I know this article doesn’t speak for everyone but for those who are struggling to manage the sadness, anger, and disbelief, I hope this helps. Zach @zachschnitzer48 on Twitter 

https://3downnation.com/2022/11/22/youre-not-alone-the-reality-of-a-grieving-winnipeg-blue-bombers-fan/

15 hours ago, johnzo said:

this is a great conversation.  like a lot of others, I've got my own emotional / mental health things to deal with.  all best to all those who struggle.

To give a different spin on this, the Buddhists say that our existences here are for three purposes:

to wonder,

to struggle

and to grow. .

I cannot recall who said it but everyone we meet is fighting a battle we know nothing about. Therefore, we should always be kind to all.  Some time ago, I was on my way home from a long, hard night as an EMT, I pulled up beside a car that has stopped at light just as the sun was beginning to come up. The driver was on my right and as soon as the light changed, he hit the gas and hung a left turn right in front of me. I was tired and a bit slow starting off, which was fortunate, because I had to stand my car on its nose to avoid t-boning him. He had also hit his brakes, coming to a halt about a foot away. I was tired, and cranky, opened my door, got out and was fully prepared to tear him a new one. As I approached him, he rolled his window down and began to babble an apology, but with tears streaming down his face. He was obviously distraught and between sobs told me that he had just come from the hospital where his wife had just died. My anger immediately disappeared, and as I waved him off on his way home, I felt horrible and did for days. 

Be kind. Always.

Edited November 25, 20223 yr by Tracker

I have been following a wise Rabbi on youtube and he has this saying, focus on the good ,grow from the bad. I believe that is probably MOS way of looking at things too... being a a guy who always has been a  glass is half empty , this is an incredibly hard way for me to follow, but i still see the wisdom in it. Thank you all for sharing your struggles. As always for the W.....

16 hours ago, JohnnyAbonny said:

To be honest guys, this year stings but it doesn’t even come close to 2001 or 07. 

2019 was very special, in that I got to see a cup win with my Dad. 
My Grandfather was one of the biggest Bomber fans. He and my Dad had a tough relationship at times but they always bonded over the Bombers. Granddad passed away in 1983, I could always tell it broke my Dads heart that they didn’t see 1984 together.

I saw so many parallels during the drought, can’t describe how badly I wanted to see that 2019 victory with the old man. 
Not to mention seeing a guy I’ve known since nursery school (AH) helping end Winnipeg’s drought..So many special aspects of that win. 

2021 was both the hardest and best year of my life.

We had twins in September of that year, and unfortunately we lost one of my baby girls to heart disease at 3 weeks. After all the grief, and sleepless nights of raising a newborn, our family experiencing another cup win at that particular time..So grateful for that distraction. Seeing my Dad holding his granddaughter while watching the final OT play was another all time life moment. 

I try to keep all this in mind after this past one. Saying “I have perspective” is inaccurate. I’m still busted up over the team losing, but unlike 01 and 07 I’m not dwelling on it all winter. 
Again, thank you guys, especially @Zach Schnitzer and @Noeller Just remember when you’re down, you’re NEVER the only one. I’m sure you all have support in your real lives, but my PMs are always open if anyone here is suffering. 
 

My condolences on losing your baby daughter. I know it's something you'll never totally get over. My sympathies. Your loss puts what happened to the Bombers in the proper perspective. Losing the Grey Cup wasn't life threatening or the end of the world. It's only a game. Something we all love & take seriously. However, it's still a game. Life on the other hand goes on.

We are all created as perfect, all-knowing souls. We are created with total wisdom and knowledge...the problem is knowledge without experience is hollow/useless.

I can tell you what snow is...but until you experience it...see it, touch it, feel the sensation of it crunching under your boots, making it into a snowball...you don't really know what it is.

You can read books about love but until you experience it you really have no idea.

That's what life is...it is to experience existence. This isn't a waiting room...it is the destination. We choose to be here. Every new experience helps us come to a greater understanding of who we actually are.

We live in a universe of relativity. I'm only tall because someone else is short.

In the absence of experience how could we make any determinations about who we are?

