Winnipeg is Pathetic

[url=http://www.winnipegsun.com/Sports/Football/2007/11/07/4636805-sun.html]http://www.winnipegsun.com/Sports/Footb ... 5-sun.html[/url]

Never mind the rabid Riders fans who eat, sleep and dream Green -- Winnipeg Blue Bombers fans cannot even compare to those in Montreal come playoff time.

While the Saskatchewan Roughriders sold out their Western semifinal game within hours, the Bombers had sold just 15,251 tickets for this Sunday's Eastern semifinal versus the Alouettes as of yesterday afternoon.

"(It) surprises me in a way because I'm used to Montreal hosting a home playoff game, seeing our regular 20,000 (fans) go to somewhere over 50,000," Bombers head coach Doug Berry said yesterday. "So, it's somewhat surprising to me that it's not an automatic sellout."

The Als usually move from Percival Molson Stadium to the much bigger Olympic Stadium for home playoff dates.

However, the former Montreal assistant coach is not disappointed by the sluggish sales.

"The support we get from the people that are here will certainly be the true fans and we'll get a lot of support from them, I'm sure," Berry said.

But Bombers GM Brendan Taman, who just attended the Riders' last home game in Regina last week, is bitterly baffled.

"I pity (Calgary quarterback) Henry Burris coming in there because I don't know how they're going to get the cadence," he said. "That place will be an absolute nuthouse and that's a huge advantage for Saskatchewan. I'd love (Montreal QB) Marcus Brady to come in here and not be able to hear. I'm not sure that's going to happen.

"It's disappointing. Doug's going to educate our guys, and say, 'Hey listen, this isn't necessarily going to be the crowd you're used to seeing during the season.' So, we're not going to shock them when they come out here on game day, going, 'Oh my gosh, what's that?' I'm not going to lie to you. From a football point of view, it's disappointing because we won home field advantage, and part of that is to have the crowd behind us and as loud as they can be when the other team has the ball."

The Bombers, who are 7-2 at home this year, boasted five straight sellouts earlier this season and the resulting din is an added dimension to the contests.

"As a coach, I'm oblivious to it most of the time until I need it in the fourth quarter," Berry said.

"I know it's there when I see the other team trying to get a hurry-up offence going and they can't communicate. It's really big, especially down the stretch in a tight game."

The Bombers are scratching their heads over the alarming lack of support.

"I've got scalpers coming up to me on my way into the (Saskatchewan) game selling me playoff tickets, and not for the face value," Taman said. "And I'm thinking, 'What am I missing here?' We're talking about the semifinal here. It's a different world over there.

"I've heard people say it's the weather and all that. Well, they're in the semifinal, we're in the semifinal. Momentum and all that, I know, but if you take that example, they just got killed (by Toronto). And if we'd have lost to Montreal like that, are we getting 15,000?"

The players are sure hoping for a big, boisterous crowd.

"I hope they're all going to come because we need them," said offensive tackle Alexandre Gauthier. "That's the 13th man on the field. When it's noisy, and we know fans from Winnipeg are pretty noisy when they want to be, that's great to have them with us.

"It's going to be a good game, too."


in what will be milt steggal's last game in winnipeg, and after a hard fought season the Bombers have only sold 15,000 tickets to this sundays playoff game.

winnipeg, u make me sick!

LOL..........tell us how you really feel.

sorry...i cant swear here.

At least Montreal would have gotten 20,000 at Molson Stadium!

Papa, Piggy, Whats going on in the Peg?

There are many issues that have turned the fans off. The play of the Bombers as of late. The ownership issue has soured many fans. All this garbage about the new stadium. Asper. Taman and Lyle Bauer should resign it;s time for new leadership. And the total lack of leadership of the Bomber board of directors. That they would sell the team for a song and dance. All these sideline issues have p#@sed off a lot of fans. Regardless of what the stupid media types say in Winnipeg. Or some fanatical Bomber fans who wants a new stadium at any cost. Look what happened when you had the flying Glieberman boys in Ottawa. It was a circus. And the same can be said with what is going on in Winnipeg to a certain degree. It is only starting here. If nothing is done, then it will get worse. The top brass should resign.

I wonder if it being rememberance day and all the time change issues have anything to do with it?

excuses excuses.

the ownership / stadium issue has been ongoing since before the season started, and the bombers got 5 straight sell-outs during these debates. i doubt that, now that its playoff time ( 20 weeks later ), fans have just decided to give up on the team for these reasons.

