As a young lad growing up in Winnipeg, Eddie Steele had feelings for the Saskatchewan Roughriders as the annual Labour Day Classic approached.
Those feelings included dislike, loathing and any other synonym you can think of for “hatred.”
“It was bred into me, no doubt about it,” Steele said with a huge grin Wednesday after his CFL team — yes, those same Roughriders — practised at Mosaic Stadium.
“Being on the east side of the border in Manitoba, we didn’t really like green growing up. It was true blue over there in Winnipeg. To this day, my stepmom (Sue Ihme-Steele) says that whenever she has to put my Rider jersey on, it makes her skin burn.”
As Steele was growing up in the Manitoba capital, a youngster named Dan Clark was sprouting in Regina.
Like Steele, Clark watched a lot of Labour Day Classics between the Winnipeg Blue Bombers and the host Roughriders, as well as the rematches in Winnipeg.
And like Steele, Clark had his thoughts on those Bombers teams.
“When I was a kid, they were the enemy,” said Clark, who’s now the Roughriders’ centre. “It was like Thom (his high school) versus O’Neill (Thom’s neighbour/rival on Argyle Street). You could lose every other game, but that one as a kid was the one you wanted your team to win.”
The 54th edition of the Labour Day Classic is set for Sunday at Mosaic Stadium. The rematch in Winnipeg is slated for Sept. 8 at Investors Group Field.
Steele used to watch the Classic on TV before often taking in the rematch in person. He admitted Wednesday that he used to be vocal in the stands — “I definitely would be loud and proud for the Blue Bombers,” he said — and would target Roughriders players like Wes Cates, Nealon Greene, Matt Dominguez and the receivers in the Canadian Air Force.
And what, exactly, did the younger Eddie Steele have to say to those players?
“I don’t know if I should really be divulging that because I’d like to keep my professional appearance,” the older Eddie Steele replied with a shy grin. “But there would be some Labatt Blues in me — not Pilsner — and you know how things are said when those are flowing.”
On the other hand, Clark claimed he wasn’t at all vitriolic toward the Bombers during their visits to Regina.
Part of that had to do with location — “I was way too high up (in the stands) to yell at anybody,” he recalled — and with his upbringing.
“My dad always told me to watch my P’s and Q’s in the stands,” Clark said. “I was always a little good-hearted kid.”
Besides, he added, the rivalry between the Bombers and Roughriders was all about fun.
“It was seeing two provinces come together for a rivalry but still show respect for each other inside the stadium,” Clark said. “Having Winnipeg fans here and cheering against us and cheering when their team did well, it showed me as a young boy that, if two teams are going against each other, it could still be a fun rivalry.”
After playing with the Thom Trojans, Clark joined the PFC’s Regina Thunder before ascending to the Roughriders.
He has never suited up for a team that didn’t represent the Queen City in some fashion.
Steele went from high school to the University of Manitoba Bisons before beginning his CFL career with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats. The defensive tackle then had a stint with the Edmonton Eskimos before signing with the Roughriders prior to the 2017 season.
Since leaving the U of M, he has never suited up for a team that represented Winnipeg in any fashion. And the fact that he has been on the opposite side of the Winnipeg-Saskatchewan rivalry from his former fellow Bombers fans has created in Steele some disdain for that group.
“Winnipeg fans are arrogant, man,” he said, bursting into another huge grin. “They’re not very nice on social media, even to a local kid from Winnipeg.
“Last year, I received all types of threatening messages, especially when I had a cramp early in the game and went down. That really caused quite a stir on Twitter.”
So how does Steele get his mind around this whole thing? He used to be one of that group of fans, after all.
“That’s a tough question because it’s a total flip-flop — and I don’t know if I have an answer for it,” he admitted. “I just know that right now, I’m in the green, I plan on being in the green for the rest of my career and I don’t plan on loving that blue.”
Clark’s sentiments toward the Bombers also have changed since the days when he watched from the stands.
The Winnipeg players are now his peers and he and his teammates have to be ready for the on-field challenges the Bombers present in every game the teams play.
“As a fan, you can say and do things, but being out on the football field, you’ve got to approach it on a professional level and you’ve got to respect the other team,” he said when asked if the Bombers are still the enemy. “You’ve got to be prepared mentally and physically to be able to hang on the football field with these guys.
“Looking at this season, that’s a great team over there. Their front seven is as good as any in the league, their special teams are great and their offence is wonderful. (The game Sunday) is going to be old-school football. It’s going to be a battle and that’s what the Labour Day Classic is all about.”
