Win, win…

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 24/10/2011 (5128 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Win-win usually is used metaphorically to describe a situation in which doing one good thing produces another. It denotes what, in an earlier time, might have been described as a good deal — one in which both parties accomplish what they set out to accomplish.

On Sunday, however, WIN WIN on the front page of the Free Press SundayXtra (and the Winnipeg Sun, for that matter) was meant to be taken literally — describing in two words, six letters, that both the Winnipeg Jets and the Winnipeg Blue Bombers had prevailed against the odds to win home games on Saturday. For the Bombers, it was one of their last games at the old Canad Inns Stadium, soon to be replaced by a new stadium under construction at the University of Manitoba. For the Jets, it was one of their inaugural games and second win at the new MTS Centre.

But that both teams won on Saturday was not why the headline was so big, or so fraught with meaning. It was because it was the first time in 15 years that it was even possible for it to be written — the first time since the Jets left a town under a cloud in 1995 that Winnipeg could boast having a team in both the NHL and CFL, that they could play on the same day before some of the same fans and that they could come from behind to win.

And to listen to the televised and broadcast chatter during the games, the win-win was just another chapter in this Cinderella year, when all of a sudden it seems everybody loves Winnipeg, and every little thing that happens draws favourable attention. (Justin Bieber and Selena Gomez sneaking an after-game skate in Jets jerseys drew inquiries from Hollywood.) And to top it off, the sun keeps shining and it’s too late for mosquitoes to even consider a late-season charge. Maybe the headline writer should have added a few more wins to that WIN WIN on Saturday.