Grey Cup takes its first flight to championship game

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 29/11/2015 (3604 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

In what was a busy week in Winnipeg to celebrate the 103rd Grey Cup game, perhaps the busiest of all was the trophy itself.

All week, the CFL’s cherished chalice was paraded around town, visiting venue after venue, event after event, showing off its shine to players and adoring fans as part of the Grey Cup festival in the days leading up to the big game

So it was fitting its journey came to an end in style, delivered via helicopter to Investors Group Field just hours before kickoff. Picked up at The Forks at the conclusion of the Grey Cup march through downtown, the Cup was safely transferred thousands of metres above ground before stopping in the middle of the university stadium, a track and field facility just a short walk from the action.

But that wasn’t before it made one additional detour, this time to the STARS Winnipeg base, to greet the folks there responsible for delivering the precious cargo.

“That is very difficult to put into words — surreal, thrilling,” said Jason Graveline, an aviation base manager and pilot with STARS Winnipeg. “I am tremendously honoured. To be the crew to fly the Grey Cup (to the game), it’s one of those moments that you just can’t recreate ever in life. It’s difficult to put into words.”

Graveline, along with flight paramedic and STARS base director Grant Therrien and pilot Darryl Dash, were able to hold the trophy and pose for pictures in what was the icing on the cake of what turned out to be an incredible day.

“This has got to be the top of the list,” said Graveline.

It’s not the first time the Grey Cup has been in a helicopter. In fact, it’s not even the first time in Manitoba. As part of a journey through the northern part of the province last month, the Cup was treated to a flight in a chopper while visiting Churchill. There it posed for pictures with a group of lucky fans outside a polar bear den.

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But as far as anyone can say, including Jeff McWhinney, one of the official Grey Cup handlers and the man who delivered it after the game Sunday, it was the first time it had been flown to a championship game.

jeff.hamilton@freepress.mb.ca

Jeff Hamilton
Multimedia producer

Jeff Hamilton is a sports and investigative reporter. Jeff joined the Free Press newsroom in April 2015, and has been covering the local sports scene since graduating from Carleton University’s journalism program in 2012. Read more about Jeff.

Every piece of reporting Jeff produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press‘s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press’s history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates.