Pulling your leg in the Peg

The Charles Roberts retirement story is all the talk in Winnipeg these days, as the Bombers return from their bye week and prepare to hunker down and solidify a playoff spot. The Blue's running back last week took to the computer to pen a short but succinct farewell to the fans of the Bombers, suggesting that he was done come the end of the year.

Comments which caught not only the fans but the Bombers players, staff and management a tad by surprise. Now back in camp, it seems that Robert's claims he was only having a little fun with the fans, a laugh riot 0f a whoppie cushion tall tale, that he says was all in good fun.

Needless to say, the Bomber's don't need the distraction (though they did suggest that Robert's may be their version of a TO, not your best role model), so don't expect too much to come of it at the moment. But if he really wanted to put away the story for good, a contract extension signing might be the thing to calm down the Bombers fans.

Once again we thank seanincognito for the details and the heads up as to the wild and fun times at CanadInn stadium..

Roberts retires his e-mail
'Maybe he's our version of T.O.,' GM suggests
Wed Oct 11 2006
By Ed Tait
Winnipeg Free Press

IT has become the Winnipeg Blue Bombers' universal response every time Charles Roberts rants, throws a public temper tantrum or, in this case, posts a message on an Internet fan site saying he plans to retire after this season:

"Oh well... that's just Charlie being Charlie."

So while Roberts was teased mercilessly by teammates as the media chased him for answers about his retirement posting on OurBombers.com last week and head coach Doug Berry laughed off the episode as "harmless" yesterday, his act is apparently grating some VIPs within the organization.

"I wasn't laughing at it, not at all," GM Brendan Taman said. "I talked to him and he downplayed it, but these kind of things do wear on you after awhile. Look, you have to put up with it, providing he's productive and helping you win games. If he's not doing that and he's just an average player, then you have to weigh the pros and cons.

"If it becomes a problem for your team and organization, then you have to seriously think about what's going on. I don't think we're at that stage yet.

"Quite honestly, and this may be a bad example, but the first thing that comes to my mind is (Dallas Cowboys receiver) Terrell Owens. Maybe he's our version of T.O... and Charlie would probably love to have that comparison."

Maybe, maybe not. Roberts was certainly not enjoying the attention yesterday. When pressed repeatedly to confirm he made the posting, Roberts said:
"I don't know how it got on there. There's no retirement. I already said what I want to say: NO RETIREMENT."

He was one of the first Bombers off the field following practice and, after changing quickly, brushed off interview requests by heading to the washroom, then taking a call on his cellphone before escaping.

"Did you really think he would sit there and explain himself?" asked defensive tackle Doug Brown, with a grin. "C'mon, seriously. Dude, I've been here six years and I've heard he was retiring every year I've been here. I read that and thought, 'What's the big deal? I've heard it all before.'

"We love it. Guys were yelling, 'Charlie, is your 401K set up yet?' 'Don't retire... we need you.' "
Roberts did meet with Berry before practice yesterday and the diminutive tailback confirmed he did make the post. He also insisted he will not be packing it in after this season.

Roberts is 70 yards behind Calgary's Joffrey Reynolds in the race for the CFL rushing title and needs only 1,076 yards to pass hall of famer Leo Lewis to become the Bombers' all-time leader.
"Charles wanted to have some fun," Berry said. "He was just doing it all in a light attitude and he knew he'd provoke some attention, not only from people on the website, but also you guys in the media. He certainly has no intentions of retiring. None. I asked him about retiring and he said, 'No way, coach.'"

Asked if the whole affair was a possible distraction for the team as it prepares for Sunday's game in Hamilton, Berry instead suggested it rallied the squad.

"It gave everybody a chance to come back together with a focal point today, let's put it that way," Berry said. "Everybody was poking fun at him and Charles had to take it. It was good.
"I probably wish that he wouldn't have done it, but I don't really care. He didn't do it with any malicious intent and, after talking with him, I know he has no indications of retiring. None."

