MONTREAL -- The crowd will be louder and rowdier. There will be even more friends and family than in his previous visits. His college coach will be there as will a handful of ex-teammages.
And not only will Pierre-Luc Labbe be running onto the field at McGill Stadium Friday night for the first time as a pro, he will also be carrying the banner of the University of Sherbrooke Vert et Or -- a program just five years old -- as the school's first player to make it to the Canadian Football League.
Bombers Pierre-Luc Labbe (left), Dominic Picard (centre) and Alexandre Gauthier have a common problem when the play in Montreal — finding enough tickets.
How's that for pressure, mon ami?
"I cannot wait for Friday night," said Labbe, the Winnipeg Blue Bomber rookie who hails from Quebe City. "Each player gets two tickets for the game and
I've been trying to trade my tickets for a game in B.C. or Toronto later in the year so that I can get more than two. For sure my family is going to be there and my girlfriend and some friends, too. I heard that (Sherbrooke) Coach (Andre) Bolduc found a few tickets and he's going to give them to a few of my friends in Sherbrooke. But they can also watch the game on TSN. After the game we'll go eat and maybe have a few beers to celebrate and enjoy my time as a pro.
"It's going to be special to play at McGill again. I've played there many times in the CIS but it will be different with the stadium full."
Actually, 'special' probably doesn't begin to describe the experience for Labbe and any French-Canadian player who returns 'home' to play. As football continues to explode in this province, the game's heroes become even bigger role models and celebrities -- not as big as hockey, but growing in prominence nonetheless. Consider this: Bomber media relations director Arash Madani said he has had more interview requests for Labbe than any other player on the squad through training camp, most of those inquiries coming from Montreal and Quebec-based newspapers, radio stations and websites. That's more requests than Kevin Glenn or Charles Roberts; more than Barrin Simpson, Doug Brown or Milt Stegall.
Yes, Labbe's ascent to the pros -- from sixth-round draft pick to Blue Bomber -- has been big news in La Belle Province.
"Mostly it's been with the French media, I've already done a few interviews," said Labbe. "Football's bigger in Quebec now with new programs starting up. And in Sherbrooke there's not a lot of things to do so CIS football is big there. We get 8,000 fans and that's huge for CIS.
"There's even a few websites that have popped up that follow Quebecers that are playing in other provinces. It's exciting."
It's the same for the rest of the Bombers 'French Connection', although for players like Dominic Picard (currently injured) and Alexandre Gauthier, the novelty of the first visit home has worn off -- but just a tad.
"I approach every game the same, but going to Montreal I always get a lot of family coming... parents, cousins, friends," said Gauthier, now in his seventh CFL season.
"We've got a few guys on this team from Quebec. When I started I was always trying to find free tickets for my friends but, you know what, it's not going to happen in Montreal with so few seats (just over 20,000). It's tough.
ed.tait@freepress.mb.ca
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