Longest-tenured Bomber ‘fired up’ for grand finale
He’s the longest-serving member of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers and has been with the team for eight seasons, which is exactly the amount of time between
Grey Cup appearances for the franchise.
The Bombers last went to the championship game in 2011, losing to the B.C. Lions in Vancouver.
“I got (to Winnipeg) the next year,” said Jake Thomas, a veteran Canadian defensive tackle.
“It’s a pretty surreal feeling. You start every year and that’s always the goal, to win the Grey Cup. Now we have our chance.”
The Bombers will play the Hamilton Tiger-cats in the 107th Grey Cup on Sunday.
Thomas, a 28-year-old who had 22 tackles and five sacks this season, has been through a lot with this team.
They went 6-12 in his first season (2012) and followed that up with 3-15, 7-11 and 5-13 seasons, not making the playoffs once in his first four years in Winnipeg.
Since then they’ve made it to the playoffs in four straight seasons, losing the first two division semifinals, winning the next two and finally winning the West final this past Sunday in Saskatchewan.
The Bombers made two goalline stands in the final three minutes to preserve at 20-13 victory in Regina.
“I’m definitely fired up, especially with the way the last game ended, those crazy last couple of minutes,” Thomas said.
“We have a great group and we’ve been working for it the whole year and it means a lot to have a chance to reach our goal. We’ve been building something pretty special the whole year. We have a very tight-knit team.”
BIG TV RATINGS
It has often been suggested the CFL should move its playoff games to Saturdays because it has to compete for TV ratings with the NFL on Sundays.
Perhaps those ratings suggest it’s not true.
The West final between the Bombers and Riders on Sunday drew 1.63 million viewers, which made it the highest-rated English-language program of the day on Canadian television.
The highest-rated NFL game of the day was the Sunday-nighter on TSN, which drew 546,400 viewers, according to numbers provided by Justin Dunk of 3Downnation.
It was also the most watched CFL division final in the last five years.
MUTUAL RESPECT
The West final was as physical, intense and emotional a game as you’ll see and there was much respect shown from both sides of the storied Bombers-riders rivalry.
Perhaps Bombers middle linebacker Adam Bighill said it best when he sent a tweet to Riders’ quarterback Cody Fajardo, who put in an admirable performance despite playing with two torn oblique muscles.
“Hats off and much respect to you @Codyfajardo17 for playing through what I imagine was a painful injury. #savage,” Bighill tweeted.
Fajardo quickly replied: “Thank you brotha! Best of luck to you and your boys in the Grey Cup. Love competing against you! Looking forward to our future battles.”
The respect shown was all the more impressive considering Bighill twice laid heavy hits on Fajardo during the game and the injured quarterback hung in, eventually passing for 366 yards.
BREAK THE STREAK
The Bombers have played in five Grey Cups since their last championship in 1990, losing to Calgary in 1992, Edmonton in 1993, Calgary again in 2001, Saskatchewan in 2007 and B.C., in 2011.
On each of those occasions, plus when they won the Grey
Cup in 1988 (B.C.) and 1990 (Edmonton), they represented the East Division.
This is the Bombers first time representing the West in the Grey Cup since 1984, when they beat Hamilton 47-17.
In fact, it’s just the second time since 1965 the Bombers have represented the West. Since then, they have played 31 seasons in the West Division, 21 in the East and one in the short-lived North Division that was created during the U.S. expansion era.
If the Bombers should happen to lose on Sunday, they would tie the club record for most consecutive Grey Cup appearances without a win. They lost six in a row between 1945 and 1957.
The all-time record for most consecutive Grey Cup losses is seven, set by the Roughriders between 1928 and 1951.
BOMBERS EARNED IT
Kenny Lawler had not yet played a CFL game when he got his first taste of stinging playoff defeat.
It was in Calgary for the West final in 2018 and Lawler was a practice roster player who had a chance to be an up-close spectator during the 22-14 Bombers’ loss.
“I was on the sideline in the West final last year and it was a close game that could have gone either way,” Lawler said. “The boys hated losing that game.”
Lawler made the Bombers out of training camp this year as a receiver and wound up being named the team’s most outstanding rookie. He said all along that the time he spent with the team last year, even during that crushing loss, helped prepare him for this season.
“We put in the work in the off-season and during the season this year,” Lawler said.
“This is what results. We work hard, we go out and earn it each week.”