Take it Easy Swaggerville

Should a CFL team with a 16-26 record over the last three years be making nicknames for their defence and selling $25 t-shirts with that nickname on it?

That’s the question I’ve been asking myself for the last couple of days.

Yes, just when it looked the Bombers would be pushed aside on the local sports scene this summer due to the return of the Winnipeg Jets, Winnipeggers and Manitobans have caught a case of Swaggerville fever after their beloved Blue Bombers have gotten off to a scorching 5-1 start.

And a huge reason for the surprising start has been because of the superb play of the defence, who are calling themselves “Swaggerville”.

It’s an age-old tradition in sports. Superior defences, and lethal offences, are given nicknames by the media, the fans, or in the Bombers case, themselves.

For example:

The Big Blue Wrecking Crew: A name that might have worked for the current Bombers squad, the New York Giants defence of the 1980s was given this name. Led by Lawrence Taylor, the 3-4 defence is still considered one of the greatest of all time after they won two Super Bowl Championships in five years.

The Purple People Eaters- Just an awesome nickname given to the 1970s Minnesota Vikings, who made 4 Super Bowls on the strength of their defensive unit.

The Steel Curtain- Maybe the most notable defensive nickname ever. The 1970s Pittsburgh Steelers defence was so deadly that in 1978, the NFL made rule changes specifically for offences to help contain “The Steel Curtain”. The Steelers won 4 Super Bowls in the 1970s and four members from that defence, Jack Lambert, Jack Ham, Joe Greene, and Mel Blount, are in the Hall of Fame.

Swaggerville- 16-26 record from 2009-2011. No playoff appearances. Yet to beat the Alouettes and the Stampeders, considered the class of the CFL.

Now which one of those doesn’t belong in that list.

Listen, let’s give the Bombers some credit first. The team has won more games (5) than they did all of last year (4) and when Buck Pierce and the offense is nowhere to be found, the defence holds down the fort and has been the main reason for most of the Bombers wins this year.

But I have a few issues with this whole “Swaggerville” thing.

The first issue being the list of nicknames that we just went through. Each of those three defences, along with many others not named here (Doomsday Defense, Orange Crush, Monsters of the Midway) had success for a considerable period of time. Each of those teams went to Super Bowls and most of them won one and even multiple championships.

But to give your defence a nickname after 6 games?!

And even worse, it was almost always the media who gave those defences their nicknames. But the Bombers have given this moniker to themselves. Can you say cocky?

Which leads me to my next issue. It’s always good to be confident and a little bit cocky. Confidence is a huge part of how football teams and any team in any sport succeed. But to go as public as the Bombers have had with this nickname is something that they may regret down the road.

BC Lions DE Brent Johnson was the first to speak out on Swaggerville saying in an interview on Vancouver radio, “I think they should sell some t-shirts while they can”. And I can guarantee you that Brent Johnson is not the only player around the CFL who is not a fan of Swaggerville.

A few years back, Brent Johnson was part of a BC Lions defence that was easily the most dominant in the league. The Lions could have come up with a nickname of some sort for their ferocious defence. But they let their playing do the talking and from 2004-2008, the team won 4 Western Division titles, and made 2 Grey Cups, winning in 2006.

The Winnipeg Blue Bombers on the other hand, have been dysfunctional over the last couple of years. Yet the defence has no problem talking trash to the rest of the CFL.

What the Bombers have done here is put a target on their backs. Now every time they play, the opposing team will probably be more motivated than they usually are.

The opposing offence will be raring to go and ready to try and tear apart “Swaggerville”.

And the opposing defences will want to prove that they are better than Swaggerville and will come out angrier than ever which, I hate to say it, might put Bombers QB Buck Pierce even more in the line of danger.

You can say all you want on how this nickname was made to pump up Bomber fans and Bomber players. And it definitely has done that, but it has also pumped up the rest of the CFL, which might mean trouble for the Blue and Gold. Swaggerville has pretty much gone mainstream after the Bombers convincing win over the previously undefeated Edmonton Eskimos last Friday. The rest of the league is now ready to welcome in Swaggerville.

And the first Swaggerville test comes Saturday night against Brent Johnson and the BC Lions. The Lions are 1-5 and you can bet the Bombers will be walking into Empire Field with a little swagger in their step, no matter how “humble” their coach seems to think they are.

The Lions are coming off their first win of the year. BC will be fired up.

The Lions are playing at home. BC will be fired up.

Arland Bruce III joins the Lions receiving corps. BC will be fired up.

All signs point to a Lions win on Saturday. (The Lions even opened as 1 point favourites)

If you’re a contender, and if you’re a superior defence, then when the odds are against you, you step up and play out of your minds. In my opinion, this is the Bombers biggest test of the year to date because of the whole Swaggerville phenomenon taking off. If you want to give yourself nicknames, Bombers D, then you better shut down a Lions offence which looks like it could be lights-out for the rest of the year.

The Winnipeg Blue Bombers are currently in the midst of the longest Grey Cup drought among current CFL teams. It’s been 21 years since this team was crowned CFL champions.

And if this team wants to head back to the Grey Cup, taking place in Vancouver later this year, then Swaggerville might want to quit talking and just start playing football.

Or else this weekend’s trip to Vancouver will be their only trip to Vancouver this year.