27 Years ago this Saturday.....

Yep 27 years ago this Saturday we faced the Hamilton Tiger Cats at IvorWynne in the first of a two game total point formatted Eastern Final. It would be my very first Toronto Argonauts Play-Off game and the atmosphere would be one I'll never forget.

Going into Ivor Wynne for a regular season game like the Labour Day Classic was exciting but imagine when a two game, home at home series would decide who will go on to play in the Grey Cup at BC Place. I knew it would be hard to beat the Ticats in Ivor Wynne but for some reason I had a great feeling. Our game earlier in October we lost in Ivor Wynne by 10 points but beat them both times at home. All the games were close so who would imagine what could happen. Under the leadership of #6 Quarterback JC Watts we managed to beat the TigerCats 31-17. A few interesting notes, it was the first playoff game for Darrell K Smith and Chris Schultz. Going back to Toronto all we really had to do is win or lose by less than two touchdowns. Very Possible.

Being a member of the equipment team thats where I realized the rivalry reached beyond the players and fans. Upon arriving at IvorWynne I was startled to see that we were given a few accessories that were supposed to be provided by visiting teams, much to be desired. I'll leave the details for my book. That angered all of us on the equipment team. I also recall that at Ivor Wynne the visiting team had to walk outside their locker room with Tiger Cat fans just above. Walking off the field after beating the TigerCats, as a 16 year old ball boy, I pushed a trunk towards the locker room pretty happy to know I will have a chance to be in my  very first Grey Cup. However, my daydreaming was stopped abruptly when an empty mickey shattered just feet from me and the trunk. As it happened, I recall the person that would be fitting to come to my rescue, #2 Carl Brazely. He looked up and made sure that the fans knew they did wrong and that their actions while passionate for the team were stupid.

That's when I really knew the rivalry that stood before me.

November 23rd we made sure the TigerCats recieved exactly what they gave us. As I wheeled the shopping cart with their gameday accessories, I was given a few messages to relay back to the Equipment crew of the Argonauts. All I wanted was the game to begin and for us to win and I would see if I might be included in the trip plans to Vancouver. Before you could blink we were up by 26 points after the first quarter. Things were looking very promising. then it happened. Just as the legendary "Argo Bounce" was a story I heard about, I saw it first hand. By the end of the fourth quarter and mishaps I'd like to forget, we lost the two game total point series 59-56! and watching Mike Kerrigan and Al Bruno on the TigerCats sideline celebrate made me feel a little on the sick side.

I continued my chores as though it were another game but this time amidst the picking up of towels, laundry and jerseys I heard sobs. Players sat in front of their lockers sobbing about the fact that we were just 45 minutes away from being in the Grey Cup.

Those memories were very hard to take. If anything that two game total point series only taught me how much I detested the TigerCats in the Eastern Final. I had no idea that I wouldn't feel the rivalry 27 years later, in a domed stadium, with the very close potential of over 40,000 fans in the 101st Grey Cup Playoffs.

Right now from that 86 team, only myself and Danny are still employed with the Argos. Only he and I will remember the antics around the game. Who knows it could be another 27 years til these two teams meet in the East Final again.

29th Home Opener-A Refllection

The start of a new season

This Friday will mark my 29th home opener. If you were to ask me back in 1985 when I was working the home opener at Exhibition Stadium, where I would be almost 30 years later, I doubt I would have said still working with the Toronto Argonauts. The Montreal franchise was called the Concordes, the Ottawa franchise was still in the league with a QB, JC Watts who would eventually be the first African American in Oklahoma to win statewide office.  I was assisting the sidelines of the Saskatchewan Roughriders as they played our Double Blue and were not the team with the amazing following they have today. I couldn’t believe that I was part of a team that only a few years ago, I was watching win their first Grey Cup in 31 years. This would be my first taste of being part of an exciting game known as the Home Opener.

My 1987 home opener was somewhat of a unique experience because with very little warning, the team I was supposed to assist on the sidelines that day, decided to hang up their cleats for 10 years. The Montreal Concordes folded just before the home opener that year and were quickly replaced with Winnipeg becoming an Eastern team.

In 1989 the home opener had a new exciting twist to it. In response to the rainy Grey Cup loss at home in 1982, Paul Goddfrey proclaimed that the City of Toronto needed an indoor stadium, a domed stadium. Many forgot to this day that the SkyDome was built based on this proclamation and others just like it. This home opener was under a roof and in front of 33,000 the Argos would lose to the Tiger Cats.

Then there was 1991. 41,000 people filled the SkyDome which became known eventually as the Rogers Centre. It was the birth of the Rocket's career and more importantly the dawn of Hollywood North. John Candy was the owner at the time and making my way to the stadium I could feel the buzz. AAAARRRRGGGOOOS beckoned in the streets carrying over from the pre-game party the night before, hosted at the Horseshoe Tavern with a performance by the Blues Brothers. The team had just come off of a win in Ottawa, despite the question as to when the CFL would see the Rocket perform. He missed the pre-season and first game due to injury, but on July 18th, in front of the 41,000 loud fans, Raghib "the Rocket" Ismail would make his debut in the city of Toronto. The Blues Brothers played at half time and the stage was set for a storybook season. That would be the biggest crowd in my home opener history. That season I would receive my first of five Grey Cup rings.

Who would have ever thought that in 1994 we would be playing a home opener against a team from Baltimore in the Canadian Football League. In only my 2nd year as a full time assistant equipment manager I would be travelling across Canada and South of the border. The team we met in our home opener would be the first non-Canadian city to win the Grey Cup a year later.

On June 8, 1999 the inspiration for my love of the Argos would leave my life.  My dad would pass away before the Argo season, leaving me without the confidante I could talk to about the woes and celebrations of the good ship Argonauts. The true family spirit of the Argonauts would shine through my dark clouds in the way of a memoriam on the video board for my Dad that home opener. I remember as it went up, despite the game atmosphere, having the many people involved with the Argos making a point to pat me on the back consoling me and letting me know I don't have to be alone on the journey.

In our 115th season in existence, and my 20th Home opener, I would run out of the tunnel with the Toronto Argonauts as the "Argo Bounce". I would be part of the team and excitement leading all the way to our 15th Grey Cup Championship.

Now just a day away we will be starting our 140th season as a franchise, commemorating an incredible win of the 100th Grey Cup. This game will be played against the Hamilton Tiger Cats and hopefully an amazing  crowd will be present to celebrate our momentum from last season, carrying us into another season that I'm sure will be filled with excitement and the pride of being the defending Grey Cup Champions.

In home openers my record is 11 wins and 17 losses. So I have some catching up to do, but home openers can be tempo setters or just eye openers to get a loss out of the way. However in seasons where we won the home opener we are 4 and 1 for winning the Grey Cup that year.

Either way it is a time for fans to get excited for Canadian Football back in town. Brush off those horns, get some fresh new bright blue face paint and forget about last season. It’s a new season. Fans feel the excitement walking up to the gates to see that year's edition of their Toronto Argonauts. The true buzz happens when the home team runs out of the locker room as they are introduced with as much excitement as the fans that cheer for them because this game isn’t built on hype. It's a collection of athletes that play the game for the love of the game who they can relate to anytime. For the fans, it’s a time to reflect on their memories of their past home openers and for some the beginning of many home openers for years to come.

For me it’s a time to be a part of another home opener to set up my 29th season of memories with the Double Blue add another chapter to my book and my life.