Boy, that Kevin Glenn was sure a nice guy, wasn't he?
Remember when he used to play quarterback for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers back in the day? Once he was even named the Most Outstanding Player in the East. You can look it up.
QB Ryan Dinwiddie unloads a pass just before Stamps defender Brandon Smith arrives on the scene.
Hmmm. Wonder what he's doing now?
OK, we're just joshin'. Glenn isn't going anywhere soon, of course.
But given the Bombers horrific start to the highly anticipated 2008 season -- combined with the virtuoso performance by the kid from Boise State Thursday night -- there's no doubt a seismic shift has taken place atop the quarterback depth chart.
Sure, the benching of Glenn, last year's East MOP, after just four games underlines the tenuous nature of job security in professional sports (this after receiving a raise and contract extension). But what Dinwiddie did in guiding the desperate Bombers to victory last night was this: Getting the gathering jackals off every single employee above him in the food chain.
In other words, Dinwiddie has a few more fans today, and none of them are bigger than Doug Berry, Brendan Taman and Lyle Bauer.
Indeed, the head coach, GM and president will undoubtedly be overcome with a warm, soothing sensation just at the mention of Dinwiddie's name.
At least, they should be.
Because, let's face it, outside of the most maniacal fanatic, few gave the Bombers in general and Dinwiddie in particular much of a chance against the Calgary Stampeders, only one of the CFL's hottest team coming into last night's contest at Canad Inns Stadium.
But the kid not only won, Dinwiddie won a legion of fans who haven't seen a rookie performance like that in a decade.
I mean, 450 yards in the air? Not a single interception?
And the very most important result: Victory.
Can one performance from one single player turn a lost season around? Perhaps. Because the energy that oozed from the stands at the final buzzer last night was palpable.
And when Dinwiddie put the nail in the Stampeders' coffin with a TD strike to fellow rookie Romby Bryant with just seconds left, a whole new batch of converts in blue and gold uniforms -- in the stands and on the field -- found religion.
Suddenly, a game that had the pall of yet another funeral turned into a wild celebration. Bombers players ran up and down the sidelines hugging one another and screaming up at the football gods, who have not spent much time in Manitoba this July.
All was good again. There was an excited hum in the air. The Bombers were moving the ball. According to sources on the west side of the stadium, the east side sucks again.
And instead of dwelling on another loss all this week, the Bombers will be basking in the glow of a dramatic victory, and the man who will be front and centre will be flashing his toothy grin for the awaiting cameras.
You see, it's not that Dinwiddie just put up numbers last night. For the entire game, the young pivot displayed the patience and poise of a 10-year veteran. There was no second-guessing in the pocket. No hesitation.
The Stamps, meanwhile, for the most part sent a three-man rush, essentially saying to the rookie, "Hey, beat us in the air... if you can."
And Dinwiddie did, largely by simply throwing the ball up and let receivers like Terrence Edwards, Bryant and Arjei Franklin make plays. And, boy, did they ever.
When Glenn was benched last week, he was called the scapegoat. He was taking the fall for too many players making too many mistakes. And that's true, to some extent.
Because last night you could count the missed tackles by Bombers defenders on one hand. There were only a couple of dropped balls. And the number of pointless, costly penalties were at a minimum.
So just as Glenn wasn't 100 percent the problem, Dinwiddie wasn't 100 per cent the solution.
But the kid won, and you can't take that away from him.
He'll play next week and almost certainly the week after that. Dinwiddie will play until the faith of those above him wavers, if at all, to the point where Glenn will be considered an option again.
That won't happen for some time.
Don't believe us? Well, just walk up to Lyle Bauer or Brendan Taman or Doug Berry in the next week and mention Dinwiddie's name.
See if they smile.
randy.turner@freepress.mb.ca
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