21 and counting

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 09/06/2012 (4963 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

If misery loves company — and it surely does — then the Winnipeg Blue Bombers may be about to get a lot lonelier.

The Bombers and Los Angeles Kings have long held a dubious connection as the owners of the longest active championship droughts in their respective leagues.

The Bombers, of course, have now gone 21 seasons — the longest current drought in the CFL — since Tom Burgess, Greg Battle and Warren Hudson led Winnipeg to its last Grey Cup title in a 50-11 win over the Edmonton Eskimos on Nov. 25, 1990.

The Kings, on the other hand, are tied with the St. Louis Blues — who joined the NHL along with Los Angeles as part of the 1968 expansion — and the Toronto Maple Leafs — who won their last Stanley Cup the year before in 1967 — as the teams with the longest current championship drought in the NHL at 43 seasons.

But with the Kings leading the New Jersey Devils 3-1 in the 2012 Stanley Cup final and Game 5 set for tonight, there’s a good chance the Bombers could soon have one less hapless franchise with which to commiserate.

And it’s interesting all this would happen in a season in which the Bombers will set a franchise record for futility if they do not win the 2012 Grey Cup in Toronto this November.

Twice in franchise history, the Bombers have gone 21 seasons without a Grey Cup: the period between Grey Cups from 1962-84; and the current period.

One more year in 2012 without a Grey Cup to celebrate at Portage and Main and the gap will be 22 seasons — a new franchise record.

So with the Kings on the verge of snapping their championship drought and the Bombers on the cusp of perhaps reaching an all-time new low in theirs, we thought now might be a good time to take a look back at what the world was like the last time Winnipeg won the Grey Cup:

Comparisons between

1990 and now:

THEN: 99 per cent of American households reported having at least one radio in the house

NOW: 69 per cent of Americans report having the Internet at home

THEN: The population of the world was 5.2 billion

NOW: The population of the world is 7.1 billion

THEN: One per cent of Americans use a cellphone

TODAY: 91 percent of Americans use a cellphone

Other things that happened in the world on Nov. 25, 1990, the day the Bombers won their last Grey Cup:

Solidarity leader Lech Walesa, pictured at right, wins the first ballot of Poland’s first free presidential election

American race car driver Bill Vukovich III dies in a crash at the Mesa Marin Raceway in Bakersfield, Calif.

The New York Giants and San Francisco 49ers both win to improve to 10-0

The Lacey V. Murrow Memorial Bridge, connecting Seattle to its eastern suburbs, sinks to the bottom of Lake Washington in a storm

Other things that

happened in the world in 1990:

Mikhail Gorbachev wins the Nobel Peace Prize and the Communist Party relinquishes sole power of the Soviet Union

South Africa releases Nelson Mandela after 27 years in prison

Iraq invades Kuwait, touching off the Persian Gulf War

East and West Germany reunite

Margaret Thatcher resigns as British prime minister

Other things that happened

in the world of sport in 1990:

San Francisco defeats Denver 55-10 in the Super Bowl

Unbridled and his trainer, Carl Nafzger, author one of the great moments in Kentucky Derby History: As Nafzger calls the stretch run for the horse’s elderly blind owner Frances Genter, concluding with, “He’s going to win! He’s going to win! Oh Mrs. Genter, I love you!” A prolific sire, Unbridled’s progeny go on to win the Derby (Grindstone, 1996), the Preakness (Red Bullet, 2000) and the Belmont (Empire Maker, 2003).

Martina Navratilova and Stefan Edberg win Wimbledon

West Germany defeats Argentina 1-0 in the final of the World Cup

Other things that happened

in Manitoba in 1990:

Premier Gary Filmon, at right, leader of a minority PC government, calls an election and picks up the six extra seats he needs to form what will be the first of two consecutive majority governments.

Winnipeg Jets defenceman Dave Ellett scores the double-overtime winner to give the Jets a 3-1 lead in their Smythe Division semifinal against the Edmonton Oilers. But just as Winnipeggers think they may have finally vanquished the hated Oilers, the Jets promptly lose the next three games in a row and are eliminated. The Oilers go on to win the Stanley Cup.

Winnipeg city council votes to ban the possession of pit bulls in the city.

Pop culture in 1990

Seinfeld and The Simpsons debut

Driving Miss Daisy wins Best Picture

Bette Midler’s Wind Beneath My Wings wins Grammy for best record

Teams that have won the Grey Cup since Winnipeg won in 1990:

Every other team in the league — plus one more that isn’t even in the league anymore — has won the Grey Cup since the last time Bombers fans partied at Portage and Main:

B.C. Lions (4)

Calgary Stampeders (4)

Toronto Argonauts (4)

Montreal Alouettes (3)

Edmonton Eskimos (3)

Saskatchewan Roughriders (1)

Hamilton Tiger-Cats (1)

Baltimore Stallions (1)

Other droughts in sports

While Winnipeg has the longest current drought between Grey Cups, we’ve got decades to go before we equal some of sport’s other great current droughts. Here’s a sampling:

104 YEARS — The last time the Chicago Cubs won the World Series was in 1908, the longest championship drought in major American sports

44 YEARS — The last time the Toronto Maple Leafs won the Stanley Cup was in 1967. The Leafs are tied with the St. Louis Blues and the Los Angeles Kings — both of whom joined the NHL in 1967 — for the longest current Stanley Cup drought (43 seasons).

48 YEARS — The last time a major team in Cleveland won a championship was in 1964 when the Browns won the NFL title, the longest current streak among major American cities with at least three major teams (Browns, Indians, Cavaliers)

Sports droughts that have been broken since the last time the Bombers won the Grey Cup:

Fans of the Boston Red Sox had to wait 86 years before their club finally broke the Curse of the Bambino with a World Series title in 2004

Fans in Philadelphia, who went 25 years without a major sports championship from any of their four pro sports teams, finally got something to celebrate for the first time since the 76ers won the NBA title in 1983 when the Phillies won the World Series in 2008.

78th Grey Cup

Winnipeg Blue Bombers vs Edmonton Eskimos

Nov. 25, 1990

B.C. Place

GAME SUMMARY

Winnipeg100281250

Edmonton040711

First Quarter

Wpg – FG Kennerd 14 yards

WPG – TD Hull 11 yard pass from Burgess (Kennerd convert)

Second Quarter

Edm – Single Macoritti 56 yard punt

Edm – FG Macoritti 37 yards

Third Quarter

Wpg – TD Battle 34 yard interception return

Wpg – TD Tuttle 5 yard pass from Burgess (Kennerd convert)

Wpg – TD Hudson 18 yard pass from Burgess (Kennerd convert)

Wpg – TD Hudson 2 yard run (Kennerd convert)

Fourth Quarter

Edm – TD Willis 20 yard pass from Ham (Macoritti convert)

Wpg – Safety West tackle on Ham

Wpg – FG Kennerd 14 yards

Wpg – TD House 56 yard pass from McManus

MVP Offence — Tom Burgess (18-31, 286 yds, 3 TDs)

MVP Defence — Greg Battle (2 INT, TD)

MVP Canadian — Warren Hudson (2 TD)

Halftime Show — Aretha Franklin

paul.wiecek@freepress.mb.ca