Football lovers from across the country have flocked to Winnipeg this week to take part in Grey Cup festivities, including some hardcore Alouettes fans.
With kickoff for the game between the Als and the Saskatchewan Roughriders just hours away, let’s meet some of the Alouettes faithful who travelled long distances — much longer than you might think — to rep the red, white and blue.
You’ll also get a sense of why did they did it and how the country’s football game helps them bond with their fellow Canadians and their loved ones (even those who root for the enemy).
Barry Ryan and his son Kevin have been to the past 25 Grey Cups together. This is Barry’s 28th in all. And they have the patches to prove it!
So why come year after year when there’s no guarantee your team will even be playing?
“Just the camaraderie. Meet people over every year. The same people always show up. Doesn’t matter who’s playing. They’re all here for a good time. We see people once a year and they go running over and give you a big hug,” said Ryan, Kevin’s father.
The father-and-son duo moved from Montreal to Toronto years ago, but their love for the Alouettes is non-negotiable. Kevin’s outfit features a pin in the chest area that has ‘Argos Suck’ stamped in bold letters.
“Close to my heart,” he explains.
His daughter, Emma Ryan, isn’t a big football fan. This is actually her first time attending the Grey Cup. But she knows better than to cheer against her dad and granddad’s favourite team.
“I’d be disowned if I wasn’t. I like living at home, so….”
The black sheep of the family (or maybe the blue sheep?) is James Salverda. He was born in Winnipeg but now lives in Toronto. Neither the Argonauts nor the Blue Bombers are in the final this year, so is this a chance for him to finally cheer for grandpa’s favourite team?
“Absolutely not. No way.”
Salverda says he loves the city of Montreal, but there’s a limit.
“No, no, I can’t cheer for Montreal whatsoever. It doesn’t matter the sport; not cheering for them.”
His grandfather chimed in claiming he was dropped on his head a few times as a child, hence, his love for the Argos.
For the Dreyfuss brothers, the Grey Cup is a chance to reconnect.
Gilbert moved to Calgary 34 years ago, while Sébastien stayed in Montreal.
They’ve been meeting during Grey Cup week for 18 years in a row (minus the COVID year when the season was cancelled).
If the Alouettes win, it would be Sébastien’s second big win of the month: He was recently re-elected as a city councillor for the Town of Mount Royal, a suburb on the island of Montreal.
Sébastien loves the vibe of Grey Cup week.
“It’s meeting people from throughout Canada. We’ve had so much hospitality. Some friends that we met ten years ago at the last great Cup here in Winnipeg are picking us up today and we’re having dinner together. It’s just awesome,” he said.
“The whole game is unifying. We hope it’s unifying for Canada,” his brother added.
The Roughriders will try to win the team’s first championship since 2013.
The Als are trying to win their second championship in three years and ninth in franchise history.
Montrealer Marc Nadeau is expecting an exciting game.
“It’s going to be a very, very tight game and hopefully our quarterback, (Davis) Alexander does well, we might win it.”
The Nadeau family spent part of Saturday checking out the fan zone set up at the University of Winnipeg campus.
Sixteen-year-old Ève Nadeau is even more confident than her dad that the Als are going to come out on top.
“Like, hello! They’re going to win, I’m sure because we’re like troopers,” said the teenager and budding flag football player.
Landon Gosling and his girlfriend Sierra Avery-Durant drove to Winnipeg from Plattsburgh, N.Y.
That’s a 27-hour trek.
Gosling has had season’s tickets for the Alouettes for the past three seasons. He likes the NFL too, but says the Canadian version is special.
“I’ve always liked it. One of the things that I always found interesting about it was the different size fields, different end zones, the Rouge point, the waggle,” he explained.
This is his third Grey Cup. It will be Avery-Durant’s first.
She started cheering for the Alouettes because of Gosling.
“I love going to watch games with him because he gets so excited about it and I just love that,” she said.
Cindy Lee Lowry and her husband Andrew Lowry flew in from Yellowknife.
Andrew moved out of Montreal more than thirty years ago but he was proudly sporting an Anthony Calvillo jersey. He also had an Alouettes hat and even some team underwear (which we decided he didn’t have to show).
This year’s Grey Cup is a homecoming for his wife, who is from Winnipeg, the team Montreal knocked out of the playoffs two weeks ago.
So with the Bombers out of the way, who does she think Bombers’ fans will be cheering for?
The wounds from the loss to the Als are still fresh.
But she can’t bring herself to root for the Riders.
“It’s an interesting predicament. You don’t usually vote for the team that took you out of the Grey Cup but when you have the Riders, on the other hand, you gotta go for the Alouettes,” she laughed.
