Pierce and parents right at home here

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 08/07/2010 (5902 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Turns out, the Pierce family isn’t much on luxury.

Going up north from Crescent City, Calif., to see their boy Buck play starting quarterback for the Blue Bombers? Well, Connie, load up the RV and grab the mutt. We’re headed for Winnipeg.

Maybe that’s why long before the first snap last Friday night — before Buck Pierce personally amassed almost 400 yards in total offence — Tim and Connie Pierce knew in their heart this city was "a perfect fit" for their son.

"This is a football town," father Tim noted on Wednesday, after watching the Bombers prepare for the Toronto Argonauts on Friday night. "The minute we got to town, we saw Bomber flags, Bombers shirts, Bombers hats.

"To me, it’s more old school," the proud papa continued. "You can tell there’s more history. It’s ingrained. That’s the way Buck was raised. Old school football. That has Buck written all over it."

You know what else has Pierce written on it? The No. 4 uniforms marching out of the Bombers Stores in droves. Turns out, it hasn’t taken Bombers fans long to identify their meal ticket. Not since Milt Stegall was gunning for the CFL’s touchdown record a couple years back has a Bombers jersey been more popular.

"It’s been crazy," offered Bombers retail manager Jeffrey Bannon. "We can’t keep them in. If you see me running out on the field to block his blind side, you’ll know why."

Then Bannon grinned. "And with Buck, it’s a double-edged thing. Men AND women are buying his jersey."

So the ladies have noticed, too. Fair enough.

But let the record show that the first woman to have a Pierce jersey was mom Connie. Yet the Pierces, who arrived in Winnipeg last Wednesday along with their dog, Chief, have come to understand that it means something to be the No. 1 quarterback in this town. It means something to be his parents, too.

They discovered that when they parked their RV in a camping site just outside city limits.

With California plates and Bombers logos on the windows, it took about a nanosecond for the locals to connect the dots. Especially after one of the first campers scooted by on a golf cart plastered with Bombers logos.

Said Tim: "It’s hard to stay anonymous here."

Hey, try being their son, who has the potential to rekindle the level of adoration heaped on Khari Jones back in the early 2000s, when he and his bride Justine became akin to a royal family, and the birth of their first child became front page news. (It was also front page news when Jones was unceremoniously shipped out of town a few years later, but that’s another story entirely. Ahem.)

Clearly, history tells us there are good days and bad days when your occupation is Bombers No. 1 starting quarterback. But you already get the sense in this honeymoon phase of the courtship that a good ‘ol boy like Pierce isn’t wired to wallow in the spoils.

"I’m not into the whole persona of being the quarterback in town," he said, and you could almost see him shuffling his feet on a country dirt road. "I’m a low key guy. I enjoy coming out here and playing well.

"(But) You feel it everywhere you go throughout town; people wishing you good luck for the next game and saying how excited they are," Pierce added. "Everywhere you go you see Bombers jerseys. You hear about it at the water cooler wherever you go. People are talking about Bombers football and that’s a great thing as a player. That makes me feel a part of something special. It’s a tradition that’s bigger than a lot of things.

"You had an idea coming in, but every day you learn more and meet more people. I’m able to interact with fans on a daily basis here. That’s a great feeling."

So even though Pierce has just one prolific game under his belt, he’s not blind to the growing number who show up to Canad Inns Stadium wearing the same number.

"That’s good," Pierce said, with the closest hint of bravado you’re likely to get. "I’d like to see this stadium filled with them."

Oh, and all the ladies buying No. 4?

Back to the boots kicking the gravel road. Head down. Sheepish. Ah, shucks.

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"Well, you know, how do you explain that…"

Actually, no explanation is required. Just play. The folks will be cheering from the stands, mom wearing No. 4, too. Then they’ll drive back to the trailer park with Chief and sleep under the stars.

Old school is back. And the new kid at the head of the class is getting more popular by the minute.

randy.turner@freepress.mb.ca

Randy Turner
Reporter

Randy Turner spent much of his journalistic career on the road. A lot of roads. Dirt roads, snow-packed roads, U.S. interstates and foreign highways. In other words, he got a lot of kilometres on the odometer, if you know what we mean.

   Read full biography