Blue Bomber Photos

[SpeedFlex27]

From 1970. This was the only year they sold CFL team posters.  I used to have this one taped to the wall in my bedroom back in the day. Would love to have it again as I'd frame it.  What a collectible that would be. 

 

Edited August 14, 2018 by SpeedFlex27

[SpeedFlex27]

                                                                                                                                                                    

Players from past eras together: Top right: Russ Jackson #12, Ottawa Rough Riders, Dan Kepley #42, Edmonton Eskimos, Angelo Mosca #68 Hamilton Tiger Cats, Wayne Harris #55, Calgary Stampeders,  Al Wilson #52, BC Lions, Jim Corrigall #79, Toronto Argonauts, Frank Rigney #67, Winnipeg Blue Bombers, George Reed #34, Saskatchewan Roughriders & Mike Pringle #27, Montreal Alouettes.

Edited August 14, 2018 by SpeedFlex27

[SpeedFlex27]

Bud Grant being honoured after winning the 1962 Grey Cup:

 

 

[SpeedFlex27]

 

See picture below... Don Jonas says goodbye after being traded to Hamilton for Chuck Ealey on Labour Day 1974. 

The events leading up to that trade had been going on for awhile. After a disastrous 1973 season, the Bombers finished 4-12 & in last place in the Western Division.The disappointing season was perhaps not a surprise after three CFL all stars on the Bomber offense had left the team in the off season. Running Back Mack Herron & Flanker Jim Thorpe were released because of drug convictions while Offensive Guard Bob Lueck retired. That left 3 gaping holes on offense & the team could not adequately fill them.  The highest scoring offense in the CFL just a year earlier in 1972 struggled to score points in 1973.

The Bombers also lost their inspirational leader on defense when Middle Linebacker Mickey Doyle suffered a severe ACL tear in the 1972 Western Final & never played again. Rock steady defensive back Tom Oberg left for the upstart World Football League so defensively the team struggled as well. Jim Spavital was fired after the last game of the 1973 season & replaced by former Saskatchewan Roughrider assistant & Oregon State Head Coach Bud Riley.

The new Blue Bomber head coach was  soft spoken & quiet which was the polar opposite to the gregarious & loud Spavital .  He also handled his qbs differently than Spavital, as well. Jonas was a throwback to another era.  An era where the qbs called their own plays in the huddle as Jonas had done during his time under Spavital.  They were true field generals tasked with knowing the playbook & an opponent's defense weakness & exploiting it. However, the game of football was changing. With offenses  becoming more complex, a new brand of coaches like Riley believed that the qb position was challenging enough.  To take the pressure off, coaches needed to call the plays & the qbs had to execute those plays.  Riley insisted that only he was going to call the plays on the sidelines & that there were to be no exceptions.  Even for Don Jonas.

This irritated the veteran qb  & on August 27, 1974,  he vented his frustrations to Winnipeg Tribune Sports Editor Jack Matheson. In Matty's  column that day,  Jonas said some  things aimed towards Blue Bombers GM Earl Lunsford.  Lunsford had earlier criticized Jonas in the local media by saying he hadn't played very well & was ignoring rookie running back Jim Poulos. Especially in their previous game which was a loss to the Saskatchewan Roughriders. In the column, Jonas responded by saying, "That's a crock of (expletive deleted).  He doesn't know what we talked about before the game or on the sidelines.  I just do what I'm told and I was told how to call Friday's game. He doesn't know what the (censored) he's talking about".

 Jonas realized that his playing days were nearing an end & he wanted to end his playing career with the Bombers by mentoring Dieter Brock the promising rookie quarterback they had signed in the off season.  When the time would  finally come to pass the torch, Jonas said he would have been content to be his backup.  He went in to meet with Lunsford & told him of his desire to stay in Winnipeg but the Matheson column in the Tribune had angered Lunsford & unbeknownst to him had sealed his fate.

