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My Bob memory is a little more personal. My father had taken me to Bomber games since 1981 at Canadinns stadium, and because of a few rowdy swearing fans in our early season ticket years there we took to wearing headphones to drown them out and listen to the broadcast. After a few games my dad noted “I don’t know why we never did this before, it totally changes how I watch the game. Bob’s call is so good and it makes me see things in a way I never saw live before.” One thing he always wondered is where the broadcast was coming from (we were east siders then) and he asked every other game or so, so I would point out the small radio booth across the field and he could kind of make it out, but I was never sure he figured it out So fast forward 25 years to the 2005 season. My dad’s 77th birthday came up on Labour Day and by that age it was hard to think of gifts for him, but we still shared our Bomber games together (and I was finally getting to the age where I could pay for our season tickets instead of him). I thought it would be a neat idea to give him a tour of the west side broadcast area, past media row and the TV and radio broadcast booths, so he could finally see the location of all the Bomber broadcasts he had been listening to. Carol Barrott of course made the arrangements, and said we might get to see Bob Irving in action before the game, but he would likely be too busy with the broadcast to say hi. So on Thanksgiving that year, which was the actual 75th anniversary celebration game, we met her at the club offices an hour and a half before game time and she took us up into the west side press area, past writer’s row and the TV broadcast booth and the visitor radio booth. We get to the Bomber booth and out comes Bob Irving (this is right up to the pre-game show time, mind you) and not only does he say hello and shakes our hands but engages my dad in a 5-10 minute conversation. I was struck by how tall he is in real life, and to my surprise most of their conversation was not about the specifics of football but about what my dad did for a living, how long he had been coming to the games, how flattered he was when my dad told him that listening to his broadcasts from the seats was a highlight for him, and also about Bob’s kids and his life as a broadcaster and how he missed a few big life events because his road broadcasts took him away from them. Apologized when he had to end the conversation because he had to get back to the broadcast. But he wished us well, thanked US for coming to visit, hoped we would enjoy the game and said it was going to be a special day because they were honouring the all-time 75th anniversary team and he was excited to be calling a memorable event. Thanked us again for always tuning in to the broadcast home or away. And then to back up his promise of something memorable, he called the game where Milt Stegall got 4 touchdowns on 4 passes that day. Total class act, real down to earth guy, and I like to think it was the best gift I could ever have given my dad. In the Billy Crystal movie “City Slickers” there’s a scene about your best and your worst day, outside of the usual “day your kids are born” life-changing events. I think of that day and seeing my dad light up talking with Bob Irving for his birthday celebration, and it is right up there with my best days.

I heard the Riders were going to rest the crossbars this week as they were also tired of getting hit.

I guess there's only one thing left to do...Go back to back for Bob!

I absolutely want Streveler for only two games.

Its not Jeffcoat he put a picture of himself getting the vaccine this spring on his Instagram story.

Levels said we haven't beaten anyone good. I guess he can be content knowing we still haven't.

When Harris found out he's been traded to Montreal. When he looks at the upcoming schedule with back to back Bomber games

@Noeller bet you're extra glad you'll be there in person

Did Patrick Levels do his post game interview yet??

Mandate it that TSN can not do "celebrity" interviews during gameplay.

