BLUE BOMBERS OWNER STRANGELY SILENTSept 27, 2001 WINNIPEG,
MB - The owner of the CanSFL Winnipeg Blue Bombers was doing something different ever since his team's nail biting loss to the Quebec Bulldogs on Sunday. Blue Bomber owner Ken Yost, who is not known for being a silent partner in any of his numerous endeavours, had stayed quiet until he finally came out and held what has to be chalked up as one of the oddest press conferences in team history. Mr. Yost spent the vast majority of the time either refusing to answer standard questions or on the defensive for refusing to answer questions.
When asked of his thoughts on the game, Mr. Yost refused to answer stating, "The players have heard from me, they know what I expect." There had been rumours circulating this week that Ken lost his cool in the dressing room post game, laying blame upon the team's always poor run defence. When asked if his comments, including blaming kicker Jacob Marini for missing an extra point that in the end would have forced overtime, Ken stated "There have been numerous accurate reports of some events in the media in the past week. I refuse to either confirm or deny any particular detail in any story."
When Winnipeg Free Press reporter Scott Taylor asked about the dwindling numbers at CanadInns Stadium, 14,373 was the announced attendance Sunday, Ken blew up "Listen you pompous fat-assed [expletive], you are nothing, know nothing and are no good at what you do. I refuse to dignify your presence with my Carbon Dioxide. Either you go, or I do." Waiting a few short moments, Mr. Yost then stormed off leaving the press conference to Walter Krawec and a flabbergasted press corps.
Mr. Krawec ended up being somewhat more helpful; confirming that players were upset with their poor performance and that Ken had indeed 'spoke' to them after the game. Walter then emphasized that with Pollard coming off of the injured reserve, more cuts were expected to keep the roster trim. He also stated that he feels that the Bombers have great depth and with the newfound expansions of game day rosters, the Bombers are expecting to be better than ever. He finished off with a comment on the attendance saying, "of course we are disappointed with that number [14,373], but we are doing our best to increase our attendance next year. We inherited a difficult situation, and we can't expect it to solve it overnight. If the numbers stay where they are next year, then question why."
For more information please contact the Bombers at umyostkj@cc.umanitoba.ca
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