Bandwagon Bomber fans

Calling out these supposed fans

Jesse Beach, Volunteer Staff

At last, a true fan. Distraught by the lack of support for the floundering Winnipeg Blue Bombers, University of Winnipeg student Tim Volk has declared that, if his beloved blue-and-gold win the Grey Cup this November, he will legally take the trophy’s name. Motivated by the dwindling fan base in our play-off-calibre football club, Volk wishes to make a bold statement about how much the Bombers winning the Grey Cup actually means to him.

I have to say it is a nice change to hear of someone supporting the Blue Bombers instead of disparaging the team that, up until losing to the Toronto Argonauts a couple of weeks ago, had held first place in the CFL’s East division for most of the season; a team that has locked up a home play-off game for the first time since the 2003 Western division semi-final game.

Since then, it’s been a tough couple of seasons for Bomber fans. The team missed the playoffs in 2004 and 2005 and then suffered last season’s heartbreaking semi-final loss.

But this year, the Blue Bombers have enjoyed a breakout season. We have the league’s leading passer and Most Outstanding Player finalist Kevin Glenn. We have three of the league’s top 10 receivers in Terrence Edwards, Derick Armstrong, and Milt Stegall. And then there is Charles Roberts, who, before suffering an injury that prevented him from playing in the final two games of the season, was head-to-head with the B.C. Lion’s Joe Smith for the league rushing title.

These amazing individual statistics were evident in the first nine weeks of the season, where the Bombers went 5-2-1, and had them sitting atop the East division. Also notable in those first few weeks was the five straight sellouts with which the Blue Bombers started the season. The crowds at Canad Inns Stadium were big, boisterous, and, when the Blue were on defence, created so much noise that opposing teams were often unable to call their plays successfully. This is the kind of crowd that inspires a home team and gives them that extra edge. This is why teams are said to have a “home-team advantage,” because they have the crowd standing behind them.

In those first five home games, I was bursting with pride that our city was coming out to support our team as I had never seen before. However, since the ninth week of the CFL season, as our home team began to be plagued with injuries and lacklustre efforts, the home crowd turned on what had been our beloved Bombers. The sellouts stopped, the sports journalists turned vicious, and the Bomber players began to spend more time warding off unfair questions of their play than they spent on the field. One Winnipeg Free Press headline appropriately labelled “Blue fans flee burning bandwagon.”

This has become a detestable habit in our fair-weather city. We love and cheer the Bombers with all our hearts — as long as they are winning in lopsided amounts. However, if they lose a game or two, even if they remain atop their division, it is time to blacklist them. No reason to buy tickets and support a team if there is the slightest chance that they may lose.

Now, despite the fact that the Bombers are in the playoffs, facing off first against the Montreal Alouettes, who are playing without their first string quarterback Anthony Calvillo, Bomber fans continue to jump off the bandwagon in droves. Meanwhile, over in “Rider-nation,” the Saskatchewan Roughriders sold out tickets to their home play-off game within a half-hour of them going on sale. Here in “Bomber-land,” only 11,000 seats have been sold as of Oct. 31, 2007. This is remembering the fact that not only is it the first home play-off date since 2003, it is most likely the last home game for the legendary face of our franchise, Milt Stegall.

This whole year Bomber fans have had the privilege and opportunity to see the last few games of a player who will go down in history as one of the greatest to ever play the game. However, we have not only failed to support our team, we have failed to honour the greatest our team has ever been fortunate enough to have play for them. I know that I will be at the Bombers last home game of 2007, I will be there to witness the last few steps that Milt Stegall ever graces the Canad Inns Stadium with. I will be there to cheer on my team, a team that has had an amazing season and still has every opportunity to play in the Grey Cup.

So hats off to Tim Volk and his dedication to the Winnipeg Blue Bombers. I can only hope that others like him emerge to show their support for a talented team that may go all the way. And, I will offer my best wishes to Mr. Volk, who may well be renamed after this season, in surviving life known as Mr. Grey Cup.