ROBSERVATIONS: Hello again, Winnipeg … 45th-anniversary reflections … flying on Sept. 11

WINNIPEG — Welcome to Winnipeg: Home of the Jets (uncrowned Stanley Cup champions).

When the Saskatchewan Roughriders last visited the Manitoba capital, they carried the Grey Cup out of Princess Auto Stadium.

That was, if you can believe it, 300 days ago. It only seems like yesterday.

I can take you through Nov. 16, 2025 with precision that does not apply to, well, this past Tuesday, when I spent anywhere from 11 to 24 hours in the esteemed company of my entitled dog.

Today, we return to the site of the fifth Grey Cup victory in franchise history. Those championships have been won at four different venues — two of which no longer exist.

Vancouver’s Empire Stadium, where the Roughriders captured a CFL title in 1966, was torn down in 1993.

Toronto’s Rogers Centre was known as SkyDome when the Green and White won it all in 1989. The venue’s current label applied when Saskatchewan won its next Grey Cup, in 2007.

The old Mosaic Stadium site, where the Roughriders posted a home-field Grey Cup victory in 2013, is being redeveloped.

Princess Auto Stadium is about to be revisited. The Roughriders (8-4) and Blue Bombers (6-6) are poised to meet in the Labour Day Rematch (2 p.m., CTV, CKRM).

What will it be like to set foot on the premises once again? There is that curiosity.

Three-hundred days ago, in the giddy aftermath of a 25-17 Grey Cup victory over the Montreal Alouettes, I hugged Josh Donnelly. … chest-bumped Luc Mullinder … interviewed Logan Ferland, Tommy Stevens and Craig Reynolds … profusely thanked the latter individual … shared in the excitement with former Roughriders Board Chair Barry Clarke … watched Trevor Harris celebrate with his wife (Kalie), children (T.J., Trace, Tripp and Livian) and parents (Tom and Suzanne) … and tried not to faint.

I attended post-game media conferences featuring Harris (Grey Cup MVP), Corey Mace (victorious Head Coach) and Samuel Emilus (Most Valuable Canadian, Grey Cup #112) … somehow conducted interviews in the Roughriders’ dressing room without getting drenched by champagne … hurriedly wrote a game story … and made it to the third and final departing team bus with two minutes to spare.

Then came a winter that, despite the snow and cold and the decline of my beloved Jets, seemed to last about 13 minutes.

So here we are, back in Winnipeg, and I fully expect to take note of the landmarks once we arrive at the stadium.

More than 100 yards from the press box, there is The Spot where Marcus Sayles recovered an Alouettes fumble just inside the Roughriders’ end zone with 2:40 remaining in the fourth quarter.

I enjoyed a much better view of all three Saskatchewan touchdowns, which were scored at the other end of the stadium. The press box offers an unimpeded view of the north end zone.

From that vantage point, I can sit back and mark imaginary X’s on the field. This happened here, that happened there, et cetera.

Will the players and coaches allow time for sentiment?

“Maybe for some. Not for myself,” said Mace, who in November became a fourth-time Grey Cup champion.

“It’s a new season. Even thinking about some other places that I’ve been where you’ve won the big game, you don’t think about it. You’re just so dialled in on the task at hand.

“It’s the Banjo Bowl. If you’re not locked in 100 per cent on that, you’re going to be in rough shape.”

The fact remains, though, that Princess Auto Stadium was the site of something special. Is it possible to completely suspend sweet memories when visiting such a place?

“It’s a good question,” Harris responded. “Each time you go somewhere, it has its own setting.

“I didn’t think about the Banjo Bowl at the Grey Cup last year. I don’t think that I’ll think about the Grey Cup, really.

“The last time we were there was a great memory, with the green and white confetti coming down. It was an amazing time.

“At the same time, we’ve got to get to nine wins and we’ve got to beat Winnipeg. This is a tough team. They’re going to come out excited to play this game, but so are we, and it’s going to be a fun one.”

A “FUN ONE” FROM ’81

Unshakably committed to living in the past, the Roughriders’ resident Senior Journalist and Historian is delighted to bring you breaking news from exactly 45 years ago.

Leading up to a Sept. 12, 1981 game against the host Blue Bombers, the Roughriders — had not won in Winnipeg nearly six years.

Saskatchewan had been outscored 200-82 over the course of seven consecutive losses in the Manitoba capital.

It looked like the same old story when the Dieter Brock-led Blue Bombers assumed a 25-11 third-quarter lead. But then the Roughriders scored 21 unanswered points.

John Hufnagel’s 12-yard touchdown pass to a wide-open Joey Walters snapped a 25-25 tie at 10:08 of the fourth quarter. Paul Watson’s convert completed the scoring as the Roughriders won 32-25, thereby prevailing at Winnipeg Stadium (another venue that no longer exists) for the first time since Oct. 12, 1975.

Saskatchewan finished the 1981 game with an astonishing average of 23.5 yards per completion.

The tone was set when Joe Barnes hit Walters for a 72-yard TD on the first play from scrimmage.

