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The Blue Bombers\u2019 most hated rival touched down for Grey Cup week on Monday, along with the Montreal Alouettes, who knocked the Bombers from the CFL playoffs.<\/p>\n
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For Winnipeg fans looking for someone to pull for in the 112th Grey Cup, it\u2019s like choosing between the last two ugly shirts in the closet.<\/p>\n
\u201cI would expect that we\u2019re still the hated rival,\u201d Riders head coach Corey Mace said. \u201cBut \u2026 I\u2019ve got a sneaking suspicion there will be some green in the crowd, too.\u201d<\/p>\n
No doubt eastbound traffic on the TransCanada between Regina and Winnipeg will pick up as the week goes on, the humming of tires matched only by the exchange of cash as game tickets change hands.<\/p>\n
Bomber fans shouldn\u2019t need much persuading to unload theirs.<\/p>\n
Saskatchewan quarterback Trevor Harris knows persuading them to pull for his team is a much more difficult ask.<\/p>\n
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He did come up with one suggestion, though.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know that they\u2019d buy anything that I\u2019d sell them. They don\u2019t like the Green,\u201d Harris began. \u201cBut shoot, keep it in the West, right?\u201d<\/p>\n
Anywhere else in the West, maybe. But Regina?<\/p>\n
\u201cIt makes the event even more special,\u201d Riders receiver Samuel Emilus said of playing for all the marbles in a place where fans want to throw them at you. \u201cObviously they don\u2019t like us, we don\u2019t like them. We have a chance to finish the job on their home turf, and that\u2019s what we want to do.\u201d<\/p>\n
The only thing better for Emilus would be if the Bombers had reached the Grey Cup through the East, giving his team a chance to break their hearts at home.<\/p>\n
The only thing worse for the Bombers this week would have been the Riders moving into their locker-room.<\/p>\n
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Turns out it\u2019s the Alouettes getting the home team\u2019s room this year.<\/p>\n
Truth be told, Winnipeg players hated the thought, no matter who it was going to be.<\/p>\n
\u201cI get that,\u201d Montreal quarterback Davis Alexander said. \u201cI wouldn\u2019t like other people in our locker-room as well. I\u2019m just excited to be in Winnipeg, excited to play in front of this passionate fan base, some of the most passionate fans across all the sports, not just the CFL.\u201d<\/p>\n
Alexander welcomes that passion aboard for next Sunday\u2019s tilt.<\/p>\n
\u201cObviously I\u2019d love to have them on the Alouettes ship,\u201d he said. \u201cBut that\u2019s up to them. It\u2019s our job to go out there and play entertaining football and put on a show for these guys.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Als are trying to win their second Grey Cup in three years, while the Riders haven\u2019t even played in the game since 2013, when they beat Hamilton.<\/p>\n
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\u201cI think they should pull for us,\u201d Montreal linebacker Geoffrey Cantin-Arku said. \u201cThey\u2019ve been beefing with Saskatchewan for a very long time.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Als were plenty familiar with the Winnipeg airport, where they conducted Monday\u2019s interviews. Seems almost every time they travelled to play a team in the CFL West, they stopped in at the \u2018Peg.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd we said our ninth trip to Winnipeg would be here,\u201d head coach Jason Maas said. \u201cAnd I\u2019m happy that we\u2019re all here.\u201d<\/p>\n
Maas had one last sales job for local fans torn about which team to root for.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe care about each other,\u201d Maas said, reading from Bomber coach Mike O\u2019Shea\u2019s play book. \u201cWe have a great culture, a great locker-room. Our guys love football. We have a great appreciation for our fan base in Quebec, but we\u2019ve always said we love playing in big stadiums against great opponents. And when you come to Winnipeg you know you\u2019re going to face a great team but also a great atmosphere that they create.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf they\u2019re looking to root for anybody, I hope they root for us \u2026 because of the way we play. I hope they respect that.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Riders could probably say the same thing.<\/p>\n
Not that Bomber fans would listen.<\/p>\n
Enjoy Grey Cup week, anyway.<\/p>\n
paul.friesen@kleinmedia.ca<\/p>\n
X: @friesensunmedia<\/p>\n
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Saskatchewan Roughriders head coach Corey Mace (left) and offensive lineman Logan Ferland carry a team flag as they arrive in Winnipeg on Nov. 10, 2025. Photo by Thomas Skrlj \/CFLArticle content<\/p>\n