Grey Cup parade to take over downtown Winnipeg on Tuesday

It doesn't take long to plan a parade when it's been 29 years in the making.

Winnipeg's newly crowned Grey Cup champion Blue Bombers were scarcely 12 hours removed from hoisting the Canadian Football League's trophy when team president Wade Miller said they'll parade the shiny hardware around the city's downtown streets on Tuesday.

The last time that happened was in 1990.

"For our fans, it's been a long time coming. They've always been behind us and it's time to celebrate," Miller said Monday morning from Calgary, where the Bombers crushed the Hamilton Tiger-Cats 33-12 on Sunday evening.

Winnipeg's Grey Cup parade kicks off at noon, starting near Hargrave Street and Portage Avenue, and winding down at The Forks. The Blue Bombers posted a map of the route Monday afternoon. 

Sunday's big win ended the longest championship drought in Canadian Football League history. It's now the TiCats who own that unenviable title, having last raised the Grey Cup in 1999.

"That was a great win for our team last night. It was fantastic," Miller said. "That's the type of game that you want to watch and be a part of. It was just pure domination in all three facets of the game."

The number 33 was a particularly magical one for Bombers running back — and Winnipeg native — Andrew Harris.

The man who wears No. 33 on his jersey also made CFL history by becoming the first person to be named both the Grey Cup MVP and the Most Valuable Canadian.

"It was a special day for Andrew, for sure. Well-deserved and I can't be happier for him," Miller said.

For his part, Harris heaped praise on the fans who stood by him earlier in the season when he got a two-game suspension following a positive drug test.

Harris said it must have been from a contaminated over-the-counter natural supplement he took.

It led to him being snubbed as a nominee for any of the CFL's individual honours at the end of the regular season, despite leading the league in rushing for a third straight season.

"The only trophy I want is the big silver one. I'm so proud to be a Winnipegger [and] I can't wait to get back and share this with all of them," he said after the Grey Cup win.

Added backup quarterback Chris Streveler: "The parade's going to be nuts."

The celebration started moments after the Bombers' big win as about 1,000 people swarmed the corner of Portage and Main in downtown Winnipeg, singing and shouting.

Miller said the team was shown videos of the partying 'Peggers and the players cheered them on.

"What a way to take over Portage and Main. Our fans deserve it," he said.

On Tuesday, those fans will line some of those same roads as Harris, Streveler and the rest of the Blue and Gold show off their silver.

"You'll get to see all the players and the entire organization that was responsible for this Grey Cup win," Miller said.

"Each one of those players just played an outstanding game. It was just a great performance by your Blue Bombers."