Think of it like this...imagine you just came into existence...alone...floating in a completely empty, formless space. In that context who are you?

Now imagine a small black dot appears in the ether. With that small dot you can now begin to make some determinations about who you are. It's there, I'm here. It's small, I'm large. It's round, I'm elongated. It's static, I'm mobile. In my case...it's dark, I'm light.

You can make all those determinations based on nothing more than a small, black dot. Life on Earth is an opportunity to experience billions of different things/emotions...and with each experience (good/bad or indifferent) you come ever closer to determining/remembering who you really are.

Life is all about the experience. Enjoy/appreciate it.

Edited November 27, 20223 yr by Deiter Fan

Great thread. I thought I'd share my thoughts now that we are a week removed from the game. I've actually been able to be pretty positive after the disappointing loss and I thought that maybe if I shared my reasons for that other people might be inspired as well.

Everything you said was true Zach. These were all feelings I experienced to psychologically devastating effects in 2001, 2007 and 2011. This time was different though. This time we are coming off of back to back Grey Cup victories. This time instead of feeling crushed by losing the one big game I am elated that we won the previous two. 

I've been able to focus on all of the positives. The many, many positives. Having the most wins in the whole league since 2016, winning 2 straight cups, dominating our home games, having the best record in the league for two straight seasons, etc.

The dynasty would have been epic beyond words but not getting the threepeat doesn't diminish what we have to celebrate. What every other team in the league wishes they had.

In short, I'm having the best time of my life as a Bomber fan and the offseason can't end soon enough. I'll see you all at IGF in 2023. Go Blue!!!

On 2022-11-27 at 4:58 PM, Blue_Dragoon said:

Great thread. I thought I'd share my thoughts now that we are a week removed from the game. I've actually been able to be pretty positive after the disappointing loss and I thought that maybe if I shared my reasons for that other people might be inspired as well.

Everything you said was true Zach. These were all feelings I experienced to psychologically devastating effects in 2001, 2007 and 2011. This time was different though. This time we are coming off of back to back Grey Cup victories. This time instead of feeling crushed by losing the one big game I am elated that we won the previous two. 

I've been able to focus on all of the positives. The many, many positives. Having the most wins in the whole league since 2016, winning 2 straight cups, dominating our home games, having the best record in the league for two straight seasons, etc.

The dynasty would have been epic beyond words but not getting the threepeat doesn't diminish what we have to celebrate. What every other team in the league wishes they had.

In short, I'm having the best time of my life as a Bomber fan and the offseason can't end soon enough. I'll see you all at IGF in 2023. Go Blue!!!

The dynasty is still very much alive

I've yet to watch a replay from the cup since the actual game,read some things but avoiding the highlights has sure helped

22 minutes ago, Nolby said:

I've yet to watch a replay from the cup since the actual game,read some things but avoiding the highlights has sure helped

within minutes had the game and pre-game recordings deleted from my PVR. Burn the tape, never look back. 

3 hours ago, Noeller said:

within minutes had the game and pre-game recordings deleted from my PVR. Burn the tape, never look back. 

I’ll watch it before the Grey Cup next year.

On 2022-11-30 at 12:56 PM, Pickle Rick said:

The dynasty is still very much alive

3 wins in 4 5 or 6 years is still easily dynasty material. 
 I expect the 2023 bombers to be a marked improvement over the 2022 team as well. We have a growing offense with developing threats and lots of young guys starting to reach their potential. 

17 hours ago, wbbfan said:

3 wins in 4 5 or 6 years is still easily dynasty material. 
 I expect the 2023 bombers to be a marked improvement over the 2022 team as well. We have a growing offense with developing threats and lots of young guys starting to reach their potential. 

The GC loss won't sit well with the Bombers. I don't expect them to stand pat. While I don't think we'll go crazy at free agency time, I do expect the team to address some glaring issues like the interior DL, Maybe sign a free agent OL, receiver & linebacker. The key is to try & keep every key free agent we have. For cryin'out loud, sign Darby this time around. 

It'll be interesting to watch the exodus of free agents from Saskatchewan. That'll be fun.

