Bud Grant Statue Unveiled in Winnipeg
Bud Grant Statue Unveiled in Winnipeg
The Blue Bombers organization unveiled a Bud Grant statue at Investors Group Field on Thursday. Bud himself was scheduled to attend the event so I made a point of being there and I, along with some others, was lucky enough to get his autograph.
Bud's speech was terrific as he rattled off the names of so many of the players, stars and reserves, that contributed to the success of the teams he coached and played with in his 14 years here. One accidental omission in his speech was the great Leo Lewis whom he has stated was the greatest player he ever coached, north or south of the border. He also made a couple of humorous hunting references. He still has a great passion for that sport at the age of 87. He walks with a stoop but he's still sharp as a tack! It was a great event and I'm glad I was there.
Here's the Winnipeg Free Press and Winnipeg Sun coverage of the event:
http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/sports ... 12872.html
http://www.winnipegsun.com/2014/10/23/l ... ue-bombers
Bud's speech was terrific as he rattled off the names of so many of the players, stars and reserves, that contributed to the success of the teams he coached and played with in his 14 years here. One accidental omission in his speech was the great Leo Lewis whom he has stated was the greatest player he ever coached, north or south of the border. He also made a couple of humorous hunting references. He still has a great passion for that sport at the age of 87. He walks with a stoop but he's still sharp as a tack! It was a great event and I'm glad I was there.
Here's the Winnipeg Free Press and Winnipeg Sun coverage of the event:
http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/sports ... 12872.html
http://www.winnipegsun.com/2014/10/23/l ... ue-bombers
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Re: Bud Grant Statue Unveiled in Winnipeg
Good to see he's still healthy enough to make the trip, and sharp enough to recall the many memorable events of his career.
Re: Bud Grant Statue Unveiled in Winnipeg
Very cool, John.
In a way it makes up for the current Bombers season.
In a way it makes up for the current Bombers season.
Re: Bud Grant Statue Unveiled in Winnipeg
Bud's still pretty solid. This summer, he had his final garage sale. He's had several of them and he was hauling out new boxes from deep into his house each day for this year's sale. Still hunts and fishes, from what I understand.BD Sullivan wrote:Good to see he's still healthy enough to make the trip, and sharp enough to recall the many memorable events of his career.
"Now, I want pizza."
- Ken Crippen
- Ken Crippen
Re: Bud Grant Statue Unveiled in Winnipeg
Yeah, things have been all downhill after a promising 5-1 smoke and mirrors start.Reaser wrote:Very cool, John.
In a way it makes up for the current Bombers season.
It sure was cool to be standing next to THE man. I'm sure my dad, who passed away a couple of weeks after the 1980 division winning Hail Mary from Tommy Kramer to Ahmad Rashad against Cleveland, was looking down and smiling.
Re: Bud Grant Statue Unveiled in Winnipeg
The Bombers can't keep Drew Willy upright. What did they allow last night? 10 sacks?
Re: Bud Grant Statue Unveiled in Winnipeg
It's not all on the O-line. Willy has lost his early season confidence. He's holding on to the ball waaay too long. He reminded me of Rob Johnson last night.
Re: Bud Grant Statue Unveiled in Winnipeg
So I take it that Willypeg is no longer a 'thing' locally ... ?JohnH19 wrote:It's not all on the O-line. Willy has lost his early season confidence. He's holding on to the ball waaay too long. He reminded me of Rob Johnson last night.
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Re: Bud Grant Statue Unveiled in Winnipeg
When you see the teams that Grant coached north of the border, they had many NFL quality players like QB Ken Ploen, RB Leo Lewis, T Frank Rigney, DE Herb Gray and DT Buddy Tinsley. All of them are inducted into the Canadian Football Hall of Fame and at one time were drafted by NFL clubs.