North Bay may get another visit from the Grey Cup if the football gods smile favourably on the Winnipeg Blue Bombers during next week's Grey Cup game.
Mike O'Shea, a former star football player for Widdifield Secondary, is on the verge of winning his fifth Cup, three as a player, one as a special teams coordinator of the Toronto Argonauts and now perhaps as a head coach of the Winnipeg Ble Bombers.
As a player, O'Shea won all three with the Argonauts in 1996, 1997, and 2004.
O'Shea has brought the cup to the city before, 15 years ago, and it would be fitting to bring it back to the school he starred at, which will close at the end of this school year.
See: Grey Cup Frenzy
In 2004, the city erected a billboard on Fisher St. to honour O'Shea. (see photo gallery)
"It's a tremendous honour to share this with fans and people I know, acquaintances and people who have supported me throughout my career, starting in high school at Widdifield, and going forward I’ve had a lot of help along the way," O'Shea said in Dec. 2004..
"It’s nice to be able to come back to North Bay and say I’m Mike O’Shea from North Bay."
Vic Fedeli was mayor at the time and had to remove his Tiger-Cat yellow tie before he could accept his blue Argonaut jersey. He said O’Shea is a tremendous role model for kids of all ages in the Gateway city.
“It’s a great chance to show North Bay that you can come from a small place and do well across the country,” Fedeli said.
The Blue Bombers punched their ticket to the 2019 Grey Cup with a 20-13 win over the Saskatchewan Roughriders in Sunday's West final.
"We're one step closer," Bombers head coach Mike O'Shea said. "I'm pretty sure they're not going to be satisfied, nor will we, unless we handle our business."
"Look at that finish. That game was wild at the end. I enjoyed every minute of that," O'Shea said. "If that film travelled across North America, how could anybody not love our game?
See: Blue Bombers bound for Grey Cup, beat Roughriders 20-13 in West final
With files from CP.
