Every Winnipeg Blue Bombers season ticket holder has a story to tell, each unique in their own way.
And you can surely count Trevor Kriss – a loyal subscriber dating back to 1982 – among them.
But we can pretty much guarantee none of those tales begin the way his does: with a chance meeting in an office hallway with a guy who had just purchased a piano at The Bay…
“So,” begins Kriss, the subject of this week’s bluebombers.com fan profile, “it turns out the piano came with two Bomber season tickets. This guy said he didn’t go to games, so I bought them off him and have been going ever since. That was 1982 and rain or shine every year since then, we’ve been there.
“It was just one of those fluky moments when you come across somebody in the hallway and something happens that becomes big in your life.”
Trevor Kriss
A product of East Kildonan who now works with Wawanesa Insurance as a Release Coordinator – he always wears his No. 50 to work on game day – Kriss dates his allegiance back to the Mack Herron and Don Jonas era in the early 1970s, and still has their player cards to show for it. When he turned 16 and got his driver’s licence, Kriss and his friends used to head to the stadium on game night and then try to get into the building with cheaper tickets after the game had started.
That allegiance grew even further when he got his season tickets and then, as his crew of friends grew to 11, they all settled in with those rabid diehards who used to call Section S home at the old Winnipeg/CanadInns Stadium.
“That was the student section back then. I stayed in Section S and the joke was that I was the oldest student in that place,” said Kriss with a laugh. “Until that stadium closed down I went there religiously with all our friends. It was the best. It was different back in those days. People would bring in chicken and ribs and burgers and potato salads. We’d have mini picnics in the stands.
“The talent on the field was great then but even in the years it hasn’t been, the games have also been about socializing.”
That’s what Kriss cherishes most about his association with the football club. Yes, there have been some spectacular moments at the two stadiums, but it’s the fan experience around him that stays with him more than last-second touchdowns, crushing defeats or blowout wins.
Things like…
“Remember the ‘Gotch Men’? The guys who wore the long underwear to all the games? We all used to take our peanuts and throw our peanuts at them. After that it was marshmallows. I used to take my kids and that was their highlight. ‘When can we throw the marshmallows? When can we throw the marshmallows?’
“The shenanigans in that section… there was the ‘Ride the pony/eat the corn guy’. There was the Hulk Hogan guy ripping his shirt all the time. It was a lot of fun with a lot of characters.”
Trevor Kriss
Kriss’ kids have grown now – his daughter Kaitlyn is 23, son Kevin is 20 – but the family tradition at Bomber games continues. At one time his gang would begin warming up for games at their home in Southdale, but now they set up shop for tailgating among the diehards at Q Lot at the University of Manitoba, their Bomber flag religiously flying high above.
It turns out his affection for the atmosphere in Section S has been passed down, too.
“This year my son got three of his buddies to join and they’re now season ticket holders,” explained Kriss. “I’ve got a picture of me and my daughter holding up the snake in Section S when it first started. But here’s a story: at the last home game (vs. Calgary on July 21) my son was shown on TSN holding up the beer snake. All these people I grew up with who had moved away took a shot of that image and sent it to me with messages… ‘Like father, like son.’ It’s another generation with the beer snake.”
Kriss was there in 2007 when the Bombers, minus Kevin Glenn, fell in the Grey Cup to the Sasktchewan Roughriders. He worked the phones that week to get on the Bombers fan charter and, after the loss, was on the flight home with some members of the team.
“I tell ya, if somebody ever says they are a bunch of overpaid athletes who don’t care they should have been on that plane because there were grown men with tears in their eyes after that loss,” said Kriss. “It was devastating.”
Finally, a quick story that speaks of the man’s loyalty…
Kriss was one of the thousands who rode out the lightning storm on Wednesday and was treated to a spectacular effort by the home side in a 37-11 victory. That Kriss & Co. first stayed through the storm and then right to the final seconds should surprise no one who knows the man.
Fan commandment No. 1 for him, after all, is very clear:
“It’s one of the big things with me: I have never ever left my seat until the clock said zero,” said Kriss. “It doesn’t matter what the score is, we’re staying.
“That comes from my days in Section S. Whenever somebody got up to leave early everyone would stand up and jingle their keys while chanting ‘Beat the traffic… beat the traffic…’ I’ll never try to beat the traffic. We always say going to Bomber games is like having 10 pre-paid nights out. And it’s too much fun to leave early.”
