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![\"JOHN](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/4507413_web1_260809_bombers_27.JPG\")
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JOHN WOODS \/ FREE PRESS FILES<\/p>\n
Winnipeg Blue Bombers head coach Mike O\u2019Shea is not in favour of booing an American college marching band that will perform during Friday\u2019s halftime show on Canadian Armed Forces Appreciation Night.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut I don\u2019t think politics enter into this entertainment realm when you\u2019re dealing with university kids that are coming up here to put on a show.\u201d<\/p>\n
There has been discussion about booing the visitors from North Dakota or simply ignoring them altogether during their halftime performance.<\/p>\n
O\u2019Shea isn\u2019t in favour of either approach.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ll tell you what I think. I think like the 2021 West Final, we should be out of our seats, singing along, cheering and rocking the stadium. I mean, these are young men and women that are longing to be a part of something and entertain a crowd and they get a thrill out of entertaining and being a part of a team \u2014 and they are part of a team,\u201d said O\u2019Shea.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd some of them might not even be old enough to vote. But I know as a parent, I understand how tough society can be on young men and women these days and I think we should damn well support them. They\u2019re kids, they\u2019re here to entertain us, and I think we should get out of our seats and if we know the song, we should all sing along with them.\u201d<\/p>\n
Bombers halfback Evan Holm hails from Edina, Minn., and played university football at North Dakota.<\/p>\n
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\u201cI\u2019ve lived in Minnesota, North Dakota and Winnipeg now. To me, it\u2019s all the same. It\u2019s pretty similar topography and stuff, too, so it\u2019s all the same. I don\u2019t know, we\u2019re all human. (There\u2019s) not that much of a difference as we\u2019d like to think,\u201d said Holm.<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t Ruth Bonneville \/ FREE PRESS FILES<\/p>\n Winnipeg Blue Bombers defensive back Evan Holm, who has lived in Minnesota, North Dakota and Winnipeg, says there isn\u2019t much difference between the people.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re getting entertainment, and they\u2019re trying to do a good job, so why would you boo them? That\u2019s my thought.\u201d<\/p>\n Holm said political tension between Canada and the U.S. doesn\u2019t come up much in the locker room.<\/p>\n \u201cI guess being an American, a lot of Canadians seem to be more in tune with our politics than their own it seems like,\u201d he said. \u201cWe\u2019re right below you, so it has some weight to it. But I never understood as much as people who get super into politics (unless) obviously when it starts affecting you.\u201d<\/p>\n winnipegfreepress.com\/taylorallen<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t Taylor Allen Taylor Allen is a sports reporter for the Winnipeg Free Press. Taylor was the Vince Leah intern in the Free Press newsroom twice while earning his joint communications degree\/diploma at the University of Winnipeg and Red River College Polytechnic. He signed on full-time in 2019 and mainly covers the Blue Bombers, curling, and basketball. Read more about Taylor<\/a>.<\/p>\n Every piece of reporting Taylor produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print \u2014 part of the Free Press\u2018s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press\u2019s history and mandate<\/a>, and learn how our newsroom operates<\/a>.<\/p>\n
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