From CFL.ca HEIGHT 5'11 WEIGHT 214 LBS BIRTH DATE (AGE) 1993-12-14 (27) BORN WINNIPEG, MB SCHOOL MANITOBA STATUS NAT TWITTER RECEIVING YEAR TEAM GP REC ATT YDS YAC TD AVG LG 2015 SSK 14 13 16 165 - 0 12.7 72 2016 SSK 17 37 60 338 147 2 9.1 53 2017 SSK 9 19 26 222 64 1 11.7 35 2018 WPG 17 59 84 554 253 3 9.4 42 2019 WPG 17 44 69 543 238 3 12.3 82 2021 WPG 12 48 70 654 351 4 13.6 54 Total 86 220 325 2476 1053 13 11.3 82 RUSHING YEAR TEAM GP CAR YDS TDS AVG LG 2015 SSK 14 6 30 0 5.0 32 2016 SSK 17 3 8 0 2.7 12 2017 SSK 9 0 0 0 0.0 0 2018 WPG 17 34 248 1 7.3 30 2019 WPG 17 26 147 2 5.7 35 2021 WPG 12 13 87 1 6.7 21 Total 86 82 520 4 6.3 35 PUNT RETURNS YEAR TEAM GP PR YDS AVG LG TD 2015 SSK 14 45 377 8.40 60 1 2016 SSK 17 16 125 7.80 18 0 2017 SSK 9 23 227 9.90 63 0 2018 WPG 17 12 98 8.20 22 0 2019 WPG 17 1 8 8.00 8 0 2021 WPG 12 0 0 0.00 0 0 Total 86 97 835 8.6 63 1 KICKOFF RETURNS YEAR TEAM GP KOR YDS AVG LG TD 2015 SSK 14 14 284 20.30 33 0 2016 SSK 17 2 47 23.50 27 0 2017 SSK 9 0 0 0.00 0 0 2018 WPG 17 14 276 19.70 55 0 2019 WPG 17 0 0 0.00 0 0 2021 WPG 12 1 4 4.00 4 0 Total 86 31 611 19.7 55 0 MISSED FG RETURNS YEAR TEAM GP NO YDS AVG LG TD 2015 SSK 14 3 122 40.70 93 0 2016 SSK 17 0 0 0.00 0 0 2017 SSK 9 0 0 0.00 0 0 2018 WPG 17 0 0 0.00 0 0 2019 WPG 17 0 0 0.00 0 0 2021 WPG 12 0 0 0.00 0 0 Total 86 3 122 40.7 93 0 Those are the stats. On pace for over 1,000 all-purpose yards. Does a little bit of everything for us and definitely stirs the drink. Your appreciation goes here

Never. Stories like this are what it's all about. Thanks for sharing! I have probably dozens of memories involving Bombers radiocasts, but I'll say this..... when I worked up in Dauphin from 2002-2006, we were part of the Blue Bombers Radio Network, and I was the in-house producer (basically just play local commercials when CJOB played Wpg commercials) for Dauphin's end of the coverage. It's a monkey job, but....I got to be a PART of the Blue Bombers Radio Network. Bob would almost always "say hello" to the people listening on our station during the broadcast, and I couldn't have been prouder to feel a part of the team. That's something that I'll carry with me forever.....

Could just be a coincidence with it being the 2 year anniversary of us being the reigning Grey Cup champions but... Strevy posted this on IG this morning:

Not related to the season but always nice to see players/coaches making Canada home.

that is FABULOUS news....absolutely love it. The more mandatory vaccinations, the better....

Isn't this what you want out of very well run organization. Young guys come in learn develop and take the 1 number one jobs. Kenny Lawler is #1 guy now Demski is #2 and Bailey #3. That not an indictment on Adams it the progression of a roster its what you want to see.

And on that note .. I think this thread has lived it's useful life.

You know what sounds easier and makes more sense and what had worked for many years.... having 3 qbs on a gameday roster....

a million people spontaneously volunteering to pick him up at the airport....

Glad that Bombers are not in that position anymore. So nice to have a stable team.

He's not even showing! 🤯

Such a sad day for all Bomber fans. Knew it was coming but it still sucks.

Three shalt be the number thou shalt count, and the number of the counting shall be three. Four shalt thou not count, neither count thou two, excepting that thou then proceed to three. Five is right out.

Back in the day, I delivered pizzas. Home or away, I would listen to Bob on the radio, plus the coach's show. For a four year period, that's almost exclusively how I experienced Bomber games.

None of these teams want to see us sign Streveler. I promise you that.

Interesting.........

I wouldn't give up on McGuire, shitty weather + one team playing to get home field while the other team playing back ups and without the foot on the pedal....

Our backup Oline is better than Sask's starting Oline.

