Tell me about your 2019 experience in Calgary

[White Out]

I had a brief downtime at work today and happened to pay a little more attention to my framed picture of the 2019 Grey Cup, which has my ticket in it, and, a picture of Bighill holding the Cup with the confetti all around. I love this picture because I actually have confetti from the field in my framed picture, a nice little touch I'm tickled pink that I thought to do on the game. That got me to thinking about the day and weekend, now I want to know: how was your Grey Cup weekend/game experience in 2019? I want to hear from people who travelled to Calgary for the game or also are transplants and had the luck to live here for our 1st championship in 29 years. Regale me!

[Noeller]

7 minutes ago, White Out said:

I had a brief downtime at work today and happened to pay a little more attention to my framed picture of the 2019 Grey Cup, which has my ticket in it, and, a picture of Bighill holding the Cup with the confetti all around. I love this picture because I actually have confetti from the field in my framed picture, a nice little touch I'm tickled pink that I thought to do on the game. That got me to thinking about the day and weekend, now I want to know: how was your Grey Cup weekend/game experience in 2019? I want to hear from people who travelled to Calgary for the game or also are transplants and had the luck to live here for our 1st championship in 29 years. Regale me!

One of the best weekends of my life, without question. 

We (unfortunately) live in rural AB for work, and we'd purchased tickets nearly a year in advance when we got a pre-sale code. Not great seats, but only $150, so you can't really go wrong. When all the craziness at the end of the season started conspiring in our favour, we realized we were so glad to have pre-purchased tickets. 

One of our buddies was turning 40 on the GC weekend, and so another of our buddies came out from Winnipeg for the whole weekend. There's almost too many stories to tell, but it started with a bison burger (get more Manitoba in ya...) on the Thursday night, then being interviewed by Bart Kives for a story about ex-pat Manitobans in AB for GC, then meeting James West (who we initially thought was Mookie Mitchell - long story!) and his wife. Got our pic taken with the cup at Spirit Of Edmonton. 

Friday, an outstanding TD MB and I finally got to talk with Doug Brown and get him to sign my jersey, which I'd wanted for a long time. That night, we ended up at Bombers House downtown YYC. It was a really good time. In the back room, we were hanging out with Andrew Patterson and some others, when Doug Brown and Bob Cameron wandered in. I think Bob had had a few pops that evening. Everyone was cheering for both of them, and out of nowhere, Bob decided to get on the bar and "plank". It is, to this day, one of the most incredible things I've ever seen.

Saturday we had a killer surprise party for buddy's 40th.

Sunday was the game itself. Started with a shot of Gimli (Crown Royal) and some Farmery beer while watching the 90 GC. Then we made our way down to McMahon, and of course, the rest is history. Hanging out after the game, not wanting to leave the stadium, high-fives with Rasheed Bailey and his family, Zach Collaros, Wade Miller and some others. 

Great weekend....I'll see if I can find some pics from the weekend and post here later. 

[Noeller]

 

 

[Bubba Zanetti]

Great times! There was about 8 of us in total and we rented a nice airbnb home for the weekend. I wanted to use my Airmiles but they had Calgary blocked ofcourse(screw you Airmiles), so i flew into Edmonton, rented a car, and drove down to Calgary lol. Spent a couple days with the boys and then it was Grey Cup time!

So back story.....I missed watching the first half of the West Semi-Final against Calgary(Jets game), and then i also missed watching the first half of the West Final against Riders(family). Well, we won both and im fairly superstitious so......Were at the Grey Cup, the anthem has just ended and i turn to my buddies and say "ok boys, ill see you at the half". I explained to them earlier about my superstition but i guess they didnt believe me lol. So down i went into the underground concourse to wait until the 2nd half.  But we come out on fire and i can hear things are looking good, so i start walking back up to my seats. Just then they get a glimpse of me and start yelling and waving "NO, GO BACK, GO BACK" lol, fearing my presence/broken superstition will change the game.

So i came back to my seat after the half and reveled in the curb-stomping we gave to Hamilton with my buddies. We stayed for about an hour after the game, high-fiving players and talking with Wade and seeing him crying and truly thanking all the Bomber fans for being there. Tears were flowing from my eyes, and i was most certainly not alone. Took the c-train downtown for food+drinks after that and spent the whole ride cheering "O'Shea O'Shea O'Shea O'Shea, O'Shea, O'Shea" along with everyone else on the train. Partied into the night, didnt sleep, and drove back to Edmonton at around 3am to catch my flight at 7am. Never forget Grey Cup 2019.

P.S. I still havent watched any first halfs of Bomber playoff games live, and wont until we lose(if we ever do again that is). Youre welcome.

 

Edited September 7, 2022 by Bubba Zanetti

[Albertabomberguy]

I went to the 2018 cup in Edmonton with 16 buddies from work and needless to say it was a mess.  When the bombers clinched a spot in the cup in 2019 I knew it would be special and I needed tickets.  My son was 8 at the time and I knew I needed to take him because he would watch the games with me but you could tell he was doing it just to make me happy.  My wife was very against this idea after hearing a few of the stories from the year before and was very clear i should go but that he wasn’t allowed to come. The next day she was at work and I said screw it and bought him and I tickets and planned my trip out and she was clearly not happy with me.

