By: Alex Warbeck
My proudest moment as a Tiger-cat Fan came about 7 years ago while at a Stampeders game in Calgary. Here is a little background on how that moment came about.
The moment that I became a fan was many years ago. I was around eight years old and was watching a Tiger-cats game on TV. I couldn’t tell you the year, who they were playing or even if they won or lost. I think it was the Joe Zuger, Tommy-Joe Coffey, Garney Henley era.
The Tiger-Cats had the ball somewhere around mid-field. It must have been going to a second and short situation. The Tiger-cats sent four guys off, but only three came back on and went to the huddle. The fourth, stood by the sidelines, on the field, and on side. If I recall correctly, I don’t think he was even wearing a helmet. The Tiger-cats broke huddle, approached the line of scrimmage, got into position and snapped the ball. At the snap of the ball our man at the sidelines was wide open, completely uncovered. The opposing team had him pegged as just another guy on the bench. The play starts, the QB unloads the ball to our man in waiting who makes the catch and goes easily all the way for a touchdown. The “ol’ Sleeper Play”. It was one that one single play that got me hooked.
The play amazed me. The guy that thought that one up must have been a genius…..and just after one play, I was a fan.
The second moment, secured me as a fan. I remember this one a lot more clearly. I was 12. It was during the 1972 Grey Cup. I was a real fan by then and wanted nothing more than to watch the Tiger-Cats win the championship. We went to a friend of the family’s apartment in Oakville to watch the big game. It was my first Grey Cup party. I remember having lots of fun, but as the game wore on into the later stages, I also noticed that as I watched the game more seriously, good things weren’t happening to the Cats. Fumbles, penalties, missed catches, that kind of stuff. Then I had to go to the washroom. Bam! Big play Tiger-Cats! I had an epiphany, a sudden realization that good things happen if I listened to the game from washroom. Sure enough the Cats won on Ian Sunter’s last play game winning field goal. I didn’t see live. But I did listen to it, from the bathroom. I considered it a small price to pay for a Grey Cup Championship.
Now, to my proudest moment.
I have two children, Cassandra and Joel. It would have been about seven years ago and we went to the Tiger-cats game in Calgary. My kids would have been 8 and 5 years of age. After we had entered McMahon stadium we went straight to the souvenir stand. It was packed full of Stampeders stuff with only a few token Tiger-Cats items. I told my kids that they could pick out anything they wanted. To my relief they both chose hand held Tiger-Cats flags. As proud as I was at that moment, the story gets better.
We were up high in the stands and enjoying the game as the kids proudly waved their flags. Then the gentleman in front of me, obviously a long time Stampeders fan, turned around and says to my boy (5), “Hey, why don’t you and I go down stairs and I’ll buy you a nice new Stampeders flag?”
Without hesitation, my boy’s reply, “I would throw that flag right into the garbage!”
I couldn’t have said it any better. By far my proudest moment. I knew then that I was raising them right.
It’s seven years later, and both of my kids are diehard Tiger-Cats fans.
Last summer we took a short trip back to Ontario. The highlight of the trip, watching the Tiger-Cats live at Ivor Wynne, beating the Bombers.
Signed,
A Cat Fan in Cowtown.
Alex Warbeck
