The Winnipeg Blue Bombers are making legendary radio play-by-play man Bob Irving the thirteenth inductee to the Ring of Honour at IG Field.
Irving has been covering the team since joining CJOB in September 1973 and has become synonymous with Blue Bombers football over the five decades since. Now 71, Irving made it official earlier this month that the 2021 season would be his last at the microphone.
“The Winnipeg Football Club’s Ring of Honour is reserved for this franchise’s icons, both players and coaches. Now we can proudly add Bob as the icon among play-by-play callers,” said Blue Bombers President and CEO Wade Miller in a press release.
“This organization has been fortunate to have had such a long association with Bob, not just as a broadcaster, but as someone who always been a supporter of Winnipeg, of the Blue Bombers and the Canadian Football League. It only seems fitting that his name should have a place alongside the other legends in this franchise’s long and storied history.”
A member of numerous sporting halls of fame – including the Canadian Football Hall of Fame and the Manitoba Sportswriters and Sportscasters Media Roll of Honour – Irving also received the Order of Manitoba in 2014, the province’s highest honour.
A formal ceremony officially adding Irving to the Ring of Honour will be held prior to the West Final on Dec. 5 at IG Field, with the opening kickoff scheduled for 3 p.m. CST.
The Blue Bombers opened the Ring of Honour in 2016 and inducted nine charter members: Chris Walby, Ken Ploen, Gerry James, Milt Stegall, Dieter Brock, Leo Lewis, Bud Grant, Herb Gray, and Doug Brown.
The club has since added one new member each year: Jack Jacobs in 2017, Fritz Hanson in 2018, Bob Cameron in 2019, and Bob Irving in 2021.
The Bombers will face the winner of this weekend’s West Semi-Final between the host Saskatchewan Roughriders and visiting Calgary Stampeders. The West Final winner will advance to the Grey Cup on Sunday, Dec. 12 at Tim Hortons Field in Hamilton.
