Greetings from Riderville

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 18/11/2023 (801 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

HOORAY! It’s off to the Grey Cup on Sunday for our Blue Bombers.

Yes, I said our. Avert your eyes, Saskatchewan friends. I’m a devoted Bomber fan. Given that I live in the middle of Riderville, you can see how I might like to keep my Winnipeg loyalties on the down-low.

I don’t wear Bomber merch in my small town or I’d face a full-on shun. I kept mum after Saturday’s big win at our local Co-op. I was there to acquire yet more cat food for my latest ravenous rescue. His nickname is Big Boy and he wouldn’t be out of place next to Willie Jefferson on the defensive line.

The province of Manitoba and its far-flung diaspora are abuzz this week with Grey Cup fever as the Bombers square off against the Alouettes in ‘The Hammer’ — a.k.a. Hamilton — on Nov. 18.

On Saturday’s first CFL semifinal match-up, the underdog Alouettes completed turnover after turnover against the favoured Argos. At the conclusion of the eastern final, Toronto fans sagged in their seats, unable to absorb the blow. I knew then the Bombers would clinch the forthcoming western final.

There were other signs Winnipeg would dig in and prevail. TSN’s CFL panel host, Kate Beirness, pronounced recently that the unstoppable Argos would hoist the 2023 Grey Cup. Ah, CFL hubris. Watch out for it.

That same Saturday, my B.C.-based cousin brag-texted me to predict Winnipeg’s defeat to his Lions. He even brought my late mother, Betty, a consummate Bomber fan, into the CFL rivalry. It’s only fitting since Betty was married to sportswriter John Robertson for almost 60 years.

It’s a family tradition. On game day, Betty’s mother, Bessie Brough, sat transfixed in her favourite chair. The television volume turned off and her ear-plug tuned into the radio announcers — whose commentary she preferred. Clutched in each hand were two gold and blue handmade pom-poms that she shook vigorously when her Bombers scored.

In 1982, when my parents reluctantly departed Winnipeg for Toronto, my grandmother gleefully claimed their season tickets. When Bessie passed away in 1987, Dad bought season tickets in Bessie’s name for two mentally challenged adults.

It was Bessie’s ardent fan spirit I channelled when the clock ran out in the fourth quarter in the western semifinal. The fans jumped to their feet, ecstatic. My partner, Grant, and I noted a row of young men caught by the alert TSN camera operator. The superfans were shirtless save for their bib overalled Carhartt’s doing a co-ordinated high-kick, victory Can-Can.

“That’s my Winnipeg,” I said to Grant squeezing back the tears.

In 1992, after a decade in Toronto, I returned to Winnipeg.

My first job back in Winnipeg was at Winnipeg Harvest Food Bank. One of my many tasks was to supervise the collection of canned goods and cash donations at every entrance gate to Winnipeg Stadium.

John Robertson initiated the donation program. He made special arrangements with his old friend, head coach and GM Cal Murphy, to collect food at the games. Dad called it: “A Tin for the Bin.”

Every week of the regular season, my most stalwart volunteers, John and Betty, drove in from Winnipeg Beach to work their table. After we closed up shop, the team graciously hosted us.

Kathy Dunigan — QB Matt Dunigan’s extroverted wife — volunteered one game day along with a group of players’ wives. Kathy urged Bomber fans to donate like a seasoned carnival barker. She tripled our cash donations. I was hooked.

I’m only ‘out’ to a few people in my small town. Dwane, our town recreation co-ordinator, bleeds green. When the Riders were eliminated, I dug out a 1979 Rider Pride pin saved from Dad’s successful bid to keep the struggling franchise alive.

When it comes to the epic Rider-Bomber rivalry, you can see how I might have mixed feelings. I tucked the vintage pin into my ski-jacket pocket and presented it to Dwane.

“I thought you were going to brag about your Bombers,” he smiled.

“I don’t want to jinx them,” I said.

CFL etiquette dictates that westerners cheer for the western division champions in the Grey Cup. When my Bombers take the Cup — and they will because the Argos robbed them last year — I intend to take a victory lap around Riderville sporting a Blue Bomber ball cap.

Saskatchewan journalist Patricia Dawn Robertson was just a baby when she took her first plane ride on a Bomber charter flight. Watch for her forthcoming memoir, Media Brat.