Courtesy Winnipeg Sun:

Winnipeg Blue Bombers fans hoping to forget the sting of a 2007 Grey Cup defeat at the hands of the rival Saskatchewan Roughriders might not want to head west on the Trans-Canada Highway.

Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall and Manitoba Premier Gary Doer met up on the boundary between their two provinces yesterday, where Wall collected on a pre-game bet to erect a roadside sign proclaiming the winner of the Canadian Football League championship.

“I’m a Bomber fan through and through,” Doer said. “But I think most Bomber fans, if we can’t win it — and obviously we want to win it — most of the people around town are saying, ‘Well, we’re glad Saskatchewan won.’”

VANIER CUP

Wall had a Saskatchewan Roughriders jersey made up with “Premier Doer” on the back, which Doer wore as they showed off the sign.

Doer couldn’t let Wall have all the fun though — he brought along the Vanier Cup, which the University of Manitoba Bisons football team won the night before the Grey Cup.

Wall admitted there were moments during the hard-fought game where he worried he might end up on the Manitoba side of the boundary unveiling a Bombers sign — especially when Winnipeg looked like it was going to make a late game push.

“I really only enjoyed about 54 seconds — the kneel-downs,” Wall said. “That last drive, I was thinking, ‘I am going to be in Manitoba putting up that sign’ or at least there was that chance.”

Each year, thousands of Winnipeg Blue Bombers fans make the pilgrimage west to Regina to see their team face off against the Roughriders in the Labour Day game. But Wall had a message for any Bombers fans who might want to take out some runner-up frustrations on the Roughriders billboard as they pass.

“Our only commitment is to put it back up,” Wall said with a laugh.