Matt Smellie
Ticats.ca
Ticats fans rejoice this Valentine’s Day.
I know what you’re probably thinking, another Hallmark holiday that gives you social guilt for being single or not giving a gift and what the heck does this have to do with football anyways?
Well, this Valentine’s Day is different. Sure, the average Canadian male will spend around $135 on their significant other but this February 14th has another twist. It’s also Chinese New Year.
So not only will every restaurant be busy with the obligated Valentine’s Day dinner but if you were thinking Chinese food, you can forget about it. And where’s the football connection?
Here it is, the Chinese have a 12 year cycle of animal signs. This year’s animal zodiac, drum roll please…is the tiger. We are entering the year of the Tiger.
Now, you might think the last few years have been the year of the Tiger, both in the tabloids and the links and maybe it has. But for the Ticats, the year of the Tiger has proven to be very successful. Since 1950, the modern era of the CFL has seen the year of the Tiger five times. Each of those years, the Ticats have made the playoffs. Three of those years, the team made it to the Grey Cup, losing by a single point in 1962, losing by two points in 1998 but winning all the marbles in 1986.
Coincidence, or is there some sort of good fortune occurring?
“The Ticats will do extremely well this year,” according to Angela Sheng, Director of McMaster’s Confucius Institute which aims to promote Chinese culture.
“The Tiger is king of the (Chinese) animal kingdom and auspicious to boys. People born in that year and even teams with that title generally do well in their zodiac year. All their successes will be exaggerated.”
Not only can good things be expected from the Ticats, but Geoff Tisdale, Jason Boltus, Dylan Barker, Darcy Brown, Jeremy Ito and Matt Carter should have successful seasons. All six players are Tigers born in 1986. And what about alumni? Ron Lancaster, the last Ticats’ Grey Cup winning coach was a Tiger and it should be no surprise that a man synonymous with the team is also a Tiger – Angelo Mosca.
So Ticats fans, there’s more to love about the 14th than just Danny McManus. This Valentine’s Day is the start of something sweet in TigerTown.