 My buddy(I watch every game with him) had bought a motor home a month before from a dealership in Calgary and was scheduled to fly in on the Friday to pick it up and then drive home.  He obviously wanted to change his plans and get tickets to spend the weekend and go to the game.  The problem was that his wife was over 9 months pregnant and he didn’t want to leave her at home 8 hours away in case she went into labour.  I offered to drive her to Calgary so he could be there potentially for his kids birth and catch the game too!
 

We took part in all the festivities leading up to the cup and myself and my boy had a weekend I will never forget.  The day of the cup was incredibly nerve racking and I fought back emotions all day.  We went super early to McMahon and soaked in every minute we could.  I honestly can’t describe how special it was to be there with my son and when the bombers rushed the field to celebrate I looked over at my son and he was absolutely bawling.  I lost control of myself and we were screaming and crying with all the other fans.  Since that day, he has been a passionate and loyal fan.

(my wife later told me that she was so glad I didn’t listen to her and took him)

[SpeedFlex27]

I just watched it at home with my wife & when the game was over, I exclaimed, "Oh my God, we won!!!" And started bawling my eyes out after realizing that awful 29 year wait was finally over. It was such a relief!! That win meant the world to me because at age 64 back then, I was starting to worry that I'd never see another Blue Bomber Grey Cup championship in my lifetime. 

Edited September 7, 2022 by SpeedFlex27

[Dr Zaius]

Got loaded and danced with my brother in the street after the game. Great time

Edited September 7, 2022 by Dr Zaius

[Mark H.]

19 hours ago, Noeller said:

(Crown Royal) and some Farmery beer while watching the 90 GC. Then we made our way down to McMahon, and of course, the rest is history. Hanging out after the game, not wanting to leave the stadium, high-fives with Rasheed Bailey and his family, Zach Collaros, Wade Miller and some others. 

Great weekend....I'll see if I can find some pics from the weekend and post here later. 

Outstanding - to even remember what you were drinking that day...

[Noeller]

9 minutes ago, Mark H. said:

Outstanding - to even remember what you were drinking that day...

at the time, there was one liquor store in Calgary that carried Farmery (the only MB beer available in AB at the time), so we went to find it, but the store wasn't open yet. Across the street from it is a little pub in the Inglewood area of Cgy that we enjoy, so we stopped in there for a quick drink while we waited for the liquor store to open. We very consciously wanted a Crown Royal to bring the Manitoba vibes as much as we could. I will never forget everything about that weekend...

[Nolby]

I lived vicariously through you all,we shared hangovers

[SpeedFlex27]

I remember being happy for all the posters here & young Bomber fans everywhere that were born after 1990 who never saw their team win a championship & experience the feeling of winning a Grey Cup. Honestly, that made me feel good. Twenty nine years is a long time to just go on faith. 

[bigg jay]

We had about 10 of us in total, some drove out Friday night after work and some left Saturday morning.  Saturday afternoon, we went to the Festival at Stampede Park for a bit before heading Bomber House.  Was hoping for another Bob Cameron planking demo since we missed the one on Friday but no such luck - still had a blast even though it was crazy packed and you could barely move.

Took the C-train to the game and I don't ever remember being that nervous before - certainly not for a sporting event.  I think I had one beer the entire game and I couldn't take my eyes off the field for a second.  I distinctly remember watching Harris pre-game and seeing how fired up he was.  I need to re-watch the game because it's a bit of blur now except for how I felt and the Hansen hit (I can still hear that sound, clear as day) .  The nerves didn't leave until the 4th quarter - only to be replaced by disbelief.  Was this really happening after 29 years, and I'm here to see it live?  I definitely shed a few tears when the game ended and we stuck around to celebrate with the other Bomber fans & players.  Sheed was still out there well after the rest of the team went to the locker room and we were yelling at him to go celebrate with the boys.  We went to some random pub to meet up with the rest of our group & get some food and drinks.  It still felt (and still does to an extent) surreal and we couldn't believe the streak was over.  Best road trip I've ever taken.

[Geebrr]

I was in Hamilton for 2021.

A road game in Hamilton with the Cup on the line. We won- Labour Day or even a Grey Cup on the road doesn’t worry me much any more. This team has seen it all and won. 

[17to85]

I started a new job the day after... wish I had picked a different start date so I could have properly celebrated. 

[White Out]

Having lived in Calgary for longer than Winnipeg, I almost forget the 80's as a small kid and the old Stadium. One of my favourite memories  was when we beat the Argos in the east final and they let the fans on the field to cross over to get to their exits( or we just stormed the field I dunno). That year and that Cup was the last championship for 29 years... is hard to even fathome it now. Having known nothing but pain as a Bomber fan all my adult life, the one vivid memory above all else (well 2) was when they brought the Grey Cup past section B where I was sitting. I was only a few rows away as they walked it past us. All the years of heart break watching the Riders and Stamps and Lions hoist it in front of us. The unfinished business bullshit. All that awful ****, 29 years of it, sticking it out cuz I am a Bomber fan to the death, it all made that one moment unreal. I could cry thinking about it, how I felt. 29 years of suffering, and it was ours again. The Bombers aren't just my team, they're an important link to my home and childhood. When the Bombers win and we all celebrate, I'm happy for our city and my fellow Bomber fan. I'll never forget the Grey Cup being a few feet from me, what a memory. The rest of it is all pretty awesome but that one memory and moment in time is hard coded in my brain. I'll never forget it and will cherish it.

Edited September 8, 2022 by White Out

[Goldkobra]

Wasn't at the game, but all i remember was waking up that day and i could just feel it. I knew the boys would not be denied.