It’s no surprise that Winnipeggers show up in huge numbers to support the Blue Bombers — especially as they continue their winning ways — but the club, which will vie for another Grey Cup this weekend, has die-hard fans around the world.
Philip Gass, a Winnipeg expat in Geneva, Switzerland, says he does his best to follow the team — mostly living vicariously via social media posts and highlight clips, as CFL games happen in the middle of the night in his time zone.
Gass, an environmental analyst who has lived in Geneva with his family for the last decade, said he grew up watching the team and has a strong memory of the Bombers’ 1990 Grey Cup championship — and then the “dark ages” that followed.
“At that time I was a kid … and then we had this massive, almost 30-year gap in between (championships),” he said.
“It felt like being the equivalent of a Red Sox fan or a Cubs fan. Is this ever going to come? When they finally broke through, it was amazing … when we moved out of the dark ages and into a time when it was a little bit easier to be proud to be a fan.”
Although Gass will be travelling for work while the big game is being played this Sunday, he said he’s going to try to watch it live — or failing that, to avoid learning about the score at all costs until he can watch the whole thing.
Bombers lifer Dan Asham isn’t an ocean away, but he’s a fan living in enemy territory.
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A former Brandon, Man., resident, Asham said he moved to Saskatchewan in 1979 and has been supporting his home province despite being surrounded by a sea of green-and-white-clad Roughriders fans.
“(I) carried the blue and gold all the way out to green and white country,” he said.
“When the Bombers were losing, it was pretty terrible, but now that they’ve been on a roll, my Riders friends are pretty quiet.”
The Winnipeg club’s 38-22 trouncing of their Prairie rivals to advance to the Grey Cup game certainly added to that silence, and Asham said he’s hoping the Bombers can pull out one more victory to win their lucky 13th championship.
“I’m hoping the Bombers will come out with the ‘W,’” he said, “but we’ll see. You’ve got to play the game.”
Bombers fan Leigh Adams is taking it a step further — travelling to the game in Vancouver to watch the blue and gold compete for the Cup in person.
Adams, from Beausejour, Man., told Global Winnipeg that making an annual pilgrimage to the CFL final has become a tradition in her family, and she’s been lucky to have seen her favourite team in the big game so many times in recent years.
“It’s just the atmosphere, being able to go and cheer and just enjoy something with so many people,” Adams said.
“We go to every Grey Cup, my family and I…. It’s part of what enjoying the CFL is — just to experience all of this with so many people across Canada.”
Adams, a season-ticket holder at IG Field, said she always comes prepared for Bombers games, with a closet full of apparel celebrating the home team.
“I have a closet full of Bomber gear and Bomber-coloured clothing. It’s (become) a joke — people always ask, ‘I’m going to the game, do you have something I can wear?’”
Adams said she’s thinking positively about the team’s chances Sunday, but Winnipeg’s rocky start to the season definitely rattled the nerves.
“The start of the year was a little tough, but I was optimistic. You know the Bombers are a great team, you just see how they play … how they play together.
“I don’t celebrate until the fourth quarter.”
