WINNIPEG -- The general manager of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers thought he might get a little more sleep Monday night than he did Sunday, after his team dropped a 34-23 decision to the B.C. Lions at the Grey Cup in Vancouver.
Joe Mack was wrong. He woke up again at 2 a.m., thinking about what needs to be done to get back to the CFL championship and this time come home with the trophy that was last won by the Blue Bombers in 1990.
"We were a good team this year, we weren't a great team, and so there's things we have to do I've already thought about,'' he said. "Hopefully we'll be able to execute that in the off-season but we will never be complacent as long as I am here.
"And we're always going to be on the razor's edge in trying to get better because, if not, you're going backwards.''
One of his first jobs is signing his free agents.
On paper there are about a dozen but he knows that defensive lineman Doug Brown is planning to retire and a few will try their luck in the NFL. That leaves eight or nine, including quarterback Buck Pierce.
"I want to be here more than anything,'' he said as he cleared out his locker at team headquarters beside Canad Inns Stadium. "This place is home to me and I definitely want to get something done.''
Pierce echoed what others have said throughout the year about a team that seemed to win the tough games and often lose those they should have locked down.
"We need to be more consistent,'' he said. "I think that inevitably came up and bit us. I think throughout the course of the year we had great games and we had a few lows here and there.''
Overall, 2011 was a pretty good season for the Bombers after a grim 2010. They finished atop the East Division and were dominant in a victory over the Hamilton Tiger-Cats in the East final.
Once in Vancouver, their offence largely fizzled for the first half of the game. Coach Paul LaPolice has already identified one area where he wants to see improvement.
"We need more consistency. I want more competition in the kicking game,'' he said.
There are few areas where he doesn't see room for development.
"We want to improve in every facet ... We'll look at improving (our) offensive line, improving every receiver position, every running back position, we'll look into all those.''
As for whether Pierce should be the starter next year, neither the coach nor the GM were quite ready to make that commitment six months before training camp.
"He'd be the heavy favourite,'' conceded LaPolice.