Jeffrey Orridge highlights difference between Canadians and Americans

I have a friend, Shae, who is Winnipeg Blue Bomber fan extraordinaire.  I don't get it, frankly, but I love watching her passion for all things Blue.  I think she needs a special award for Fan of the Century because the Bombers could not ask for a better ambassador.  It is only because of her enthusiasm, and Andrew Harris, that I have an interest in the Bombers.

I remember growing up in rural Manitoba and cheering the Bombers.  At the time, and at the risk of showing how ancient I am, Dieter Brock was an amazing quarterback.  It seemed like every game he was putting another record in the books.  Joe Poplawski and Trevor Kennerd were also my favorites, not only for their amazing performance on the field, but for all they did off the field.  I have literally ran into both at local restaurants and they are still heroes to me.  Very nice gentleman who are very gracious.  I didn't like Coach Ray Jauch for some reason.  (It was because my dad didn't like him.)  But, I learned a great deal about football by watching his show on Sunday evenings with Peter Young.  Growing up, the Grey Cup was a huge event.  Everyone went to a Grey Cup party.  The Grey Cup Parade was really popular and there was a gentleman from my home town who was famous for marching in the Parade every year.  His smiling face was on the cover of our local newspaper marching in the Parade.  We were very proud.  My parents were from Saskatchewan so they were always Rider fans long before there was a Rider Nation.  At the time, the Riders always finished last in the League but always had the most loyal fans.  I liked that.

As I became an adult, and discovered the NFL, I didn't like the CFL anymore.  Well, and to be honest, when they put the Bombers in the Eastern Conference, I was sort of done.  We are Manitobans and we are the gate to the West, it even says that in our song.  Yes, we had to a learn a Manitoba song in school.  Manitoba, home of the best.  Manitoba, gate to the west.  Then, it didn't make sense to me to play a whole season and basically only lose one team in the playoffs.  The point is that I would not even follow the CFL at all, but then, there is my friend, Shae.  She is very intelligent, so if she is such a Bomber fan, then it is worth me following just a little bit.  Plus, Investors Group Field is such a nice venue.  There is not a bad seat in the place and it is such a nice destination for a family friendly afternoon/evening of entertainment.

So, last night was the opening night for the CFL in Winnipeg.  The loyal fans were there.  The new CFL Commissioner, Jeffrey Orridge was there.  It used to be that if you showed your ticket. that you would receive free transit to and from the game.  That was a nice community touch because parking is quite ridiculous at IGF.  They don't do that anymore.  I guess the City of Winnipeg doesn't care about the Bombers to entice more fans to attend.  Many fans take advantage of Park and Ride places such as Club Regent Casino.  Park your car at the Casino and take a bus to and from the game and you get a perk from the Casino.

It was a Thursday night.  Many of the fans attending have to work today.  Many of the fans attending are from rural Manitoba so drive a couple of hours each way to support the Bombers.  I think you can see where this is heading.

At 10:00 pm, the game should have been close to finishing.  At 10:00 pm, there was still a 1:38 in the second quarter and there was the second rain delay.  It wasn't so much the torrential rain, it was the lightning and thunder that made the game unsafe for the players.  If it was unsafe for the players, it was unsafe for the dedicated fans.

At 1:20 am, the game officially ended.  Thank goodness, the Eskimos scored a final minute field goal or the game would have gone into overtime.

What a friggin joke.  They were showing the few fans left in attendance.  There were children sleeping on their parents being water logged and exhausted.  It was practically abuse to keep a child at a football game for that long.

Almost, 6 hours, it was the longest game in CFL history. Even my friend, Shae, posted that she left early having to work today.  If that can't get their biggest fan to stay, believe me, it was not a safe outing.

This was a sad evening for the Bombers and the CFL.  Someone should have had some common sense to cancel the game and make it up some other night.  Perhaps, tonight.  Someone should have had some common sense to refund people's tickets.  I understand it would be a dangerous precedent but it was the right thing to do.  I think of the Park and Ride fans being held captive there.  This level of storm was not forecast, but if it was not safe for the players, it was not safe for the fans.  Someone should have showed just a little bit of class in this situation.

I thought it should have been the Bombers organization, but, apparently, that wasn't their call.  But, the Commissioner was in attendance.  That should have been his call.  His job as Commissioner is a difficult one.  The CFL is in decline.  He has to build up this marginalized sport.  He needs loyal fans to accomplish such.  This is not how you treat loyal fans.  I'm sure there will be a lot less loyal fans now.  There will be a lot more people content to watch the game at home rather than to shell out the money to go sit there and be disrespected.

I didn't know anything about Jeffrey Orridge until I went on the CFL website this morning.  It is passionate about sports.  Actually, he is passionate about sports deals.  He wants to make the CFL more profitable.  He is an American who is getting his Canadian citizenship soon.  This, despite, he has lived and worked in Canada for over 20 years.  He is just getting around to getting his Canadian Citizenship now that he is Commissioner of our Football League.  Maybe once he is a Canadian, he will feel differently.

Bottom line, Americans measure success by profits.  Canadians measure success by doing the right thing regardless of the cost.  If a Canadian had been Commissioner of the CFL last evening, the game would have been cancelled before the half and the fans would have had their tickets refunded.

I feel very pessimistic about a Trade deal between our two countries at this point.  Jeffrey Orridge just pointed out to me how different we really are.

#W for the Win