Rewatching the 107th Grey Cup still an emotional rollercoaster for fans

It’s five months after the fact and the sight of Justin Medlock nailing a late field goal to give the Winnipeg Blue Bombers a 33-12 lead in the Grey Cup still brings the same emotional reaction from superfan Tony Carvalho

“I just get teary-eyed thinking about it,” Carvalho began. “As soon as Medlock hit that last field goal you knew it was in the bag and it was a nice feeling. It’s the same thing every time. You sit there, you bite your nails and then it’s all good.”

You might remember Carvalho. He’s the guy that gave Willie Jefferson the enormous gold wrestling-style Bombers belt featuring the old lightning bolt logo. Once Jefferson got his hands on the belt, he wore it everywhere he went, including at the championship parade. Carvalho was in Calgary to see the Grey Cup in person last November and has re-watched the game at least once a month, the latest coming over Easter weekend.

His Bombers belt now sits on top of his white brick fireplace to the side of his TV and in the middle of the rest of his Bombers merch — all part of his Blue and Gold shrine.

“The first time I re-watched it I bawled my eyes out again, just like I was there,” Carvalho said. “Every other time there’s a tear here and there.”

Carvalho is hardly alone in his emotional reaction to the 2019 Grey Cup and his desire to watch it over and over again. A 28-year championship drought will do that to a fan base, and a band of Bombers fans follow the same routine. That’s why, like Carvalho, Cameron HayGlass jumps at every opportunity to re-watch the game. He’s seen the highlights hundreds of times and sprawled out on the couch to take in the full game for the second time over Easter weekend.

“It was the first time I watched it all the way through and saw the post-game interviews,” said HayGlass. “Just watching how everyone was talking, like the (Chris) Streveler interview and the (Andrew) Harris interviews. You could just tell how much it clearly meant to all of them.

“In a way it [the emotions] actually almost came back more intense from watching the interviews because I’d never seen that before.”

HayGlass, 35, is part of the generation of Bombers fans that missed out on the three Grey Cup championships between 1984-90. He watched the game at McMahon Stadium and as the clock ticked down to end the draught, he found himself in a trance-like state. A friend captured his reaction on camera and asked him why he wasn’t smiling.

“He was like, ‘shouldn’t you be happier?’” said HayGlass, “I was waiting for that win like I was waiting for nothing else in sports, and it was almost overwhelming. It felt real, but also surreal at the same time.

“It was incredible, but I still don’t know how to put it in words, even I guess almost six months later.”

Cade Arason has the game saved to his PVR — he’s also watched it many times since taking in the game live in Calgary. Arason remembers the energy and conversations with Bomber fans during the 2019 Grey Cup and post-game celebrations.

“Every time I see it, every time I think about it, it takes me back to that feeling,” said Arason. “When I wear my Grey Cup Champions shirt, when I read the championship book by Ed Tait, when I drink from my Grey Cup champions coffee mug or drive by the stadium it never gets old.

“It is like a song that brings back great memories when you hear it. When you see that game, you feel the emotions again, you can’t help but smile.”