Bombers Ring Of Honour

[kelownabomberfan]

11 hours ago, FrostyWinnipeg said:

Ring of Honour for the team that does not retire numbers.

if we did all the Bomber players would have to wear triple-digit numbers by now.

[kelownabomberfan]

On ‎13‎/‎09‎/‎2019 at 4:33 PM, Bubba Zanetti said:

353 consecutive games played. Think about that for a minute. Its insane. Essentially 20 years without a game missed. Single-handedly won us a Grey Cup. Legend. The best ever. Period.

I agree Bob was the most valuable player in that game, but if Michael Gray doesn't intercept Dunigan's pass on the 5 yard line....

[FrostyWinnipeg]

46 minutes ago, kelownabomberfan said:

if we did all the Bomber players would have to wear triple-digit numbers by now.

MTL CDN have retire 15 in 100 years. There's not that many great players.

[Bubba Zanetti]

1 hour ago, kelownabomberfan said:

I agree Bob was the most valuable player in that game, but if Michael Gray doesn't intercept Dunigan's pass on the 5 yard line....

Very true.

[NorthernSkunk]

2 hours ago, FrostyWinnipeg said:

MTL CDN have retire 15 in 100 years. There's not that many great players.

I have always hated the retiring of numbers in sports....., mainly because kids grow idolizing  players and naturally want to wear the numbers of their heros....  so once the number is retired that number is no longer used nor remembered like that.

[Brandon]

6 hours ago, NorthernSkunk said:

I have always hated the retiring of numbers in sports....., mainly because kids grow idolizing  players and naturally want to wear the numbers of their heros....  so once the number is retired that number is no longer used nor remembered like that.

It is silly,  and in football damn near impossible unless you go to triple digits.  

[blueingreenland]

8 hours ago, Bubba Zanetti said:

Very true.

James Murphy had a couple of huge catches in that game and Trevor Kennerd was a star as well, but it was our defense that was stellar...James West, Rod Hill, Mike Gray etc.

Gray caught that pass but I think it was deflected a couple of times. Not sure who tipped it at the line.

[Fan since 77]

Bob was the best ever !!

Renovating house too !! 

[WBBFanWest]

19 hours ago, FrostyWinnipeg said:

MTL CDN have retire 15 in 100 years. There's not that many great players.

Hockey doesn't have positional numbers like football does, and football teams have much bigger rosters.   But other than that, great point!

[Noeller]

the Bombers DO retire numbers....just unofficially.

[FrostyWinnipeg]

12 minutes ago, Noeller said:

the Bombers DO retire numbers....just unofficially.

You'd think a guy who played 23 years for the same team and 2nd most games  in CFL history would have his # unofficially retired too 🤔

 

[NorthernSkunk]

2 hours ago, Noeller said:

the Bombers DO retire numbers....just unofficially.

What is the point of that ? An how does it work ?

[Fan Boy]

12 hours ago, Fan since 77 said:

Bob was the best ever !!

Renovating house too !! 

Over 20 years ago I lived on Clare Ave a couple of houses down from Bob Cameron who was living in the house that the Riverview park head lived in (Winnipeg history).  You could see huge cracks in the foundation and walls. If he got that thing in livable condition then he was as good at renovations as kicking. I was too shy to talk to him. I always feel like a kid fan instead of a grown ass man. 

[MC]

50 minutes ago, NorthernSkunk said:

What is the point of that ? An how does it work ?

They just don't issue the numbers to players in the regular season.  When was the last time you saw numbers 11, 28, 63, or 85 on an active Bomber player?  

It is a whole lot easier to get into the ring of honour than to have your number unofficially retired.  The one that will never ever be reassigned will be 28.  You have to be one of the first to jump out of a plane on D-day for that to get that number.

[Jacquie]

11 hours ago, MC said:

They just don't issue the numbers to players in the regular season.  When was the last time you saw numbers 11, 28, 63, or 85 on an active Bomber player?  

I don't think anyone has worn 97 since Doug Brown either.

[SpeedFlex27]

On ‎2019‎-‎09‎-‎15 at 9:20 PM, blueingreenland said:

James Murphy had a couple of huge catches in that game and Trevor Kennerd was a star as well, but it was our defense that was stellar...James West, Rod Hill, Mike Gray etc.

Gray caught that pass but I think it was deflected a couple of times. Not sure who tipped it at the line.

Gray tipped it himself & caught it coming down on the goal line.

[ediger]

Thrilled to see this. Bob Cameron is arguably one of the reasons I became a die hard Bomber fan. I grew up a few streets down from Bob and my best friend though elementary school and jr. high's dad ran a home reno company in the neighbourhood. If anyone knows Bob, you could easily imagine that these two guys got along pretty easily. Anyway, one day my friend and I wanted to go chuck around a football but we couldn't find his in his basement. His dad suggested we pop by Bob's; he'd probably have one. So off we went, in the drizzling rain, to Bob Cameron's house to see if he had a football we could use. Sure enough, he had one. But not only did he have a ball, he also had a story about the Grey Cup the ball was used in that he told use before sending us out into the rain with the thing to kick it around. This was probably about a year or two after my dad took me to my first Bomber game (1997). The next spring my buddy and I got season tix in section S as 14-15 year olds. About six games in the guys behind us started buying us beer because I hit a Ti-Cat fan about 20 rows below us in the head with a Coke bottle cap I flicked. He tried to fight like 30 people attempting to find the guy the flicked it. The dude's behind us thought it was the funniest thing they'd ever seen. I never learned their names in the 3 or 4 years they sat behind us but goddamn did they do a ton to introduce me to football. I'll never forget them cooking on their Hibachi in their seats during the 2001 east final.

