Welder didn't fumble chance at Grey Cup

Despite trembling hands, Winnipeg welder Ben Klumper scored a touchdown in his bid to repair the CFL trophy, which fell apart after Sunday's championship.

Klumper, a veteran welder withQuest Metal Products, said everyone in his shop stood around to watchduring the half-hour operation to reattach the cup to its base early Monday.

It had snapped off during the on-field presentation after the B.C. Lions captured a 25-14 victory over the Montreal Alouettes in the 94th Grey Cup in Winnipeg.

"I wasn't sitting down at the time but I probably should have, because my hands started shaking and trembling and I thought, 'oh, my goodness,'" Klumper told CBC News on Monday.

"This isn't just some restaurateur coming with a broken fork or a broken pot that I got to fix. No, this is the Grey Cup. So was I nervous? Absolutely."

Highlight of a 45-year career

Even with 45 years of welding experience under his belt, he said repairing thefootball trophy was one of the highlights of his career.

"This was a once-in-a-lifetime experience. It wasn't just a job to weld this back together— it was an honour," Klumper said.

Hiswork involved fusing two pieces of silver together with a filler and hoping the pieces would hold. He explained that the cup came off its base because the sterling silver material was too soft.

"We wanted to reinforce the bottom of the cup, the base of the cup itself," he said.

Klumper said he couldn't say whether Quest was paid for repairing the Grey Cup, but added that he didn't need remuneration.

He gotto keep a souvenir of the repair job: a piece of metal that had broken off the trophy.

"I am holding a piece of Canadian history here, which is probably 100 years old… and so this is mine," Klumper said.

Ambassadors happy to have cup back

Grey Cup ambassadors Mario Vespa and Paul Micieli said it was the first time in their tenures that they've seen the Grey Cup come apart.

"When we are in care of the Cup, there's not much that happens," Micieli told CBC News on Monday.

Micieli said he noticed something was wrong with the trophy as he was taking photographs on the field while the B.C. Lions were celebrating their post-game victory.

'So I looked over at Mario and basically told him, "It's in two pieces." So we were just as shocked as everyone else was.' -Grey Cup ambassador Paul Micieli

"At one point I had looked up and there was a stream of confetti and the only thing I could see was the top of the Cup," Micieli recalled.

"Once the confetti cleared, I noticed that was all I could see, was the top of the Cup. The base was on the other side.

"So I looked over at Mario and basically told him, 'It's in two pieces.' So we were just as shocked as everyone else was."

Micieli said he was referred to Quest on Sunday night by someone who had previously done work on the trophy.

Vespa said it was unfortunate that the Cup came apart, but added he was glad it could be repaired quickly.

"I was real happy that we could get it fixed for them today so they could go back home with a one-piece Cup, not a two-piece Cup."

Trophy suffered fire, theft and even head-butt

This was not the first time the Grey Cup has suffereda misadventure.

The trophy has been sat on, head-butted, stolen, almost destroyed in a fire and left behind by no fewer than three winning teams in the 94 years of the Grey Cup championship.

Micieli said officials with the CFL and the Canadian Football Hall of Fame will discuss ways to ensure the Grey Cup remains in one piece in the future.