Anxious to see ’Peg’s new digs
Places, like people, age differently. Some grow old gracefully, belying the passing of the years, like, say, Cary Grant. Or George Clooney.
The Montreal Forum, for instance, maintained its aura, its sense of wonder, right up until the bittersweet end. Slapping on a fresh coat of red, white and blue paint inside its hallowed interior always seemed to be enough to make the sparkle feel new, somehow fresh, again, almost as if the Rocket was still steaming across the blueline, eyes aglow. Fenway in Boston’s like that. Wrigley, too. Lambeau Field.
Others places aren’t quite so fortunate. They don’t age so well, even with costly refurbishment, upgrades. They tend to fall into a Keith Richards-like ruin.
“Man,” admonishes quarterback Kevin Glenn, dancing nimbly out of pressure, “you are trying to get me in trouble, aren’t you? You’re trying to get all those Winnipeg fans mad at me for dissing their old stadium.
“So I think I’m gonna keep that to myself. They really LOVED that stadium. And, you know, in a way I did, too.
“I will say I’m really ex- cited to see this new one, though. Everybody’s raving about it. To have played in Winnipeg for a few years, at CanadInns, and now to see them get this upgrade, is fantastic. It gives the CFL more splash, When fans down south, or even fans here, watch, they’re gonna see this new, state-of-theart facility.
“I’m gonna be like a tourist, in a way, I guess. Sight-seeing. But only for a minute.”
“We all know this is a business trip. We can’t get caught up in all the lights and whistles and bells, but we’ll check it out, for sure.”
Thursday marks the Calgary Stampeders first visit to the $200 million Investors Group Field on the University of Manitoba grounds, with the Blue Bombers’ move over from the 60-year-old CanadInns Stadium finally realized. They’ve seen the images on TV. And now they get a first-hand, up-close peek at what all the fuss is about. The cantilevered roofs, similar to those at Wembley Stadium in London. The undulation of those roofs to hold in and maximize noise. The cover for 80 per cent of the seats. Those eye-popping goalpost-high HDTV video screens mounted above each end zone.
All the glimmer and the shimmer.
“Hey, I have some awfully fond memories of the old place,” reminisces Stamps’ offensive co-ordinator Dave Dickenson. “I won two Grey Cups in there. The hold (on Mark McLoughlin’s dramatic game-winning field goal in ’98) and as a starter in 2006. It was quirky, yeah. But it had a lot of character, as many of the old places do.
“This new one, though, is supposed to be amazing. My brother” — Bombers’ special-team co-ordinator Craig Dickenson — “has told me so many good things about it. Great sightlines. Great scoreboard. I think 40,000 seats is just about perfect for a CFL venue, and it’s around there isn’t it (33,422)? It’s all about the experience for the fans, and I’m sure they’re thrilled. It’s progress, right? You can’t stand still.”
Offensive line coach Mike Gibson spent two tours of duty on the Bombers staff and admits to a certain sense of nostalgia.
“To be honest with you, wherever we play, we play. We could go out on Portage Avenue and I’d be excited because it’s a chance to play football. But the new stadium is very pretty from the outside, looking at it on film and I’m sure the people there really appreciate having it, it’s something to be proud of.
“I’ll always have fond memories of the old place because that was my first time in the CFL. It was a place I felt comfortable, I was familiar with. I’m sure they felt it was time for a new stadium but from a personal standpoint, looking back on it, I’ll always remember Winnipeg Stadium for what it was, the old stadium.
“Back in 2005, I think, Jim Daley had to rush back here (to Calgary) for an emergency, so I did the media conference under the stadium after practice, and I still remember being in that dark, dimly-lit place. The media seemed to think it was home for them, but I’m sure they appreciate their new surroundings.”
During his one season in blue and gold, Calgary defensive co-ordinator Rick Campbell remembers rain seeping through the ceilings in some of the meeting rooms, the melting snow in the spring leaking through to soak the carpet in his office. “This has been a long time coming for the people in that town. I think we’re all going to be excited to see it for the first time. New visitors dressing room, I’ve heard the atmosphere is great. Good for them. They really are great fans.
“The cool thing about the old stadium is that had been around forever, for the employees, the fans, everyone. It was a part of Winnipeg. And that’s what I liked about Winnipeg, the people are so proud to be from there.”
And now, they have a shiny new facility to show off, the envy of all. But bigger, more functional, better, does come at a certain, non- negotiable, price. As Rick Campbell noted, for six decades CanadInns/Winnipeg Stadium was as much a part of the fabric of that city as a Salisbury House nip, the Golden Boy atop the legislative buildings or mosquitoes the size of the winged monkeys in the Wizard of Oz.
“Those old stadiums, like Winnipeg’s, they’re historical,” says Kevin Glenn. “A lot went on in that place over the years. A lot of games, a lot of Hall of Famers played there, Grey Cups ... Milt Stegall broke his record in that stadium. It was a big part of so many people’s lives.
“Joe Louis with the Red Wings is kinda like that for hockey, I guess. The Pontiac Silverdome is one of those places for me. Special. To this day, when I go in there, I remember back to a Monday Night Football game my father took me to when I was young. I can still go in, point up in the stands and say ‘I was sitting right there.’
“You can replace the stadium; you can’t replace the memories. But, y’know, all old stadiums were new stadiums once. What you have to do, I guess, is just get busy and start building a lot of new memories.”