Edited September 17, 2019 by ediger

[SpeedFlex27]

14 hours ago, Fan Boy said:

Over 20 years ago I lived on Clare Ave a couple of houses down from Bob Cameron who was living in the house that the Riverview park head lived in (Winnipeg history).  You could see huge cracks in the foundation and walls. If he got that thing in livable condition then he was as good at renovations as kicking. I was too shy to talk to him. I always feel like a kid fan instead of a grown ass man. 

I grew up on Clare Avenue as well. Moved away in the 80's.

[SpeedFlex27]

13 hours ago, MC said:

They just don't issue the numbers to players in the regular season.  When was the last time you saw numbers 11, 28, 63, or 85 on an active Bomber player?  

It is a whole lot easier to get into the ring of honour than to have your number unofficially retired.  The one that will never ever be reassigned will be 28.  You have to be one of the first to jump out of a plane on D-day for that to get that number.

Tight End Paul Markle wore #28 for 2 seasons in 1972 & 73. Brian Gervais wore it in 1978 & 79. I don't know if being awarded the Victoria Cross & dying for your country is enough to retire a player jersey,  even today. In other words, we don't know what the criteria is. The team hasn't used that number since so you are probably right.

[MC]

10 hours ago, SpeedFlex27 said:

Tight End Paul Markle wore #28 for 2 seasons in 1972 & 73. Brian Gervais wore it in 1978 & 79. I don't know if being awarded the Victoria Cross & dying for your country is enough to retire a player jersey,  even today. In other words, we don't know what the criteria is. The team hasn't used that number since so you are probably right.

It won't happen again while Fotty is handing out jerseys.

[Jacquie]

From the Bombers website, "Blue By The Numbers" by Ed Tait:

Quote

The Bombers haven’t formally retired numbers, but the following are officially no longer available to players:

11 – Worn by hall of famer Ken Ploen, the face of this franchise during his playing days from 1957-67 and later into his retirement. Ploen also wore 89, as did many players of that era who played both sides of the ball.

28 – Jeff Nicklin was a decorated Bomber from 1934-40 before becoming a decorated soldier in World War II, passing away on the battlefield in 1945. The winner of the Most Outstanding Player Award in the West Division is annually presented with the Jeff Nicklin Memorial Trophy.

75 – As a tribute to Tommy Lumsden, who played end, defensive end, tackle and guard for the Bombers from 1951-54 but passed away at the age of 25 in a Winnipeg hospital while suffering a gall bladder attack near Beausejour. The Tommy Lumsden Trophy is presented annually to the Bombers’ top Canadian player.

That information is passed down from one equipment manager to the next and Brad Fotty, who has been in the position since 1990, has since put Walby’s 63 and Stegall’s 85 out of commission. The same was done for Bob Cameron’s 6, but when the club signed quarterback Dominique Davis – who asked for that number – the hall of fame punter gave his thumbs up for it to be brought back.

Other numbers – like Doug Brown’s 97 or the 1 worn by Roberts – are not available for a few years after their retirement as a sign of respect, but with close to 90 players brought in annually to training camp, football teams simply can’t retire the numbers of all their greats.

https://www.bluebombers.com/blue-by-the-numbers/

[Stats Junkie]

#11 has been out of circulation for the most part since 1967. It was worn during the pre-season in '69 & '70 because the Bombers only had a limited number of jerseys available. In that era the only numbers that the Blue Bombers had prepared 10-19 were 10, 11, 12 & 14. Harry Knight wore #11 on October 26, 1975 - that was an Alberta Golden Bears jersey so technically it doesn't count.

 

#28 was last worn by Wylie Turner in 1986. It was taken out of circulation in 1987.

 

#63 was last worn by Chris Walby in 1996.

 

#75 was last worn by Stan Mikawos in 1986. It was taken out of circulation in 1987 - Mikawos changed to #77

 

#85 was last worn by Milt Stegall in 2008.

 

#97 has been worn in a pair of regular season games by Ivan Brown (2015). It has also been assigned to a handful of players in pre-season as well as a practice roster player.

 

#6 was taken out of circulation 2003-2009. In 2010 Frank Wilczynski was assigned #6 as a practice roster player. It was officially reinstated in 2013 for Brett Cameron.

 

#1 was taken out of circulation 1938-1983. Todd Hons was assigned #1 in 1984-1985. Jeff Jenkins in 1988 was the first to wear #1 in a regular season game in over 50 years.

[MC]

Why was #1 taken out of circulation from 1938 to 1983?

[Stats Junkie]

1 hour ago, MC said:

Why was #1 taken out of circulation from 1938 to 1983?

Lou Adelman wore #1 for the Winnipegs 1930-1937. Adelman started his career with the Tammany Tigers in 1924 and was a member of the 1925 team that played in the Grey Cup. When the Winnipeg won in 1935, Adelman was the only active player who remained from that team. Although few all-star nominations exist from that era, Adelman was unofficially delcared an all-star on numerous occasions (even in eastern Canada)

Officially, #1 was taken out of circulation at Adelman's request and would only be re-issued when Adelman's son was old enough to join the team. Adelman moved to California in 1945 but the number remained out of circulation.

Lou Adelman played one game (1 play) in 1939 so that he could qualify for the playoffs. The Blue Bombers did not have a #1 available for Adelman so he wore #53 in that game. Adelman did wear #1 in a 1941 exhibition game against the Columbus Bulls and again in 1953 when the Blue Bombers played the Liniment Bowl against the Calgary Stampeders (old-timer game). Adelman did enquire about the #1 in 1953 and he was told that no one had worn the number since he retired.

The Blue Bombers did not issue single digit number through much of their history (1951-1970).