I remember sitting in a car driving back to Niverville from IGF after a loss in 2013 listening to Bob and Doug venting and just totally fed up and frustrated with yet another poor effort and embarrassing loss, and I was genuinely worried that Bob was just going to pack it in. For a guy who had seen so many great Bomber teams over the years it must have been so hard to watch Tim Burke and Joe Mack just stumble and fumble and deliver such an awful on-field product. You could just hear the passion and anger in Bob's voice, and I was feeling exactly the same way. Bob spoke for all of us. Glad you hung in there Bob, and can go out on a season where we had the privilege to watch one of the best, most dominant and most professional Blue Bomber teams to ever pull on the uniform. The Bombers are great, but you make them even better. We love ya Bob!

Speaking of Dec 5, we decided to take advantage of a cool deal from Fionn McCools that day.... Burger, Fort Garry pint and a bus ride to and from the game for 15 bucks. You can't beat that. Absolutely STOKED for that whole weekend...

This is absolutely brutal for me on a few levels. As a fan.....there are few things in life that I enjoy more than Irving/Tait/Brown on the radio. I've said it before, but I could listen to those guys BS about the CFL all day. They will never be able to re-create that, no matter what they do. As a broadcaster/program director, you'll never find a better role model. He is the very definition of professional. Every single aspiring sports broadcaster should model themselves after Bob. No stupid bullshit or gimmicks....just the straight facts all the time. And little to no patience for anything else. I have absolutely no clue how they'll go about replacing him. There are options "in house", there are options within the city, not currently within Corus, and there are external options (seriously, the Rod Black thing isn't the worst idea I ever heard...). I'm sad because it's ending, but I'm happy I got to experience it while it happened.

I would love soo much for the first home game next year to feature Bob Irving's name going up on the ring of excellence. And another great cup banner would be nice too.

HH to Mike O'Shea for burning that timeout in the 1st quarter. We had too many men on the field. The play right after was the botched snap to the MTL punter. That timeout turned what would have been a penalty sustaining a MTL drive into a turnover for the Bombers ST. It's the little things.

Guys, guys, everyone just settle down now. We shouldnt be too happy about this win. According to posters at riderfans the refs handed us the game with a bunch of missed/non calls against us. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news.

https://www.bluebombers.com/2021/11/06/game-preview-mtl-vs-wpg-4/ Quotable Some juicy comments this week out of Montreal, courtesy a story done by Herb Zurkowsky of The Gazette. In this piece, Alouettes linebacker Patrick Levels said, among other things: “I feel like we have the better team, for sure.” Asked to comment on what Levels said following Friday’s walk-through, Bombers middle linebacker Adam Bighill offered this: “If he didn’t say that he probably wouldn’t be a very good competitor. Everyone should have that mindset about their team. So, he can think whatever he wants. Come out and play the game and we’ll see who’s going to win. We’re not taking them for granted or lightly. They’re a good football team. We’ve got to come out here and play our best to win. That’s the facts. Our record says a lot about who we are as a team and it speaks about consistency. That’s the one thing, we’ve got to go out there and continue to prove it.”

That suggests you had wieners. Hey, everyone, look at Mister Richie Rich here with his fancy protein diet!

I'm employed now,thanks though.

Interesting quote from Rose - He reached out to the Bombers about coming back to the CFL, not the other way around.... says a lot about how much players like playing in Winnipeg.

Ohhh I see. They actually didn't want first place anyway: https://3downnation.com/2021/10/28/roughriders-losing-out-on-first-place-could-be-blessing-in-disguise/ Sure as **** were not saying that in 2019. Interesting.

Very nice tribute video on Twitter put out by the club. Might get a lump in your throat.

All you guys talking about Rose shutting down the leagues top receiver... I didn't realize he was covering Kenny "The King" Lawler....

How many were you in?they may have all been babes at that point

I texted into the Coach's Show a couple of weeks ago. O'Shea said Agudosi went home to attend to a family matter. O'Shea said Agudosi is still in the team's plans.

Was interested in this so decided to look it up the last time a Blue Bomber coach had 5 consecutive 10+ win seasons Bud Grant who had six in a 1957-1962 and now Mike O'Shea 2016-2021. Only two that have done it in the history of the club.

Mandate dog races at halftime!