Veteran Winnipeg sportscaster Joe Pascucci, inducted into the media wing of the Canadian Football Hall of Fame last fall, writes weekly on the Bombers past and present.
Preseason games are a must for football coaching staffs as an effective way to evaluate both rookie and veteran players.
But from the perspective of fans and the media, they are often mostly forgettable, and tossed to the curb once the regular season begins.
I started reporting on the Blue and Gold for CKND in 1982, back when Canadian Football League teams played four preseason games. We’d dare not call them exhibition games then, unless we wanted to draw the ire of then-general manager Paul Robson.
But by the mid-1980s, fans were becoming increasingly bored of the preseason with thousands staying home until the real games that counted in the standings were played. That was partly why in 1986, the number of regular season games was increased to 18 from 16, while the preseason was cut in half to two.
Not all preseason games, however, are soon forgotten and there are a few I do recall:
It was back in 1993 when the CFL first ventured into an American expansion, with the Bombers the lone dissenting vote against the addition of a team from Sacramento, California. Even though the franchise said no to expansion south, General Manager and Head Coach Cal Murphy successfully lobbied to have the Gold Miners play their first CFL game, albeit exhibition, in Winnipeg. The hype leading up to this north-south confrontation was off the charts, but just over 23,000 fans ‑ well short of a sellout – witnessed CFL history.
The one moment I do remember came after a pass attempt, as Bomber quarterback Matt Dunigan ripped the helmet off the head of Sacramento linebacker Randy Thornton and then proceeded to hurl it some 20 to 30 yards downfield. Dunigan was ejected and the Gold Miners went on to win 21-15.
I also remember a game from six years earlier, in 1988. The CFL was in a financial mess at the time, after Carling O’Keefe Breweries didn’t renew their multi-million-dollar television sponsorship deal. As a result, teams were asking players to accept sizeable salary cuts. Most did, while some retired and others like running back Willard Reaves and wide receiver Jeff Boyd just outright refused.
But both Boyd and Reaves were dressed for the Bombers’ home exhibition game that year against Toronto. Reaves never played a down in the game while Boyd may have gone in for only one or two plays and both were visibly frustrated as they watched from the sidelines.
Still at odds with Murphy and refusing to take pay cuts, two of the best threats in the offensive attack and future members of the Bombers Hall of Fame were released outright days after. Reaves headed to the NFL and the Miami Dolphins and later the Washington Redskins while Boyd signed with the Argonauts.
The Bombers have played in some memorable Grey Cups over the years, including the infamous ‘Mud Bowl’ in 1950, to the “Fog Bowl” in 1962 and the “Wind Bowl” three years later in 1965. But how many remember the “Flood Bowl” of ’84?
It was June 21st, the last preseason game for the Bombers and B.C. Lions, and what a splash they made.
A heavy rain and lightning storm of biblical proportions would bring a halt to the game midway through the first quarter for an hour and 12 minutes. The east side stands became a raging river as water rushed down the steps onto the field, flooding the B.C. sidelines. And when play resumed under bright sunshine, most of the nearly 25,000 in attendance were soaked and both teams were now sharing the west sidelines. The grass field at Winnipeg Stadium was saturated with numerous and unavoidable small ponds.
Boyd would make the biggest splash of the game and it didn’t come catching a touchdown or even pulling in a pass, but while falling face-first into a pool of water while diving for a Tom Clements’ pass. They would finish the game without anyone needing the assistance of a lifeguard, but Lions’ head coach Don Matthews did admit to some concerns afterward.
“What we were concerned about,” said Matthews after the game, “is that the lights were out and we were going to be standing ankle deep in water and if somebody short-circuited something, we would have all been like fried rats.”
Matthews had a point. Maybe I was wrong about exhibition games. It seems some can be electrifying.
