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Blue fans vow to wear black against Mack

By: Katherine Dow

Posted: 09/10/2012 3:18 AM | Comments: 0

If the Fire Joe Mack Petition Facebook page is any indication of today's Banjo Bowl, thousands of fans will be showing up at Canad Inns Stadium dressed in black and armed with signs aimed to send the Winnipeg Blue Bombers organization one message: Sack the Mack.

The page, which was created on Sept. 2, has already boomed in popularity, garnering more than 4,000 likes in less than a week.

Mike Stratychuk, a devoted Bomber fan who liked the page on the first day of its creation, said he believes thousands of Bomber fans will be sticking to their blackout promise today.

"I will be there tomorrow, along with thousands of others, wearing my black shirt to send the organization a message that the fans don't want Mack anymore," Stratychuk said Saturday.

Stratychuk, who said he was the first to suggest fans wear black to show their scorn for the GM, said he received an email from the Bombers media office scolding him for his highly publicized criticism of the team's management.

"I sent a message back saying I'd be a little more concerned about what your entire fan base is saying as opposed to little old me," Stratychuk said.

Ethan MacPhee, a fan of the Big Blue for more than 20 years, said he's outright boycotting the team since last week's humiliating 52-0 shutout at the Labour Day Classic.

"I stopped going to games about two years ago. I kept on going and it was just heartbreak after heartbreak. But after last weekend's game, I'm just not going to even watch the game. I'm not supporting that organization anymore. I'm just boycotting," MacPhee said

Fans on the page were speculating Blue Bomber security would be confiscating any of the anti-Mack signage or shirts.

However, Darren Cameron, director of communications and media relations with the Bombers, said as long as the signs and shirts don't break any of the current security policies, they'll be allowed in.

"Anything that wouldn't be allowed into the stadium on any other game day, whether it be a sign that contains derogatory or vulgar language or isn't within the security requirements, dimensions-wise, size-wise, anything else.

"If it says just 'fire Joe Mack' or anything that would normally be allowed in, then that's fine. We're not going to stop freedom of speech," Cameron said.

katherine.dow@freepress.mb.ca

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition September 10, 2012 A3

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