We went 15-3 and lost in the Grey Cup by one point.

That sounds a whole lot better now than it did a few weeks ago in November.

The Grey Cup loss should rankle the Bombers for at least 8 months. The game was there but they repeatedly shot themselves in the collective foot several times and handed the game to the Argos. 

13 minutes ago, Tracker said:

The Grey Cup loss should rankle the Bombers for at least 8 months. The game was there but they repeatedly shot themselves in the collective foot several times and handed the game to the Argos. 

The last thing I want to hear from Walters is we won't be active in free agency. We have some obvious holes particularily on defense that need shoring up. I dentify our core, sign as many as he can & then try to fix the holes.

He let Harris leave.

He isn’t worried about replacing anyone. 

We don't have the money or the need to be active in Free Agency. We're a vet team with a lot of expensive players and the top paid QB in the league. 

18 minutes ago, Geebrr said:

He let Harris leave.

He isn’t worried about replacing anyone. 

Harris can act like he took the GC away from the Bombers by playing in the championship game all he wants but it was just a one off performance. No way the guy can play even 6 or 7 games in a row without being injured or fading away performance wise. He'll go on the Bomber Wall of Fame someday & deservedly so but he didn't contribute very much to the Argos this season. Walters made the right choice. 

1 minute ago, TBURGESS said:

We don't have the money or the need to be active in Free Agency. We're a vet team with a lot of expensive players and the top paid QB in the league. 

Bye,

10 minutes ago, SpeedFlex27 said:

Harris can act like he took the GC away from the Bombers by playing in the championship game all he wants but it was just a one off performance. No way the guy can play even 6 or 7 games in a row without being injured or fading away performance wise. He'll go on the Bomber Wall of Fame someday & deservedly so but he didn't contribute very much to the Argos this season. Walters made the right choice. 

Bye,

Edited December 5, 20223 yr by SpeedFlex27

38 minutes ago, SpeedFlex27 said:

The last thing I want to hear from Walters is we won't be active in free agency. We have some obvious holes particularily on defense that need shoring up. I dentify our core, sign as many as he can & then try to fix the holes.

We know Walters won't go overboard and overpay for a lot of players... but one big signing (like Ceserna, for example) would be really exciting 

1 hour ago, SpeedFlex27 said:

The last thing I want to hear from Walters is we won't be active in free agency. We have some obvious holes particularily on defense that need shoring up. I dentify our core, sign as many as he can & then try to fix the holes.

I doubt we see any marquee signings, but Walters will pick the value bins to shore up holes or we may see a returning player or two after they have found the grass is definitely not greener. For every high priced guy we sign one has to go I would think.

54 minutes ago, GCn20 said:

I doubt we see any marquee signings, but Walters will pick the value bins to shore up holes or we may see a returning player or two after they have found the grass is definitely not greener. For every high priced guy we sign one has to go I would think.

As you say, we domn't need that many unless dome key vets decide to play elsewhere that they weren't expected to. At least one big inside DT, one OLB & a DB or two. Offense depends upon what Dalton Schoen does. Maybe we bring in Lawler. hopefully we re-sign janarion Grant. If a quality FA kicker becomes available he should be brought in as well. That's about it. Not a lot of FA's. 

As Collaros has shown in the playoffs, he is mortal and if he is somehow not available, I have enough faith in Walters to find an adequate replacement that we should be OK. And even a premier quarterback is very limited if his supporting cast is inadequate. Its a delicate balancing act that Walters so far has done very well.

I am not at all worried about losing anyone except Stan and Yoshi, and I have a feeling the next few days will sort that all out. Everyone else is replaceable.

49 minutes ago, GCn20 said:

I am not at all worried about losing anyone except Stan and Yoshi, and I have a feeling the next few days will sort that all out. Everyone else is replaceable.

zero chance...

...and the most important person to re-sign is Nic Demski, which I believe will also happen. 

22 hours ago, Noeller said:

zero chance...

...and the most important person to re-sign is Nic Demski, which I believe will also happen. 

Demski is by far the most important. I’d be shocked to see him play anywhere else.