Hey all hope everyone is well. Well Sunday is the big day, the East Final against the Hamilton Tiger Cats, with the winner going to the Grey Cup. The game is also important for sentimental reasons for myself and I'm sure many other fans as it will be the last game ever played at the old stadium. I have TONS of great memories of games at the stadium, and I'd probably be here writing this for a few days if I took the time to remember each and every one of them.
My first Bomber game I unfortunately remember very, very little about. I remember it was during the 1993 season, and our seats were in the first row of the second deck. The game was against Hamilton as it turned out, and Matt Dunigan was our quarterback. We won the game 63-10. While that was my first Bomber game, I wouldn't "officially" become a football fan until later that year until I watched my Grandpa's favorite team, the Dallas Cowboys in the Super Bowl.
I wouldn't end up going to a Bomber game for another few years. It would end up being during the Jeff Reinbold era in a game against Doug Flutie and the Toronto Argos in a game that my mom got me tickets for, for my birthday. At the time, the Bombers, believe it or not were not my favorite team. I had been a fan of Doug Flutie since he was with the Calgary Stampeders and immediately became a fan of the Argos when he signed there as a free agent. Flutie and the Argos, as did many teams during that time destroyed the Bombers, but I didn't care. I was seeing my favorite players, Flutie, Pinball Clemons, Paul Masotti and others play in person, and I was thrilled.
It wasn't until 1999 when the Bombers hired Dave Ritchie that I started closely following the team. The team struggled in his first year under Kerwin Bell, but things would slowly turn around the next year in 2000, which also brings me to how I ended up getting season tickets in the first place.
I was over at a good friend's place at the time, at we were playing catch with a baseball, when I somehow stumbled, and used my wrists to try and break my fall. I was in a fair bit of pain and my wrist immediately swelled and got stiff, but I figured whatever, a sprain maybe, and hopefully it would go away over night. Of course like the wise and astute kid that I was - and still am ;) I threw about 5 or 6 more balls before I decided this wasn't the best idea in the world. After I got home that night, my mom noticed the swelling in my wrist and wanted to take me to the hospital, to which I refused saying I'll be fine and it will be better in the morning, when in actuality it was hurting more and more, but I wanted to see the end of WCW Nitro that happened to be on at the time. Being the great kid I was, after Nitro ended, I told my mom I would go to the hospital, to which she immediately figured out that the only reason I didn't want to go was because wrestling was on TV - which happened to end at 1am at the time - Go me! ;)
So off the the hospital we went, and of course we spent all night there, and didn't get out until well into the morning. My wrist was broken and I was really upset because I was signed up in a football camp because I had wanted to play football over that summer - which obviously would not be happening. Anyways my mom felt bad for me and on the way back home we pulled into the Bomber stadium parking lot, and she ended up getting season tickets for me to cheer me up, which worked very well. Thanks mom.
The 2000 season got off to a frustrating start, with the awful Kerwin Bell still at quarterback. However after some more poor games, eventually little known Khari Jones got his shot, and he, and Milt Stegall pretty much single handedly turned the team around. My favorite game from that year was the last game at home for the season against Edmonton, needing a win to get into the playoffs. The Bombers would win the game, and went in to Hamilton to upset the defending champs in their own yard, a game no one gave us a chance to win.
2001, wow what a season. 14-4, an amazing offense and defense, but fell short of the big prize at the end of the year. I would have bet my life we were going to take it all that season at the time. The East Final that year - also against Hamilton was an epic game. We stopped Hamilton short of a touchdown after they had a chance to take the lead being first and goal from the one yard line, but the amazing defense we had that year stopped them all 3 times. One of my favorite Bombers of all time, Juran Bolden finished the game with a pick 6 to send us to the Grey Cup. The stadium was electric, definitely one of the craziest atmospheres in the stadium I have ever been apart of. Here is that final play.
The 2007 East Semi Final against Montreal was also a great game. The game unfortunately had a terrible attendance, only around 23,000 or so showed up, but it was a great game. The Bombers got off to an early lead as Kevin Glenn connected with Milt Stegall for a touchdown on our first drive. Glenn unfortunately would turn into the kind of player Bomber fans were all to use to with him, tossing up 2 costly interceptions that gave Montreal the lead. The defense again would bail us out, Montreal had a 3rd and inches from their own 40 or so, but our defense stopped them short, but still needed to get closer into field goal range as it is much harder to kick field goals when the weather is cold (ball doesn't travel as far in the cold, for those who don't know) Charles Roberts had 2 huge runs to get us well into field goal range and we won the game.
Last season was a disappointing one of course, finishing 4-14, but the first game of the year was awesome. It was Buck Pierce's first game as a Bomber, and I was thrilled when we signed him. I had always been a huge fan of his going back to his rookie season in BC. Pierce and Terrence Edwards had huge games, as did Fred Reid. It gave fans reasons for optimism after the debacle the was the 2009 season under Mike Kelly.
When I think back of those games, and a few others that I have left out, it makes me think of all the great plays, and celebrations that I have seen there over the past number of years. I'll never forget Milt Stegall breaking the touchdown record, and the reaction he got from fans. He is without a doubt the greatest receiver of all time in the CFL, and I loved seeing him play for all those seasons.
I am planning on heading down on Saturday to get a few pictures of the stadium, as it will be a bit harder to get the shots I want with all the people walking around on Sunday. The old stadium is obviously nothing pretty to look at, with its parking lot filled with potholes, cracks in the ground inside the stadium, run down washrooms (although when compared to Mosaic Field in Regina, its like a palace - Couldn't resist) and cramped seats, but its got character, and it's always been a fun place to be at.
Not only will it be the last Bomber game at the old stadium, but it will be my last time attending a Bomber game for the foreseeable future. After I graduate, I won't be in Winnipeg by the time the new season rolls around, so it will definitely be a little sad for more than one reason. No one gave us a shot at anything going into this season, so it would be great to get a win in the last game played at the stadium. Regardless, it's been a great season, and great years at the old stadium, and despite its obvious flaws, I will definitely miss it. Sunday can't come soon enough. Go Blue Go!
No comments:
Post a Comment