Van down by river lookin’ fine

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 28/06/2011 (5249 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Jason Vega had to win a ferocious battle during training camp to claim the pass-rusher spot vacated during the off-season by CFL sack-leader Phillip Hunt’s departure to the NFL.

But it turns out that winning a job on the Winnipeg Blue Bombers defensive line might actually have been the easy part for Vega, who found out over the weekend what Winnipeggers have known for years — this is a tough town to find an affordable apartment when the vacancy rate is just 0.7 per cent.

“It’s been incredibly hard,” said Vega, 24, who had to dive head first into an apartment search on Saturday after the Bombers set their regular season roster and he learned he’d won Hunt’s old job.

“I’m from Massachusetts, so I don’t have a car up here. Finding somewhere that’s close to the stadium and is somewhat economical has been really difficult. Most of the time, the places I have found seem like they’re 20 miles away — and that would be really difficult for me without a car.

“I probably made about two dozen calls over the weekend. It was the weekend, so a lot of places didn’t call back. And the ones that did, they were looking for one-year leases, which also makes it hard for me.”

Unlike the Winnipeg Goldeyes who find local families to billet players, Bombers players are mostly on their own when it comes to looking for accomadations.

“We have some leads on places and we’re constantly making calls to see what’s available,” said assistant general manager Ross Hodgkinson. “But there’s challenges. With the occupancy rate what it is, everyone wants a one-year lease and these guys can really go only go month-to-month. And those places are hard to find for anybody.”

Compounding the problem is the players don’t get much time to do their search. Vega only learned he needed a place when he made the team on Saturday. For the time being, the Bombers will continue to pay for him to stay at a hotel, but CFL rules dictate that teams can only house players at club expense for 10 days after the rosters are set.

This year, that date falls on July 5. And with the Bombers travelling to Hamilton this week — where they will open the regular season on July 1 — the window for players to find a place is even smaller.

Put it together and there are suddenly a large group of large men all frantically looking for accomodations in Winnipeg right now.

Canadian receiver Jade Etienne, another player who was on the bubble during training camp and only learned on Saturday that he’d made the club, did over the weekend what all 21-year-olds do these days — he took to social media in a bid to solve his problem.

“I’ve let people know on Twitter that I’m looking for a place,” said Etienne. “And that’s a nice thing about Twitter — people follow you and even if it’s just some random person who is following me, they’ll tell a friend and then who knows? You just have to make yourself available out there and I’m sure something will happen.”

paul.wiecek@freepress.mb.ca