A week later, after Jonas had rallied the Blue Bombers to a late fourth quarter victory by defeating the Saskatchewan Roughriders on Labour Day in Regina, Jonas was taken aside by Lunsford after the plane carrying the team had landed in Winnipeg.  Just after midnight, in the confines of  the Winnipeg International Airport, he was informed that he had been traded to the Tiger Cats for quarterback Chuck Ealey. That he had to be on a flight to Hamilton in a matter of hours. Jonas played out the string in Hamilton that year & left football for good after the season was over. 

Jonas remained in Winnipeg for another year but eventually left the city & returned to Orlando, Florida where he & his family still reside today. In 1975, on the eve of his departure from Winnipeg for good,  a farewell bash for both Don & his wife Rosemary was held at a hotel downtown.  There  a who's who of Winnipeggers wanting to say goodbye & wish them well.  From ordinary Bomber fans like you & me , former Blue Bomber teammates, local celebrities, politicians from all levels & the local sports community.  Conspicuos by their absence was anyone from the Blue Bombers, especially Bud Riley & Earl Lunsford.

Jonas said that the trade to Hamilton as well as not being able to retire a Blue Bomber hurt him very much. So, in October of 2017, Team President Wade Miller righted a wrong & in a special ceremony signed Jonas to a one day contract where he was finally able to retire a Winnipeg Blue Bomber.

An interesting side note,  in 1979, Jonas helped establish the University Of Central Florida's football program & he was their very first head coach.  The team started out in Division 3 but is now a successful Division 1 FBS  program.

 

Edited August 14, 2018 by SpeedFlex27

[Fred C Dobbs]

Wow Speedflex, you must have one hell of a collection of memorabilia! 😲

[Y2C]

16 hours ago, SpeedFlex27 said:

                                                                                                                                                                    

Players from past eras together: Top right: Russ Jackson #12, Ottawa Rough Riders, Dan Kepley #42, Edmonton Eskimos, Angelo Mosca #68 Hamilton Tiger Cats, Wayne Harris #55, Calgary Stampeders,  Al Wilson #52, BC Lions, Jim Corrigall #79, Toronto Argonauts, Frank Rigney #67, Winnipeg Blue Bombers, George Reed #34, Saskatchewan Roughriders & Mike Pringle #27, Montreal Alouettes.

I'm almost positive I have that book around somewhere.

[SpeedFlex27]

7 hours ago, Fred C Dobbs said:

Wow Speedflex, you must have one hell of a collection of memorabilia! 😲

Some, not all. I just have my Blue Bomber & CFL memories of over 50 years past & the internet to help.  I love the history of our team. 

[Y2C]

I sure do. 👍

 

[Y2C]

Ti-Cats lineup featuring Duane Forde and one Kyle Walters. 😎

[SpeedFlex27]

24 minutes ago, Y2C said:

I sure do. 👍

 

This would be around 1998 or 99...

[Y2C]

I think it has to be 2001 because I'm pretty sure that's when Charlie came in.

[SpeedFlex27]

Quarterback Ken Ploen doesn't seem too impressed with Head Coach Bud Grant posing for a pre game photo on the Blue Bombers sideline.

 

[SpeedFlex27]

Did you know that Bud Grant wrote a book about Canadian Football? Yep, he sure did.

[SpeedFlex27]

[WBBFanWest]

5 hours ago, SpeedFlex27 said:

Quarterback Ken Ploen doesn't seem too impressed with Head Coach Bud Grant posing for a pre game photo on the Blue Bombers sideline.

 

Probably has something more to do with wearing a ball cap with a "Men in Black" suit.

[SpeedFlex27]

9 hours ago, WBBFanWest said:

Probably has something more to do with wearing a ball cap with a "Men in Black" suit.

