20.05.12
The married couple from Winnipeg were in Vancouver two decades ago too for the Bombers’ last triumph, when quarterback Tom Burgess uncharacteristically had a great game, but there still so many empty rows inside BC Place. Those were the lean years in the CFL, the late 1980s and early 1990s, but even the small crowd did not matter.
All that counts, the only thing that is pure and wonderful, is Grey Cup week and the glorious game. For one day in late November that glues the country together.
“The Grey Cup is pure Canadiana,” Paul says. “Honestly, if your team is in it that is a bonus, but we’ve met so many people from across the country it really is a celebration of Canadian football and being Canadian. You develop friendships with people. You don’t even have to make plans because you know you’re going to run into them. The whole week, however long you’re there, is what it is about. The game is a nice cherry on top of the sundae.”
The couple, who have been married 15 years and declined to give their last names, have been to the last 25 Grey Cups and smile about all the fan pavilions and the game’s great catches, tackles and kicks. And they cannot lie that Winnipeg losses to Calgary in 2001 (27-19) and to Saskatchewan — and every loss to the hated prairie rival burns ‚Äî in 2007 (23-19) hurt. But the Grey Cup is an excuse, a vacation, to stop caring and enjoy.
Source: National Post (blog)