© 2006 Winnipeg Free Press. All Rights Reserved.

'Chuck Diesell1' tries to scat as laugh track plays
Wed Oct 11 2006
Randy Turner
Winnipeg Free Press

OH, that Chuck Diesell1 is a shifty one. To the left, to the right, a stutter step... and that was just leaving the field.

All those TV cameras and reporters in pursuit, chasing Charles Roberts off the stadium turf at the end of yesterday's practice in what can best be described as one of the most comical moments in Winnipeg Blue Bombers history.

All the while, Roberts' teammates taunting him from behind.

"Don't retire, Charlie!" one pleaded. "We need you!"

"You can break the (Bombers' all-time rushing) record," advised another.

Meanwhile, Roberts continued toward the locker-room with the media mob in tow, refusing to acknowledge what all the fuss was about -- a short e-mail under the pseudonym Chuck Diesell1 to the OurBombers.com website last week announcing he would retire at the end of this season.
That's right, Charles Roberts just officially invented the bye-bye week. Not that he was going to confess without a fight yesterday.

"I don't know how it got there," Roberts insisted, for some reason. "There's no retirement."
Well, it's true that there probably will be no retirement. But why Roberts continued to deny the obvious yesterday was bewildering.

Especially when Bombers head coach Doug Berry openly admitted to meeting with the enigmatic running back yesterday morning, where Roberts confirmed posting the e-mail "in good fun."

Got the fun part right. The Bombers clubhouse was a playground of delight yesterday as Roberts' teammates gleefully contributed to the cause.

"I'm not retiring," quarterback Kevin Glenn assured director of football operations Ross Hodgkinson, who was just passing by.

"Not everybody can say that," Hodgkinson deadpanned.

And they had a big laugh.

The only person in Bomberville who wasn't having fun yesterday was Roberts, who appeared more like the proverbial kid with his hand caught in the cookie jar.

"I got guys calling me 10, 12 times over the weekend. Damn!" Roberts said ruefully while he ducked behind a row of lockers before leaving the dressing room for parts unknown.

Here's the deal, though. For all the yuks that Roberts' posting created, there's a darker side to the frivolity.

You see, he can tell his coach it was all in good fun. And his coach can accept that answer. But that explanation doesn't even come close to passing the sniff test.

For starters, why wasn't Roberts smiling too? Probably because there's a reason for the retirement posting, made around 1 a.m. in the morning, that wouldn't be so humorous.

To wit, money.

Chances are that Roberts, who has never made secret his desire to earn more -- who doesn't want more? -- might have been feeling a little down about his current remuneration. Maybe the e-mail was triggered by the signing of receiver Derick Armstrong, who didn't come cheap.

Chuck Diesell1 might have thought: "Hey, I've been carrying the rock for this team -- and quite admirably at that, so why is some guy who just showed up getting as much as me or more?"
But that's the way the business works -- supply and demand. The Bombers desperately had the demand. Armstrong had the supply.

Which brings us to the merciless taunting from Roberts' teammates, whose collective smiles were the antithesis of their little buddy's stern face. After all, nobody can see through a contract power play like another football player, and they weren't about to let him get away with it unscathed.

The Bombers brass will play along for now, but the reason they didn't even bother to investigate the issue -- apart from the lame excuse that the e-mail could have been sent by someone else -- was that they didn't want to get sucked into what could be Roberts' veiled attempt to leverage more cash out of the club.

Hilarious, huh?

Bottom line: Charles Roberts is a great football player who is forever fighting for more respect, it seems. Or more money, although for some athletes, money and respect are the same thing, and perhaps that's true.

It's just that yesterday's little sitcom, although it had a laugh track, might not be so funny as a repeat.

That's why we're pretty sure that while Roberts didn't retire yesterday, Chuck Diesell1 did.

© 2006 Winnipeg Free Press. All Rights Reserved.

