Bob Irving
CFL.ca
Sporting events are sometimes staged under difficult or trying circumstances.
Those circumstances can be weather related; they can follow the firing of a coach or the trading of a popular player.
But rarely, if ever, has a Canadian Football League game been played against the same backdrop as Thursday’s contest between the Winnipeg Blue Bombers and B.C. Lions.
For most of the players, coaches, and fans at Canad-Inns stadium, it was uncharted territory. The sudden and tragic passing of Blue Bomber assistant head coach and defensive line coach Richard Harris on Tuesday had impacted the entire tight-knit Canadian Football League community.
And it also left a particular cloud of sadness and raw emotion over the Blue Bomber organization. During his 10-plus years in the CFL, four with the B.C. Lions, one in Ottawa and the last five-and-a-half in Winnipeg, Harris had left an indelible impression of kindness and compassion with all those he touched.
He had friends in the football community literally from coast-to-coast. In Winnipeg, which he and wife Tami had made their year round home; Harris was as well-known and well-liked as virtually any sports personality in the city.
When he collapsed and died of a massive heart attack while working in his office following Tuesday’s practice, it sent shock waves through the entire city.
Not only was he an excellent coach, but the 63-year old Harris was a mentor, a father figure, and a friend to every player in the Blue Bomber locker room.
He was admired and respected in a way that few coaches in professional sport can ever be. His passing created a massive void in the Bomber organization. And many of the players said they were dedicating the game against the Lions in his memory.
The scene just before the game was a bit surreal and very touching.
Players from both teams walked to centre field, watched and listened as a short video tribute to Harris was played on the jumbotron. They then observed a moment of silence in his memory.
And when the sell-out crowd of 29,500 delivered a long and loud standing ovation as they viewed the face of their fallen coach smiling at them from the big screen, it sent chills through your body.
It’s hard to say exactly what impact the grieving for Harris had on the Blue Bombers. The game had the normal ebb and flow of most CFL games this year.
The lead changed hands several times before Alex Brink came off the bench to replace injured Buck Pierce and lead the Bombers to the game winning touchdown.
But when the final seconds ticked off the clock, and the Bombers took a 25-20 victory to their dressing room, you could almost feel an entire organization exhale.
Players smiled and celebrated, but many were also in tears, as the raw emotions came pouring out.
In the dressing room afterward, Tami Harris was presented with the game ball as a tangible expression of the love and respect everyone within the Blue Bomber family felt for Richard Harris.
Many believe that when a person dies, his or her life should be “celebrated.”
For three hours on a warm, breezy Manitoba summer night, the Winnipeg Blue Bombers celebrated the life of Richard Harris the best way they know how and the way Harris would have wanted them to.
By playing their tails off and winning a football game.
