As mentioned on Friday, I decided to take a trip to Hamilton to see a game at Ivor Wynne Stadium last weekend before it shuts down at season’s end. The place has been open since 1928, and it’s only about 45 minutes down the QEW–on a weekend, that is–so I made sure to pick a Saturday night game in order not to get stuck in traffic. In fact, I arrived in Steeltown early in the afternoon and stopped by the Canadian Football Hall of Fame, which isn’t quite as impressive as it looks from the outside.
On second thought, you can even see the rust spots on the steps as you come up to the building…
Now, having been to the Hockey Hall of Fame, Cooperstown and even the Western Pennsylvania Sports Museum, I guess I was expecting something similar, a place where you could easily spend an entire afternoon. But that simply wasn’t the case here. With just one floor of exhibits, you could easily breeze through the building in half an hour, though I stayed a little longer to read some of the plaques and watch the video. Not only was there a lack of notable memorabilia from the league’s outstanding players and record-holders, but the whole place seemed a little outdated. Case in point, this piece of information about the Ottawa franchise. (The Renegades disbanded in 2006, which isn’t exactly the present.)
By the way, the movie they were showing was a history of the Grey Cup–up to 1995, with a strong focus on that season. Some of us Stamps fans don’t necessarily like to remember that year, what with the American expansion and all, and I find it kinda hard to believe that no films about the Grey Cup have been produced in the 17 years since. (You’d think they’d have something in the works for the 100th edition this year, at least.) The American era of the CFL is also commemorated with a large sign, as well as a display case or two.
Check out the jersey on Damon Allen–that bulldog musta been a bull’s eye for opposing D-Linemen!
Speaking of the Grey Cup, the trophy itself was also on display. I guess it wasn’t Purolator Tackle Hunger Day anywhere this week…
I’d seen the Cup once before, when then-Stamps kicker Mark McLoughlin brought it to a U of C basketball game in ’99, but of course, there’s been a few more names added to it since then…
(I was at that game. Good times!)
There was also an array of other interesting trophies on display…
Here’s a few more neat artifacts…
Little surprised they still have Allen Pitts’ jersey on display 12 years after he retired–and his career receiving record has been broken a handful of times since. On the other hand, Russ Jackson is still the greatest Canadian-born quarterback after all these years:
(Notice how the card mentions the 2007 season when the tape on the ball is dated October 11th 2010. #fail)
(I don’t get it… Why was the first CFL game played in Philly!?)
Alas, while the rest of the displays were a little underwhelming, the coolest thing about Hall are the busts of the players enshrined within. Taking a page outta Canton’s playbook, the league created 3D sculptures of its players’ heads and lined them all up in several rows. Having a plaque in the Hall is one thing, but a lifelike Pinball Clemons staring you in the face takes it to a whole ‘nother level. Here are some of the biggest busts on display:
Pinball Clemons (left) and Mike Pringle (right)
The Flutie Brothers–great cover band, BTW!
(You can’t tell from this angle, but Gizmo’s bust actually has dreadlocks…)
On the other hand, Dunigan obviously had this bust done after his playing career. He was rockin’ a pretty sweet mullet in that video from ’95!
Y’know, I kinda miss Chris Walby on the CBC. The man’s so big, he’s got his own corner!
The aforementioned Russ Jackson
Check out the haircut on George Reed, one of the league’s all-time leading rushers…
The Little General, Ron Lancaster (RIP).
This man’s still a legend in Hamilton, lemme tell ya…
Y’know, Ricky Ray is great ‘n all, but had he gone on to the NFL instead of Toronto, then maybe he’d be as good as Warren Moon…
Y’know how the NBA has gone gaga for Jeremy Lin, the first Asian-American in the league? Well, we’ve got ‘em beat by oh, about 60 years or so. Meet Normie Kwong, the China Clipper–cuz we were so politically correct back in the 50′s. Did I mention that he played for the Eskimos?
And finally, believe it or not, but Harold Ballard is in the CFL Hall of Fame. It says here he owned the Ti-Cats in the 80′s…
Alas, since my trip to the museum didn’t last as long as I’d expected, I had some time to kill before heading out to see the Tiger-Cats in action. Thus, I headed down to Augusta St, which is not entirely unlike Augusta Ave in Toronto–if it were only lined with bars and taverns. Stopped off first at a place called Augusta’s Winking Judge, renowned for its large craft beer selection, a portion of which was displayed on its mantle:
99 bottles of beer on the wall, 99 bottles of beer…
Still made it to the stadium, which is about a 15-minute bus ride from the GO Station, a good 45 minutes before they opened the gates. Guess I coulda had another drink. In any case, while there wasn’t a beer garden set up outside the venue (the stadium is actually located in a residential area–there’s a school across the street on Balsam!), they did have Lick’s and Pizza Pizza on hand, along with some pregame entertainment for the kids.
I did not, however, choose to have my picture taken with my face behind a cutout of Henry Burris’ body. There are some folks back in Cowtown who’d never let me live that one down… Anyways, once I got inside the stadium, my first thoughts were to grab some food and booze, and not necessarily in that order–but right after I took a picture of this sign:
BBQ turkey leg, a Hamiltonian delicacy. Hella messy, but quite scrumptious.
As for beer selection, I was a little disappointed that the only options available were Canadian, Coors Light, Keystone Light and Coors Light Iced T. On the plus side, you could get ‘em in these neato plastic bottles over by the turkey-leg stand…
Looks like the mountains are only light blue on this one…
While it’s a pretty decent place to watch a game, as opposed to the sterile confines of Rogers Centre, I can kinda see why Ivor Wynne is headed for the wrecking ball. For one thing, I don’t think the bathrooms have been cleaned since 1928. You wouldn’t wanna see a picture of that, trust me. Also, they don’t actually have any seats in the stadium, just rows of metal benches. The veteran Ti-Cat fans all brought seat cushions–me, I just drank till I couldn’t feel my ass, anyways…
And 4 marks the spot. At least it had a backrest…
I figured that if I only went to one game at Ivor Wynne, I had to sit in Box J, the section behind the home team’s bench where all the real fans hang out. Although I wasn’t right in the middle of the field, I still paid the same price as a centre-line seat for an Argos game. Then again, I suppose I can’t complain too much; I was pretty much on the 45-yard line. Here are a few pictures I took of the field during warmups (when the sun was out) and during the game.
Here’s the Ti-Cats’ official mascot, Stripes, getting the fans fired up…
And their unofficial mascot, Pigskin Pete, doing the same.
The final score: Hamilton 39, Montreal 24. A solid outing for the home side!
By the way, if you thought that “Oskie-we-wee” chant sounds kinda silly, you ain’t seen nothing yet. Here’s a page from the official team songbook, dating back several decades:
