UGLY INCIDENT TARNISHES BANJO BOWL
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| Photo courtesy CBC.ca |
WINNIPEG – A young boy who went to his first CFL game in Winnipeg was harassed by other fans for wearing green and even had beer poured over his head.
The Bombers beat the Saskatchewan Roughriders 17-10 in Saturday’s Banjo Bowl.
Janell-Marie Emond and her nine-year-old son, Taylor, were given tickets to the game, the first time seeing a professional football match.
Emond says people were swearing at her son because he was wearing a green sweater over his Bomber T-shirt, saying he was a Rider fan and he should go back to where he came from.
Taylor says being at the game was fun at the beginning, but not later on, especially being yelled at and having beer poured on his head.
On Monday the team dropped off a gift basket for Taylor and has invited the family to another game.
“We consistently strive to provide all of our great fans the best game day experience possible, and incidents like these are extremely disappointing, and do not represent the majority of our fan base,” the team said in a statement.
Emond said she’s disappointed that fans chose target her son.
“You want to make fun of adults, you want to poke fun because of a rivalry, that’s fine, but when you’re bugging kids, I have a huge issue,” she said.
(CTV Winnipeg)
very Winnipeg-ish!
I disagree with the first poster. Not "very Winnipeg-ish" just some bullies who were drinking. That kind of behavior is unacceptable no matter where it happens. Wonder if any Rider fans ever disgraced our City with moronic behavior?
No pass on this one….VERY WINNIPEGISH!!
Whatever – have you seen Rider fans at Mosaic when a kid wears another jersey?
That's about par for that cesspool
I personally call on all stupid Winnipeg Blue Bomber fans individually so I can kick their ass one on one guaranteed. I'll drive to Winnipeg and wait outside their main entrance to Investors Field or wherever convienient next game. It will be a very long day, but I'll get the job done no problem then come back home to Saskatchewan and get the combining done for the 2016 year.
Klause Von Duke – KVD
Who does that? That is awful. Kudos to the Bombers organization for trying to make a bad experience good!!
Oh Come On . This garbage happens everywhere but some people have to broadcast it just to be heard . What about all the beer etc. that gets thrown at the visiting teams at Mosaic in Regina. Get over it .
It may not represent the majority of the fan base but it's somewhere at the 51% – 49%…..true bush leaguers… Hassling a little boy really. Actions speak louder than words and there you see what they're really about. Barely out of the stone age in Winnipeg!
Every stadium will have its own small number of idiots, usually inebriated.
I have been to 2 banjo bowls and have yet to have a problem. I talked to lots of bomber fans and sure they raz you a bit, you just some thicker skin but lots thanked us for coming. They said they were treated very fairly at our house on Labour day and should be the same at every stadium. For the people sitting around when this happened and never did anything you deserve to get your ass kicked. If anything like that happened I would be jumping over seats to get at you and turn your face inside out.… Read more »
No offense Rider fans, but people in glass houses can't throw stones. It wasn't too long ago we were the laughing stock of the league when we started hurling beer at the BC Lions bench and nearly had a game called off.
Reading this is not surprising we attended the first Banjo Bowl and had a terrible experience people throwing full boxes of KD at us kids yelling profanities and Winnipeg fans urinating on the bus we came up on. Very Winnipegish
If I ever see a Rider fan at Taylor Field treat a kid who is cheering for another team in that way, they are getting a dirty knuckle sandwich. That kind of behaviour is completely unacceptable no matter who you are and which team you're cheering for. The vast majority of Rider fans (and Bomber fans) are great people, it's just the deuche bags who make everyone look bad. I'm a huge Rider fan and have plenty of friends who are Bomber fans. We give each other a hard time and do lots of trash talking but that's as far… Read more »
There's more to this story… The CBC reported that it was actually some Rider fans who stepped up and helped this poor woman and her son get away from these morons. No matter which jersey you wear, there needs to be a standard of behavior whether you are at your home park or visiting another. Clearly security weren't doing their job, but there is no reason why anyone should be acting this way in the first place. If these clowns had any morals, they'd come forward, apologize and foot the bill for this kid to attend the game this weekend.
It happens everywhere. Drunk Rider fans attempted to punch my brother in law in Calgary (who is a Stampeders fan)in front of my 13 year old nephew.
We were at the game, surrounded by Bomber fans. Lots of good-natured razzing but also a lot of great conversations about the game and the CFL in general (it is alarming what people think of the new CFL flag football league). Don't label all the fans based on a few bad apples. Remember we didn't all dump manure on someone's driveway.
I highly recommend taking in a banjo bowl. It is a great place to watch a football game. Second loudest I've been to 😉
Can happen in any stadium including Regina. Unpovoked and a child though seems a bit much, was there any other witnesses to this?
The sad thing is, you go to the media with this story and you're guaranteed a package of gifts from the team.
It's believable to a point. But it does make a 'sensational story' now doesn't it?
A Winnipeg kid who loves the Riders…actually that's more common than not. Inexcusable behaviour from adults towards a child…The kid doesn't want to go back to another game and who could blame him or his family after this…Perhaps the Riders should do something for this kid who took what no kid should have to just to be a Rider fan, and he deserves something special….this incident is an embarrassment to the the League, fans, and team…All I can say to the pukes who want to make this about other teams or the Riders, you only make this issue even uglier… Read more »
When name calling and labeling are your marketing technique and you add uncontrollable booze sales to the mix, what did they think is going to happen. People can't be trusted to manage themselves in these situations. $200 in tickets and goodies are easy to spend to keep the $100,000 in booze sales.
TSN continues to pile on by every freaking play continuing to use the title of the game and referring to what is was and why it was called as such.
Name one other sporting event that is advertised using slander for the other teams fans?