VANCOUVER — The Winnipeg Blue Bombers had just put the finishing touches on their first practice of Grey Cup week when Sergio Castillo ambled over to yours truly, set his helmet on the turf and then flashed a grin with enough wattage to light up B.C. Place.
“What a life! What a life! Look at us. Look at you,” Castillo exclaimed. “We get to travel around the country. We’re in this amazing city. We just had a good Day 1. I’m just trying to soak as much of this in as possible.
“I remember back in ’21 we were in Hamilton at the Grey Cup and every night Osh (head coach Mike O’Shea) would say ‘There’s 96 hours left.’ Then it was 72… 48… I was thinking, ‘There’s plenty of time’ and then before you knew it, the game was here. So, that’s why I’m trying to soak everything in, from the meetings, to the hotel, to the walk, to the views, the practice.
“And most of all, I’m going to enjoy all the chats with the boys because we get another week to hang out together and we’re together 24-7. Osh keeps saying it, we get to spend another week together.
“That’s the vibe. Good vibe.”
The scenes and reactions from Day 1 all fell along that theme. The Blue Bombers practice session was crisp and business-like — same as always. And there was also an overwhelming sense of the joy that comes from that extra time together and, of course, all while chasing a championship.
Lucky Whitehead at practice Tuesday
“This is beautiful,” said receiver Lucky Whitehead. “Just for me to be back and playing in this stadium again, it’s crazy with the messages and the love I’ve been receiving. I’ve got a lot of emotions being back out here again. It’s blessing.
“When you’re in the offseason it’s rare that you can get the chance to just talk to most of the guys. We get six-seven months together, less for me this year. But when you spend this much time with guys, you get closer. And that’s why guys will run through a wall for each other and want this extra time.
“As soon as it’s over, guys are on flights, and we’re gone. That’s why you want to cherish these months together.”
Whitehead said he still has a place here in Vancouver from his playing days with the B.C. Lions and plans to have a few of the receiver group over to his spot for a little barbecue.
And Castillo and his crew have plans, too.
“We’ve been playing board games at night since October 30th — we’ve had about six or seven sessions and about 15-16 guys,” he said. “It’s fun but it can get pretty intense.
“Evan (Holm) brought the games out here. He’s our board game president. Hell, yeah. ‘Blood on Clocktower’ is what we’ve been playing lately. There’s good guys, bad guys, everyone has different roles.
“There’s things like that you soak in and appreciate. I’m so stoked for this week. I’ve got 22 family members coming, mostly from Adriana (his wife’s) side. My mom’s making the trip. My soccer coach is making the trip.
“It’s going to be a blast.”
One more scene setter bit from our conversation after practice with quarterback Chris Streveler:
We’ve got boots on the ground in Vancouver as @EdTaitWFC is joined by Chris Streveler on the first day of practice during Grey Cup week. #ForTheW pic.twitter.com/tSMAvpZf68
— y – Winnipeg Blue Bombers (@Wpg_BlueBombers) November 12, 2024
More notes and quotes from Day 1 of the Blue Bombers practice week in our final Need to Know of the season…
HELLO AGAIN: Mike O’Shea and Toronto’s Ryan Dinwiddie were front and centre for the annual Grey Cup Coach’s media conference Tuesday morning — a second go-round for the pair in three years and O’Shea’s fifth straight at the affair.
Mike O’Shea at Tuesday’s Grey Cup Coaches Media Conference — courtesy Thomas Skrlj/CFL.ca
Some of the highlights:
-Dinwiddie, you may recall, made his first CFL start in the 2007 Grey Cup for the Blue Bombers after Kevin Glenn broke his arm that year in the East Final.
Now, some 17 years later a somewhat similar storyline is playing out with Nick Arbuckle starting at QB this Sunday after Chad Kelly suffered a broken tibia in Toronto’s East Final win over Montreal last Saturday.
“Nick’s more experienced, been in bigger games,” said Dinwiddie, when asked to compare the two situations. “That was the first big game I played in as far as the CFL. I was very eager and looking forward to the opportunity, just like any competitor would. I was excited about the opportunity. Unfortunately, a few plays might have changed that game but Nick’s a little bit more experienced than me, been in those big games and then we’ve been together a long time with me calling plays for him, him executing them… it’s more fluid than the situation that I was in.”
Dinwiddie also made it quite clear how confident he and the Argos are in the veteran pivot.
“They just have to manage the game. You know, make the right throws,” said Dinwiddie. “Doesn’t have to be a hero. We don’t have to force throws. You can’t manufacture big plays, right? They have to come as far as manage the game.
“Like I told him, it’s not about him, it’s about the football club. He’s got to be one piece of a puzzle and do his thing and not to put too much added pressure on him.”
-The Blue Bombers 0-4 start to the season featured two OT losses, new personnel and countless mistakes across the board. Amidst that, Zach Collaros didn’t have a TD pass until Week 6. Asked if he thought about making a QB change at that point, O’Shea didn’t hesitate for a second.
“I don’t know that there’d be any coach in our league that would have switched Zach out,” O’Shea said. “He’s too good.”
-Toronto knocked off the Blue Bombers twice this year by a grand total of five points, winning 16-14 in July and then 14-11 in October. As well, in the 2022 Grey Cup in Regina, it was Toronto edging Winnipeg 24-23.
Dinwiddie when asked if the Argos have found a chink in the Blue Bombers’ armour:
“I wouldn’t say that. “I’m telling Mike (O’Shea), five years in a row for the organization to get here, that doesn’t happen overnight. Obviously, Mike’s built that there, and their whole locker adapted each year to get to where they’re at. I think we’ve had some success towards them, and they’ve had success towards us as well, right? They’ve all been close games, hard fought games, physical games.”
-And one more from O’Shea, who has been to multiple Grey Cups as a coach and a hall of fame player. And, no, his feelings of the game never diminish.
“I’ve said this before, prior to being a coach or a player I was a fan. I like what it does to our country. I like the opportunity it gives our young football players.”
FIST BUMP: To our social media team who keeps crushing it with this Question of the Day series. The last one of the year: