How I Became a Blue Bomber & CFL Fan

Doublezero · August 28, 2023, 06:36:43 PM

First CFL game for me was in Taylor Field. Oct 2, 1966. Riders vs Blue Bombers. Lancaster/Reed etc vs Kenny Ploen/Leo Lewis/Dave Raimey etc Sat in cheap endzone seats with my pop. I'd never been to an event with 20,000 people cheering. It was so exciting! Result: 11-11 tie. Riders eventually won the West Division that year, Bombers were 2nd. Riders then went on to win the Grey Cup - the club's first GC. We moved to Winnipeg the following year and never looked back. I have been a Bomber fan ever since. Go Blue!

ModAdmin · August 28, 2023, 06:49:43 PM

Quote from: Doublezero on August 28, 2023, 06:36:43 PM
First CFL game for me was in Taylor Field. Oct 2, 1966. Riders vs Blue Bombers. Lancaster/Reed etc vs Kenny Ploen/Leo Lewis/Dave Raimey etc Sat in cheap endzone seats with my pop. I'd never been to an event with 20,000 people cheering. It was so exciting! Result: 11-11 tie. Riders eventually won the West Division that year, Bombers were 2nd. Riders then went on to win the Grey Cup - the club's first GC. We moved to Winnipeg the following year and never looked back. I have been a Bomber fan ever since. Go Blue!

Nice. Great example of true blue Blue Bomber fan-dom. Love it.

BBRT · August 28, 2023, 10:12:14 PM

Quote from: Doublezero on August 28, 2023, 06:36:43 PM
First CFL game for me was in Taylor Field. Oct 2, 1966. Riders vs Blue Bombers. Lancaster/Reed etc vs Kenny Ploen/Leo Lewis/Dave Raimey etc Sat in cheap endzone seats with my pop. I'd never been to an event with 20,000 people cheering. It was so exciting! Result: 11-11 tie. Riders eventually won the West Division that year, Bombers were 2nd. Riders then went on to win the Grey Cup - the club's first GC. We moved to Winnipeg the following year and never looked back. I have been a Bomber fan ever since. Go Blue!

Great memories! I moved to Canada in 1981 and had the pleasure of attending a number of games at the old Taylor Field - besides great football memories I have fond memories or having to park in a residentual area and walking to the game. And along the way walking with a number of great Rider Fans and chatting on the way to the stadium and back again to where we parked our cars.

dd · August 29, 2023, 12:08:25 AM

I became a cfl fan in 1971 at age 12. I lived outside of Toronto and the Argos had this upstart rookie Qb and he was lighting the world on fire-joe theisman. Remember like it was yesterday the grey cup game when Leon mcquay fumbled the ball and cost the Argos the grey cup.

Moved to Winnipeg in 1977 when Ray jauch and dieter Brock were running the show and my dad got tickets to some games and it was unreal at the old bomber stadium watching Bernie runoff punt the ball with his wrist watch on and doing that quirky shoulder shrug he used to do waiting for the ball to be snapped.

Then the big trade and tommie Clements and cal Murphy came to town and so did some grey cup victories

GOLDMEMBER · August 29, 2023, 12:47:44 AM

Quote from: Doublezero on August 28, 2023, 06:36:43 PM
First CFL game for me was in Taylor Field. Oct 2, 1966. Riders vs Blue Bombers. Lancaster/Reed etc vs Kenny Ploen/Leo Lewis/Dave Raimey etc Sat in cheap endzone seats with my pop. I'd never been to an event with 20,000 people cheering. It was so exciting! Result: 11-11 tie. Riders eventually won the West Division that year, Bombers were 2nd. Riders then went on to win the Grey Cup - the club's first GC. We moved to Winnipeg the following year and never looked back. I have been a Bomber fan ever since. Go Blue!

Love it! Classic story. I can visualize that.

GOLDMEMBER · August 29, 2023, 12:49:16 AM

When we signed Dunnigan I got hooked. The 713 yard passing game was a a serious clincher for me. Magical night. Still have the ticket.
Became STH since the first year of Reinbold. $90 special in section 12. 26 years later

TecnoGenius · August 29, 2023, 01:41:13 AM

TLDR; I'm a fan because of my dad.

I'm probably like many life-long Winnipeggers here: my dad took me to a game when I was maybe 8. I went to a couple of games a season, usually when his STH buddy was out of town. I stopped going in university (girls were way more interesting). Neighbours gave me some free tickets out of the blue in 2010, first game in 20 years. Loved it! Was thinking "why aren't I going to games?".

I was out working on-site on GC 2011 night and I didn't even know we were in it! I was setting up TV cards on computers. I watched it while working, and it was really exciting! I was thinking "why don't I know what's going on with the Bombers?".

Went to the new stadium right when it was built with my dad and some family visiting town, and really started getting hooked again. Every year I'd go to 1-2 more games than the previous year until by 2018 I was going to all of them, including away playoff games. Finally said to heck with it and just got ST last year for me and my son. So much easier!

PloenFan · August 29, 2023, 02:20:11 AM

Used to listen to Bomber games on the radio in Brandon. There was a grocery store named Loco-Mart, and one year they gave out CFL books, with team pages where you could paste player stickers you got for buying groceries.

ModAdmin · August 29, 2023, 03:24:27 AM

Watched my first game as a young kid in Osborne Stadium. Players like Jack Jacobs, Tom Casey, Norm Hill, Bud Korchak and Tommy Ford became heroes to me and I was hooked for life.

Became a season ticket holder during the Winnipeg Stadium days until moving the BC. The loyalty to the Bombers has never left me and never will. The organization has one of great sport histories in the world IMHO. Great teams, great new stadium and a great fan base that are the envy of the CFL.

Been around this forum for 16 years and I'm very proud to serve and be a part of the membership we have supporting the team.

dd · August 29, 2023, 03:45:52 AM

I must add one of my most memorable moment as a fan was coming home from a game in 1977 and new to the city, was unaware of CJOB and the infamous happy honker award, when we were in traffic in polo park after the game and all of a sudden everyone started honking, my Dad and I didn?t know what the heck was going on until we got home and we were telling a neighbour of our experience and he filled us in on what was going down. Hilarious!! Those were the days my friends, those were the days....

TecnoGenius · August 29, 2023, 10:36:55 AM

Quote from: PloenFan on August 29, 2023, 02:20:11 AM
Used to listen to Bomber games on the radio in Brandon. There was a grocery store named Loco-Mart, and one year they gave out CFL books, with team pages where you could paste player stickers you got for buying groceries.

That sounds awesome. No one does stuff like that anymore! I wonder if anyone still has one of those books so they can upload some pictures here. My money's on Balticfox having one!

Waffler · August 29, 2023, 12:22:38 PM

It was a combination of things for me that made me a lifelong fan.

I lived near the stadium. A few of us snuck in one time and ended up at field level and you could just feel the ground pounding. Very impressive to me as a kid. The white coats moved us along of course, that was security then.

We would play football on the boulevard, if we didn't get chased away, and pretend to be the Bomber players. We'd always be playing some sport but football the most.

You could hear the crowd roar, cannons and later see fireworks after the game from our house.

I also recall late games in BC and my parents said I could stay up late to watch which I'd never done before and that got me excited about watching. It helped that we were always winning until the Grant era was over. Spavital, Herron and Don Jonas those were exciting years too but nothing was as sweet as 1984. I waited most of my life just to see us in a cup never mind win. The one before that was the wind bowl in 1965 which I barely remember.

Blue In BC · August 29, 2023, 01:13:31 PM

I was already a young Bomber fan in 1958. However I had moved to Ottawa and that was where I saw my 1st CFL game live. It was in 1959 or 1960 and it was Russ Jackson against Jackie Parker.

Ron Lancaster was the back up QB in Ottawa before moving on to a career in Regina.

Lincoln Locomotive · August 29, 2023, 01:45:37 PM

Some great stories.....I've told mine on more than one occasion however I will concede that it all started in 61' when my dad took me to a Bomber game in late summer. For a 10 year old kid from Rosenfeld it was quite the spectacle....and I was hooked on the Bombers from then on.

blue_gold_84 · August 29, 2023, 02:20:23 PM

Likely just born a fan - as seems to be the case with most Winnipeggers.

I was roughly seven months old when the Bombers ended their drought to win the 1984 Grey Cup and my Dad still talks fondly of those 80s teams. I paid more attention as I got older and those early 90s teams were pretty fun to watch, too. IIRC, I attended my first game at Winnipeg Stadium in 1993 and have lost count since. The gameday atmosphere is like no other.

And the rest, as they say, is history. Love this team.