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Fans of football in Winnpeg are busily preparing for the Bomber's appearance at the Grey Cup this Sunday.
Neal Einarson's passion for football and the Winnipeg Blue Bombers started as a young child.
"It probably came from my grandfather," said Neal. "He was a big fan. He was watching games at the old Osborne Stadium and then he had tickets at Canad Inns Stadium for many years. And then I've had season tickets for about 23 years now. I've been following them since I was a little boy."
Even amidst the Bombers drought, Neal says the hope that they would one day return to the championship game helped keep him returning year after year.
"I was always hoping at some point we would be good and I wanted to, you know, I wanted to feel like I earned it, and I think I really did because we had a long stretch of some very lean years and it's all come to fruition now."
In 2019, the first year that the Bombers made it to the Grey Cup after a long drought, Neal did something special to honour his grandfather.
"Just before he passed away in 2002, I had told him that if the Bombers win the Grey Cup, I am going to give you a big hug," said Neal. "Unfortunately, he passed away shortly before that game, and then of course we never won again until 2019."
Neal attended that Grey Cup game in Calgary and an idea popped into his head of how he could give his grandfather that special hug.
"If I could get some of the rubber pellets from the field and some of the confetti, I could sprinkle them on his grave and put them in the little flower pots," Neal explained. " I think he would have really, really enjoyed that."
Thankfully, Neal lucked out and found a police officer on the field who was willing to grab him a handful of rubber pellets from the field.
"It was something that was very special to me and I was happy to share that moment with him."
The last thing I promised my Grandpa was that after the Bombers win the Grey Cup, that I would come give him a big hug.
— Wpg Nealy (@nealeinarson) December 1, 2019
I sprinkled some rubber pebbles I got from the field at McMahon in his vase so he could share in the victory too.
Miss you Grandpa. Go Bombers! pic.twitter.com/3ArGp4bHG1
Neal has been to every Grey Cup game that the Bombers have been in since 2019, and he is now preparing to head to his fifth in a row this Friday.
"It's almost unbelievable to think that with all those lean years that we had we could be playing so well, right at the top of the league for such a long period, with things like free agency and players moving around," Neal explained. "It's so unbelievably exciting for me. I can't even put it into words."
Neal's passion for the Bombers has also been passed onto his children, who will watch the game from home this weekend.
"My daughter is really getting excited. She's wearing her Bombers stuff to school every day this week, " said Neal. " I love that it's sort of translating a little bit to them as they're getting older."
Neal hopes to see the Bombers come out on the winning side but knows it could go either way. Whatever the outcome, Einarson says he has no intentions of ever giving up on his home team.
"Bombers for life!"
The Winnipeg Blue Bombers face off against the Toronto Argonauts for the Grey Cup on Sunday at 5 p.m. in Vancouver.