SPORTS FLASHBACK 1984: Bombers end 19-year wait for trip to 1984 Grey Cup
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The last time the Winnipeg Blue Bombers went to the Grey Cup, it was the year John Diefenbaker visited Steinbach to help Warner Jorgenson win his fifth election in Provencher. The last time the Bombers went to the Grey Cup it was the year Lorette’s Diane Landry was crowned Miss Canada.
It was also the year the Boston Bruins’ Ted Green was a special guest at the La Broquerie Sportsman’s Dinner, the year the Kinsmen Mets won the Hanover fastball championship, the year Sandy Koufax pitched for the Dodgers in the World Series against the Minnesota Twins, and the year Steinbach Collegiate’s Roger Loewen set three records at a provincial high school track meet.
The Winnipeg Blue Bombers ended their 19-year drought with a victory over the B.C. Lions for their first CFL Western Conference title since 1965.
The Bombers now face the Hamilton Tiger-Cats in the 72nd edition of the Grey Cup game in Edmonton.
It will be the first time Winnipeg has played in the national football classic since they were beaten 22-16 by the Tiger-Cats in 1965.
The Bombers ended their 19-year absence from the Grey Cup Sunday at BC Place by defeating the Lions 31-14 before a crowd just shy of 60,000.
The British Columbia football fans who were making all that noise a couple of weeks earlier, were suspiciously silent during the Western final.
It was no secret that Winnipeg quarterback Tom Clements was an excellent passer and that he had excellent receivers to throw to. What came as a shock for BC fans is that the rifle Clements has for an arm comes with a silencer. As soon as Winnipeg took an early lead, the “noise factor”, which had been the news all week leading up to the game, ceased to exist.
Bombers led 17-7 at the half on touchdown passes of six yards and 18 yards. Trevor Kennerd converted both and added a 31-yard field goal.
Clements connected on 17 of 24 passes before leaving the game with bruised ribs five minutes into the third quarter. Clements took a hard shot on the ribs as he delivered the ball to James Murphy for a touchdown to give the Bombers a comfortable 24-7 lead.
Kennerd finished off the second half scoring with a convert on Murphy’s major and field goals of 29 and 45 yards and added a single on a missed field goal attempt.
While the Bombers were manhandling the Lions in BC on Sunday, the underdog Tiger Cats edged the Toronto Argonauts 14-13 in overtime for the eastern title.
Hamilton kicker, Bernie Ruoff, was the outstanding offensive player in that game with 21 punts for 1,054 yards and field goals from 56 yards and 48 yards. He also had two punts for singles to account for all of Hamilton’s points in regulation time. Hamilton outscored Toronto 6-5 in two overtime periods.
In the nine times the Hamilton Tiger-Cats and the Winnipeg Blue Bombers have met in the Grey cup since 1935, the Bombers have enjoyed the edge with five wins to four for the Tiger-Cats. After Grey Cup Sunday, most fans feel it will be six out of 10 for the Bombers.