Roberts gives his notice on the net

The Winnipeg Blue Bombers were caught by surprise this morning after word got out that their talented Running Back Charles Roberts had announced that he was finished after this year.

Bomber GM Brendan Taman, was rather shocked to hear the tale of Roberts logging onto a Blue Bomber fansite chat board at OurBombers.com and sharing his post season plans with the Bomber faithful, before he sat down to share them with Bomber management.

Taman said that he believed all was well with Roberts, that he was happy in Winnipeg and that everyone was on the same page as the Bombers head for the playoff drive.

Taman who was en-route to Las Vegas for the weekend, will attempt to get to the bottom of the mystery upon his return. Perhaps it is just a pre-bargaining ploy by Roberts, although the Free Press checked its back issues and discovered a quote from 2004 where Roberts claimed that he would retire after 2006.

It will be interesting to see if he can be talked out of his decision, considering how important he is to the scheme of things in the Big Blue offence.

Our thanks to our friend seanincognito who holds down the fort in Bomber land, for the link and heads up on the percolating personnel issue in the Peg.


Blink blindsides Bombers
Star RB Roberts apparently posts message on Net that he's gonzo at end of season
Fri Oct 6 2006
By Ed Tait
Winnipeg Free Press

HE can be mysterious and perplexing, dramatic and intriguing all at the same time. That, in part, explains why for the past six years so many fans have been unable to take their eyes off the enigma that is Winnipeg Blue Bomber running back Charles Roberts.

And now there may be a new chapter...

Early yesterday morning and completely unbeknownst to team officials, Roberts apparently posted the following message on OurBombers.com under the thread title 'the end' and using his regular chat-room name 'chuckdiesell1':

'I would like to take this opportunity to inform everyone that at the end of the season I will be retiring from football. It has been a great six years and I appreciate all of your support.'

Roberts did not return repeated phone and e-mail messages from the Free Press, but a moderator at OurBombers.com confirmed yesterday the message came from the same address he has previously used to post on the board.

The news blindsided Bomber GM Brendan Taman, who last night was en route to Las Vegas for the weekend.

"I have no clue as to what this is about," said Taman from the Minneapolis airport. "He was in my office two days ago and we had a decent chat. I was just BS-ing with him and he brought up the fact he was thinking about living here year-round, which I thought was good for his marketing value and life outside of football. And then I hear about this and it's 'Wow!'

"The last time we talked everything seemed OK and now, apparently, something has been triggered where it's not OK. He's gone from talking about living here year-round to possibly, 'See ya later.' I don't know what to make of it. It's caught me totally by surprise."

Taman said he was unaware of any rift between Roberts or management and had no indication the five-time CFL all-star was planning to walk away from the game. That said, Roberts has often made his unhappiness public, from going AWOL as a rookie in 2001 over lack of playing time to going public this spring with his displeasure after the club signed former Minnesota Vikings running back Onterrio Smith.

It's worth noting that Roberts should not be unhappy with his involvement in the offence this season as he leads the CFL in carries with 244, a pace that would put him near his career high of 300 in 2004. Roberts has 1,305 yards rushing, just 40 back of Calgary's Joffrey Reynolds and on pace for the second-highest total of his career.

There has been speculation that Roberts is unhappy with his current contract, but that subject was not broached with Taman during their meeting earlier this week.

Interestingly, Roberts told the Free Press in October of 2004 that he planned on retiring after the 2006 season -- a statement few then believed he would honour.

And yet, earlier this season Roberts indicated he would like to retire as the Bombers' all-time leading rusher. He currently has 7,785 career rushing yards, trailing only Leo Lewis at 8,861.
"Until he comes into my office and tells me all this... to be honest, I really don't know how to react other than I hope he continues to play," said Taman.

"The disappointing thing is everyone is working toward getting into the playoffs. And now... if it's true it's like, 'Oh, brother.'"

© 2006 Winnipeg Free Press. All Rights Reserved.