Bomber faithful welcome team home

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 28/11/2011 (5232 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Winnipeg Blue Bombers were welcomed home at the James Armstrong Richardson International Airport in Winnipeg this afternoon by a crowd of about 400 people who waved flags, received autographs, took pictures and loudly cheered their beloved football team.

Though the Bombers lost 34-23 to the B.C. Lions in Sunday’s Grey Cup game in Vancouver, the players and coaches were able to put aside their disappointment in the championship game loss and take in the festive atmopshere created by the fans of various ages from babies in strollers to seniors who came out in the middle of the day to show their appreciation to their hometown Canadian Football League team.

Some fans brought posters and Bombers flags and most wore some sort of Bombers merchandise.

The loudest cheers were reserved for defensive lineman Doug Brown, who had announced before the 2011 CFL season that he had plans to retire at the end of it. Fans loudly cheered, “One more year, one more year,” for the hulking Canadian player. One fan presented Brown with a cardboard cutout of a Grey Cup wrapped in tin foil.

“It’s overwhelming that the people came out and did these things for us,” Brown told a huge media scrum at the foot of stairs in the arrivals area. “It’s tough for us because they (fans) deserve more and we were unable to deliver it to them at the biggest of opportunities. But that’s the nature of our fans this year and that’s why it’s such a special place to play. they’re so proud of us, win or lose, and we just wish we had a real Cup to bring to them.”

ashley.prest@freepress.mb.ca