Grant does look rather sharp in that outfit.  #sartorialcoachingsplendour

[SpeedFlex27]

The Blue Bomber sideline just moments away from winning the 1958 Grey Cup.  A 35-28 win over the Hamilton Tiger Cats.  Offensive Halfback #97 Gord Rowland,  Offensive Tackle #62 Roger Savoie, Offensive Guard/Defensive Tackle #78 Ron Meadmore, Offensive Tackle #63 Steve Patrick,  & #80 Offensive Halfback/ Kicker Bob Stransky are getting ready to bust out. Someone hidden behind the players holding the obligatory cigarette while trying not to accidentally burn the player next to him in the excitement. 

 

 

Edited August 16, 2018 by SpeedFlex27

[SpeedFlex27]

This may be a rather cute article about an infamous deed in the 1957 Grey Cup between the Blue Bombers & the Tiger Cats but it's hard to have any respect for David Humphrey. Using alcohol as an excuse to try &  start a fight on the Hamilton bench, then later in the game tripping Hamilton's Bibbles Bawel on the playing field after an interception, wanting to then fight Bawel &  finally stealing a chair from the stadium??  Well,  blaming it all on alcohol just doesn't cut it for me.

Would some people that day back in 1957 have said that his actions of being an ******* on the sidelines were okay had Humphrey driven his car in his drunken state & ran down a pedestrian? Or caused an accident that killed or injured himself or others afterwards?  Somehow, I doubt it  but here we are giving s stupid drunk his twenty minutes of fame (again) by saying it was the alcohol that made him do it. Therefore somehow making it okay.  

Again, that doesn't cut it with me. He also hid behind the Toronto Telegram's lawyers to keep his identity a secret for 2 decades because he was too cowardly to come forward & say that it was he who caused the mayhem that day.  Even more unbelievable, the Toronto police were also in on this entire sordid affair as it appears that they could have arrested Humphrey but chose not to.  These same idiot police officers who saw him in an alcohol induced frenzy on the sideline still let him drive home afterwards. Even for 1957 that is shocking.  Funny how Humphrey clearly remembers talking to a cop about taking the chair yet claimed he didn't remember everything else.

Humphrey embarrassed himself, the Blue Bombers & the entire CFL even though it was called the Canadian Football Council back then yet suffered no consequences whatsoever for his actions. He has since passed away but I don't sense he had that much remorse & fell back on the yuck, yuck, yuck "too much alcohol" excuse for his actions that day. The sad thing is that he was a lawyer who was later made an Ontario Provincial Court judge. I wonder how many drunks he sent to jail over the years for any number of offenses because of alcohol while he sat on the Bench? When in reality it was Humphrey who should have spent time behind bars like the rest of us would have had we done what he did.

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/sports/fifty-years-later-the-tripper-returns-to-the-scene-of-the-crime/article1327897/

 

Edited August 16, 2018 by SpeedFlex27

[SpeedFlex27]

                                                                                                           

Blue Bomber fullback  #28 Gerry James gets a great block on a Ti Cat defender from Guard #56 Ed Kotowich in the 1959 Grey Cup.  Hamilton's Defensive Guard #54 Ernie Danjean & Blue Bomber Running back #21 Charlie Shepard looks on. 

 

 

 

Edited August 16, 2018 by SpeedFlex27

[SpeedFlex27]

The 1984 Grey Cup Champions. It was the Bombers first Grey Cup win in 22 years. 

 

Edited August 16, 2018 by SpeedFlex27

[SpeedFlex27]

Captain Blue.

[SpeedFlex27]

Bud Grant & Ken Ploen circa 1966

[SpeedFlex27]

Blue Bomber Defensive Lineman D i c k Huffman

Edited August 16, 2018 by SpeedFlex27

[SpeedFlex27]

Leo Lewis. The Lincoln Locomotive. Circa 1964.

Edited August 16, 2018 by SpeedFlex27

[Pete Catan's Ghost]

4 hours ago, SpeedFlex27 said:

The 1984 Grey Cup Champions. It was the Bombers first Grey Cup win in 22 years. 

 

My season's tix were exactly one row in front of my Pink Floyd concert seats.