Hufnagel later found Walters for 60 yards to facilitate a short touchdown run by Lester Brown.

A 74-yard pass from Hufnagel to Chris DeFrance was immediately followed by the game-winning payoff pitch to Walters.

Also of note: A six-yard fumble-return TD by John McCorquindale, who scooped up the football after it was dislodged from a Bombers punt returner by Greg Fieger and Gerry Hornett.

For more about that long-awaited Roughriders win, listen to This Day in Riders History — part of CKRM’s pre-game show.

25 YEARS AGO …

My wife dropped me off outside Mosaic Stadium on Friday, shortly after 11 a.m. I proceeded to one of the two buses that was to transport the Roughriders’ travelling party to Regina International Airport, from which the team would fly to Winnipeg.

“See you tomorrow,” I said to the sainted Chryssoula, who cooed: “I’ll buy a bully stick for the dog on the way home.”

Staring out the window on the bus, it hit me: On a drastically different Sept. 11 — precisely 25 years earlier — how many people had a comparable experience before everything turned upside down?

For more than 3,000 people, a “see you tomorrow” never came to be.

Twenty-five years ago at this moment, people were not airborne. All commercial flights were grounded in the devastating aftermath of 9/11.

Our TV was locked on CNN as it showed the smouldering World Trade Center site, or the damage to the Pentagon, or scenes from Shanksville, Pa.

It didn’t feel real then. Even now, there is a sense of disbelief.

Terrorists flew airplanes into buildings. People jumped to their deaths, more than 100 storeys above ground. In a matter of 102 minutes, the Twin Towers were attacked and gone.

Far-removed from Lower Manhattan, Washington or Shanksville, the impact was nonetheless direct.

Security was heightened at airports all over the world. Suddenly, extra steps were required when entering stadiums or arenas for football games. It wasn’t as simple as handing a ticket to someone and breezing through a gate.

Waking up on Sept. 10 and Sept. 11 were two entirely different experiences, back in 2001.

The Roughriders were supposed to play in Calgary on Sept. 14. With flights and sporting events on hold, the game was postponed until Sept. 17. Because of airline disruptions, the Roughriders travelled to and from Calgary by bus.

Again, a trivial matter, considering the scope of everything that transpired on — and as a consequence of — Sept. 11, 2001.

All those memories came flooding back as I occupied a window seat on a bus and, shortly thereafter, a WestJet aircraft destined for Winnipeg.

We left the runway on Friday at 12:25 p.m.

From the comfort of Seat 4F, the mind wandered.

My spot on the plane was a few seats away from where the terrorists were strategically located on four different planes. All the hijackers sat near the front.

How many other passengers looked out the window, never suspecting that a tragic turn was imminent?

How many of them presumed, reasonably enough, that their days would conclude in San Francisco or Los Angeles after an uneventful cross-continent flight?

Suddenly faced with the unimaginable, more than 30,000 feet above ground, ordinary passengers demonstrated remarkable bravery — confronting the terrorists and, in the case of one flight that did not reach the terrorists’ target and instead crashed in Pennsylvania, saving countless other lives?

And it all began much like my Friday, with an “I love you” and a “see you tomorrow.”

SHORT SNORTS

• Roughriders versus Blue Bombers is part of a rare CFL quadruple-header. This is the first four-games-in-one-day scenario since Aug. 26, 1995, when three of the victorious teams were based in the United States (Baltimore Stallions, San Antonio Texans, Shreveport Pirates). Two of the losing teams (Birmingham Barracudas, Memphis Mad Dogs) also emanated from the U.S. The day’s most productive receiver, however, was a Canadian. Dave Sapunjis caught 13 passes for 208 yards to help the Calgary Stampeders bounce Birmingham 37-14. The Barracudas’ GM, by the way, was Roy Shivers.

• Today’s all-Canadian quadruple-header is the CFL’s first since July 30, 1992. Included was the Roughriders’ 38-24 loss to the host Hamilton Tiger-Cats. Earl Winfield caught three TD passes for the Tiger-Cats. Kent Austin spotted Ray Elgaard and Don Narcisse for Saskatchewan’s aerial scores.

• Today is the 22^nd anniversary of the first Banjo Bowl. Winnipeg defeated Saskatchewan 27-24 on Sept. 12, 2004. The Bombers, however, missed the 2004 playoffs, whereas Saskatchewan advanced to the Western Final. So there.

• How to enjoy a bus ride from Mosaic Stadium to Regina International Airport: Sit near Tommy Stevens. What a tremendous human being.

• Winnipeg is a tough place to win. Just ask the 2025-26 Jets.

ROLL CREDITS …

• Nice people who deserve a plug: Chryssoula Filippakopoulos, Carol Gay Bell, Dan Farthing, Theran Farthing, Marcus Sayles, Cliff Walker, Dale Sabo, Melique Straker, Ben Walz, DaMarcus Fields, Robyn Jensen, Don Bahnuik, Tim Roth, Ed McQuarters, Josh Donnelly, Lisa Donnelly, Neil Donnelly, Tommy Stevens, Greg Fieger and Lester Brown.