Rarest Occasion-- I WAS WRONG!

Recently, I boldly predicted that the Bombers would finish the season 6 and 12 and wouldn't even get a sniff of playoff football. As any Canadian Football League fan knows as of today, the Bombers finished 7 and 11 and if it hadn't been for a real bad half of football, they very well could have made the playoffs. So, I've been exposed, I'm far from being an expert on CFL Football. (This is me taking away the criticism I'm sure all those Mike Kelly lovers will fire off in my comment section).

Here's the scoop. Mike Kelly has been an embarrassment to the Winnipeg Football Club. Last week cussing out Bob Irving was a whole new low. Missing the playoffs in a division where the Toronto Argonauts finished 3 and 12, should be unacceptable. Being brash, arrogant, over the line of good taste often, is only acceptable when you are delivering championships. When you are missing the playoffs, and giving us the worst loss in a single game in recent memory (remember the Banjo Bowl? I sure do), and then swearing at a local Media Icon (Bob Irving), you should be fired. There should be no post last game of the season interview where you talk about your goals for the off season, you should gracefully call it a day and ride off quietly. No, Mike Kelly won't do this, he's done it his way this long, why change now.

All week long, I said if Mike Kelly matches Doug Berry's mark of 8 and 10 last season, and made the playoffs, let alone host a playoff game, he should get one more season to undo a lot of the wrong that he did this year. But that would require a win against a team that wanted it far worse. I laugh at those who argue Kevin Glenn isn't a worthy starting Quarterback in the CFL. 2 years ago, if it had not been for a broken limb, this guy quite possibly would have ended the long Championship drought that Blue Bomber fans have had to endure (please remember that Ryan Dinwiddie lost that game by a mere 4 points, and completed just 15 of 33 passes). Does anyone doubt that Greg Marshall's defense wasn't more prepared for this game than any other game this season? I wonder if Lyle Bauer watched that game, stroked his goatee and thought to himself "What if? What if I had just left Brendan Taman in charge? And what if he had promoted Greg Marshall to be Head Coach last year?" Those what if answers probably yield far different results. One Brendan knew how to work with the media, and get positives out of stories that could be slanted negatively. And I seriously doubt Greg Marshall ever would have allowed this team be so unprepared as to get humiliated as regularly as it did (Banjo Bowl, in Montreal last week, and today against Hamilton were rough to watch as Bomber fans).

I can't help but also wonder where this team finishes if Mike Kelly hadn't staked his entire existence to an inexperienced Quarterback going into training camp. Lets forgive that Kevin Glenn was released without even getting a training camp to prove himself in the new system. But Michael Bishop was a free agent a month into the season, and former league Most Outstanding Player Casey Printers was a free agent until about 8 weeks ago. You put anyone of those three through a training camp and familiarize them with this set of receivers, and the team probably finishes 9 and 9. And hosts a playoff game. And even with the inconsistent play that plagued Michael Bishop, it would be considered a success story for a rookie head coach to have finished second.

But not to worry. Mike Kelly didn't do the worst job in the CFL this summer. That distinction goes to Bart Andrus who boldly decided that Arland Bruce wasn't bigger than the Argos. Bruce is the single most talented receiver in the league right now. And his chemistry with Glenn is frightening. He is a true bona fide game breaker, and I believe he's the single biggest reason the TiCats finished second, and the Argos finished last.

So what now? In a perfect world, Lyle Bauer would hold a press conference and announce his resignation. The Winnipeg Football Club Executive would lure a worthy candidate to over see the corporate management of the team, and hire a truly qualified person to handle the Football operations. That Murphy fellow who is Director of Player Personnel would be fired for the Pacman Jones fiasco, Mike Kelly would be exterminated for being the irritating and disrespectful louse that he is. And a new direction for this franchise would be adopted immediately and urgently. He's as boring as a bowl of cornflakes but Tom Higgins comes to mind as the perfect choice to run the Football end. And with the impending deal to go to private ownership already well established, why not just name David Asper Chief Executive Officer. Higgins could coach, and coach damn good. The current roster of the Calgary Stampeders demonstrates that Higgins knows how to assemble a winning football program. He's won a Grey Cup as Head Coach in Edmonton. And I firmly believe in the motto "Once a coach, always a coach", he'd leave his post as Director of Officiating to run the program. One major problem though, the mis-management of one Lyle Bauer, has created a crisis where Doug Berry still has one year of pay as FIRED Head Coach. And for some insane reason that only Bauer understands Mike Kelly is allegedly the third highest paid Head Coach in the CFL (behind success stories named Buono and Huffnagel), and Kelly's contract has two more years before expiry. Yeah don't vomit, this idiot named Mike Kelly got paid more than Marc Trestman in Montreal, and Trestman had double the victories plus one this season. He could have loaned the Bombers 3 wins and still finished on top of the CFL East Division. True story!?!

It will be very interesting to watch the off season unfold. If Mike Kelly is retained as Head Coach, what will happen with Corporate Sponsorship? Season Ticket Sales? Free Agency? I am not much of a gambler, and I have no faith in Lyle Bauer's dice rolling skills. So here's hoping today was a stark wake-up call for the local professional football organization. We can only hope Lyle Bauer saw the same thing 1/3 of the fanbase saw, which is that his buddy Mike Kelly is a dismal failure as a pro football coach.

On Final thought... IF YOU GOOGLE MIKE KELLY, YOU'LL SEE HE DIDN'T HAVE SUCCESS AS HEAD COACH OF THE WINNIPEG BLUE BOMBERS.