Nope. Attendance has been sliding the last few games.

This is nothing new for playoff time in Winnpeg, dg. The Bombers do not sell tickets for the playoffs with your season tickets, like most orgs do now. Without those 6000 or so corporate season ticket holders, who don’t buy playoff tickets, it’s really hard for the Bombers to put bums in the seats. Add to that the lines being drawn between the social welfarests and the Aspers plus, Wpgers are smart enough to know, you don’t pay to sit outside in Novemeber if you have the option of staying home and seeing it for free. There is a reason Wpg is called the wholesale capital of Canada, people here are as cheep as the day is long.

:lol: :lol: :lol:

I have to admit, I am a little shocked about this. How many people can the Winnipeg stadium hold?

I do not see it being a problem. The bomber fans no that the league gets the money for the playoff games not the bombers. Put it this way they will have more people at their stadium then commonwelath this weekend.

I’m surprised by Piggy’s explanation too, but it sort of makes sense.

See Piggy, weather isn’t a problem out here with the dome. :wink:

So disapointed…
In college today it was a rather boring day so the teacher had this huge jar with a bunch of pieces of paper. Each piece of paper had 2 topics and you had to talk for 2 mins about the topic you chose. Mine was, things in Winnipeg you should be proud of. My whole 2 minutes was spent telling them to be proud of their 75 year old COMMUNITY OWNED football club. They’ve had a lot of ups and downs but this season they played well, got a decent record, and have a legitimate chance of making it to the Grey Cup. I said if we dont sellout our stadium, we really will be the laughing stock of Canada, and other peoples comments will be justified. Its cold, the roads suck, but its home, be proud of where you live.

....the teams play of late probably has a lot to do with lagging tix sales...also the timing on Remebrance Day....add to that the lifting of the black-out...the interest shown in plans for the Asper stadium was a tip-off... very little ..people in the Peg are souring on professional sports...WHY//// go back to the Jets fiasco....the long drought for the BigBlue ....and the very recent downward slide by the team....resulting in Peggers saying....'here we go again'...That's just my take.... i do not think the same way as these 'fading fans'... and i can't speak for everyone... though i kind of feel their pain...but there is 'no gain' in staying at home...just the pain of embarassment for the die-hard fans of this team.. :oops:

Wow I did not think the win by the Stamps would cause so much disfunction. Go Bombers Go!

DG would you not want to wait and see how many people will show up before getting yourself all sick and puky over yourself? I remember times when Rider fans were not exactly falling over each other to see games at a time when the team was not doing very good....

…i’m still hoping for a good turn-out for Sunday LeBird… and maybe its a little premature to jump on the ‘fair-weather’ fans…Peggers have been known to be fickle sometimes but come through in the end…here’s hoping :rockin:

That is pathetic news. Hopefully sales pick up before Sunday. I'm not a huge Bombers fan, that doesn't matter - IMO, every playoff game should be a sellout. IT'S THE PLAYOFFS! If the blackout has to be enforced, so be it. I'm less concerned about the noise level Burris will have to deal with - I'm just glad that game sold out. (Wish I could be there!)

I don't understand this "bad team" garbage. Didn't they finish one point out of first place? Don't they have the East Division nominee for MVP at quarterback? Don't they have the CFL's all-time touchdown leader at receiver? What about Charles Roberts? Sure the Bombers didn't end the season as well as they started it, but they also don't deserve to be any LOWER than second place.

Come on, Winnipeg. Don't let Saskatchewan outdo you! This is your first home playoff game since 2003 ...

Testify Kev!!

excuses excuses.

the ownership / stadium issue has been ongoing since before the season started, and the bombers got 5 straight sell-outs during these debates. i doubt that, now that its playoff time ( 20 weeks later ), fans have just decided to give up on the team for these reasons.
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The people were coming out in droves to show respect to Milt Stegall. They were not showing up to support Asper's welfare dream. Wake up. all those other issues are having a negative effect on the fans. I have spoken to fans who go to the games and many are fed up. Taman says he does not know why people are not buying tickets. He knows why. Weather was never an issue. As I attended many west east semi and final games in Winnipeg. I remember attending an east final game and the beer in my hand froze on top. these games were always sold out. Winnipeg is known as a cheap city ? It never stopped people from buying entertainment tickets. Say what you want. Get rid of Taman, Bauer. It's just that simple. Send them back to there home in Saskatchewan where they belong.