of football out there the way it’s supposed to be played, which is very pleased.”
“I think along the same lines,” added Maas. “You’re going to find ultra-competitive action. Every single play is going to be contested.
“This time of the year, it’s the finality of the game. One person’s staying and one person’s leaving. The way both teams play, they compete on every play. That’s how they’ve done it all year. That’s what got them here. That’s what our culture has been built on – we compete every single day of practice like it’s our last. That’s what we’ll do on the day. We’ve got a like-minded team in front of us.
“It’s going to be incredibly awesome to watch.”
Agreed. 100 percent agreed.
The Alouettes are attempting to get back to the Grey Cup and avenge their Eastern Final loss to Toronto last year, a game that saw them turn the ball over a whopping six times.
Winnipeg, meanwhile, has appeared in five straight Grey Cups but is wearing the hurt of three consecutive championship game losses.
“The goal for the season is to figure out how to become a team and make the playoffs and then the goal is always the Grey Cup,” O’Shea said. “But every team is different. So, numbers and history and stuff is all irrelevant. We’re trying to create a memory for this team.”
Before we proceed, some sensational work by our video crew of Josh Kjarsgaard, Sam Calvert, Smart Rosales, Rylan Dyck and Cam Bartlett, who put together this Eastern Semi-Final video preview that you simply must watch:
And, ICYMI, here’s our Game Preview from yesterday:
Game Preview | Eastern Semi-Final
And follow along here as we present a collection of notes/quotes/anecdotes to help get Blue Bombers fans up to speed for today’s Eastern Semi-Final showdown with the Alouettes in this week’s GAME DAY HQ…
‘WHY NOT US?’
Brady Oliveira meeting with the media at Olympic Stadium on Friday
Earlier this week Brady Oliveira was asked about the difficulty of crossover teams advancing to the Grey Cup — no team has done it yet in 12 attempts since the inception of the rule in 1996 — and his answer has become a bit of a rallying cry in Bomberland.
“Why not us?”
“And my message to the guys this week has just been just have total belief in us,” Oliveira said Friday. “We have the right group of guys in the locker room to get it done, so just have total confidence and belief in the preparation that we put in throughout the week, the plan that we have moving forward for this game and just go out there and execute it at a high level and just have total belief.
“I mean, there’s going to be highs and lows throughout every single game, we faced a ton of adversity this season and throughout the course of the game, everyone just staying together, pick each other up, because there is going to be highs and lows. But throughout those lows, continue to have belief and belief in each other that we’re going to get this thing done.
“I said, ‘Why not us?’ and I totally stand on that,” he added. “But right now, moving forward it’s handling business tomorrow. We got a great team that we got to go and try and conquer and get that victory. It’s going to be a challenge, but again, I like the guys that we have on this side, so, we’ll focus on that and then hopefully worry about next week.”
GTDs
Nic Demski
Three players have GTD — Game time decision — designations for today’s game on the two depth charts: receiver Nic Demski of the Blue Bombers and Alouette defensive end Lwal Uguak and linebacker Tyrell Richards.
Uguak and Richards are solid players on defence for Montreal, but Demski is a potential game-changer for the Blue Bombers offence.
And if he can’t go, expect healthy doses of Gavin Cobb and Joey Corcoran, along with Kevens Clercius.
“It is a challenge for sure,” said quarterback Zach Collaros. “Nic brings a lot to the table. I never want to downplay Nic Demski and I think you guys understand that how much I love Nic and what he does for our football team.
“You know, with that being said, Gavin’s had a great week of practice, he had a great game last game, and Joey’s done a great job for us all year coming in there and doing the dirty work and running routes when needed. So, we’ll be ready to go, no matter what tomorrow brings.”
Here’s O’Shea when asked how confident he was about Demski’s availability:
“We’ll see. Once again, I’ll give him as long as he needs. With a veteran like that, that good an athlete, we’ve got a window that we can use, and we’ll use that window to see whether or not he can play.”
And Maas on Uguak and Richards:
“They’re game-time decisions for a reason. We have plans in place just in case but on our roster, the 45 guys that are going we believe in and we believe in the rest of the guys in this building that when they’re called upon, they can do the job.
“Everyone has prepared this week a certain way, hoping it goes that way, but obviously the GTD is there for a reason, and we’ll adjust when we need to.”
The Als D-line took another hit later on Friday after the media availability when the CFL announced that veteran defensive tackle Shawn Oakman was being suspended for breaking the league’s gender-based violence policy. In fact, Montreal released him not long after this announcement came out:
Montreal defensive tackle Shawn Oakman suspended indefinitely; Als announce release
WILLIE REACTING TO DAVIS REACTING TO WILLIE
Willie Jefferson
Willie Jefferson has never been one to mince words and it’s why he’s long been a favourite of yours truly and other media folks across the league.
So, earlier this week when he talked about this matchup, well, you just knew it would get a reaction here in Montreal.
Just to recap in case you missed it, here’s what Jefferson said in chat with bluebombers.com on Wednesday.
“You want to take care of home first. You want to take care of home, and we’ll get that, possibly, in three weeks. But right now you’ve got to be the villain. You’ve got to be able to go to somebody’s house, kick their door in and take everything off their table. That’s how it is.
“… Underdogs? Call us whatever you want. This is our opportunity. And so, offence, defence and special teams, we’re all going to bite down on our mouthpieces like I told you a few weeks ago and then we’ll line up and give it to them. That’s exactly how they want it. In their house. In that bird cage. Go over there and take them out.”
That brought this reaction from Alouette QB Davis Alexander during his meeting with media:
“I go and look for that type of stuff for whatever reason, it’s just what I like to do,” Alexander said.
“Bring Willie over. Bring Winnipeg over. What does he say? Come on down over to Winnipeg? Come on over to Montreal, let’s see what happens.”
And here’s Willie reacting to Davis reacting to his comments. (As an aside, don’t you just love the playoffs?)
“We’re ready to come in and handle business,” Jefferson said with a shrug. “It’s a business trip. We’re not here to play no games. We’re not here to shake hands and do the ‘hoo-rah’ thing. We’re here to play football and I hope he’s ready to come out there and play four quarters of football because I’m ready to go out there and play four quarters of football.”
GAME DAY MINUS-1
LINKS
48-Hour Primer: The QB matchup featuring the grizzled vet and the rising star.
Willie Jefferson on playing the villain: “You’ve got to be able to go to somebody’s house, kick their door in and take everything off their table. That’s how it is.”
Brady Oliveira: “Why not us?”
Eastern Semi-Final Tale of the Tape
