Fraser Caldwell
Ticats.ca
The Ticats legendary players remember three things more fondly than any others: the fans, the iconic stadium that housed them, and the teammates who introduced them to the Canadian game.
“Hamilton hasn’t always had everything, but its people have a lot of pride,” says Joe Montford, recalling his playing days in Black and Gold.
Montford spent eight seasons with the Ticats (1996-2001, 2003-04), and set the team’s single-season record for sacks in 1999 with 26.
The five-time CFL All-Star has no shortage of memories from the football field. But he argues that only through an understanding of the fans and the community that surrounds the Tiger-Cats do the plays and the achievements gain meaning.
“I think one of my greatest teachers was Coach Don “Sudsy” (Sutherin),” says Montford. “Coach always preached that it was good to play out here in front of the stands, but you have to actually begin to understand the sacrifices that the people make to be a part of this.”
“Some skip a meal to get tickets. You can’t understand until you go into some of the homes, the bars, or some of the places where a lot of people don’t go.”
Grover Covington – himself a sack-tallying machine throughout his 11-year tenure as a Ticat – echoes Montford’s sentiment.
He fondly remembers a fan base that stuck with his team through thick and thin, through a Grey Cup-winning season and the agony of missed playoffs.
“Even if it’s not successful, the team’s got that core of fans that doesn’t hop on or off of the bandwagon,” says Covington. “You’ve got the ones that – regardless of what the record is – they’re going to go out into the community and encourage you and tell you that it was going to be okay.”
“That’s what I loved about this town. That’s what made me fall in love with it.”
The nature of Ivor Wynne, nestled as it is inside an East Hamilton residential neighbourhood, enhanced the relationship between the team and the community according to Ticat great Earl Winfield.
“We have the only stadium that’s perched right in the middle of a neighbourhood,” says Winfield. “There’s a high school next door and regular, working folk living down the street.”
“The unique thing about this place is that it’s truly a community-based team.”
In its 82 years of existence, Ivor Wynne Stadium has seen its fair share of mythical performances. But Winfield’s 400-yard, three-touchdown effort on Labour Day, 1988 remains as one of the very best.
“The Labour Day game was probably the high point of my career,” says the ex-receiver and returner.
“We get older and get to an age where we actually peak. I think that was the point where I peaked, along with the help of 11 other guys.”
“That’s what sticks out in my mind about this stadium.”
Covington reaches all the way back to his rookie season in 1981 for a fond memory. Interestingly enough, it comes in the form of a midseason tie with the Edmonton Eskimos, then a CFL powerhouse.
The final score was 34-34, but for Covington and his teammates, matching the famed Eskimos was an accomplishment in itself.
“My rookie year, we played against Edmonton here and Frank Kush was coaching,” recalls the defensive lineman. “We tied those guys.”
“In my time, I think we only beat those guys once. That was huge, because that was a franchise that in the modern era had won quite a few championships with Warren Moon and those guys.”
Montford’s choice recollection didn’t happen at Ivor Wynne at all. It unfolded on the road in BC, on the final day of the regular season, with the lineman needing only three sacks to set a new CFL record.
He didn’t get three, and he didn’t finish the game, but Montford still holds that occasion dear.
“One year, I had 26 sacks and going out to BC I knew that I only needed three to pass the record,” says the lineman. “I got kicked out of the game five minutes in, and I’d never been kicked out of a game in my life.”
“I was able to get two in the game but not able to get ahead with the third. I was disappointed, but that’s a memory I cherish.”
Ivor Wynne Stadium is littered with memories such as these, and with its demolition comes an end of an era.
But, as Winfield points out, the Tiger-Cats new home – planned as it is to rest where Ivor Wynne does now – retains the site if not the construction. That communal feeling, so integral to the team’s old stadium, can be retained in its new environment.
“The thing is, it’s going to be bigger and better,” says Winfield of the project. “The stadium is going down, but the site is still the same.”
“All that’s going to happen is that we’re going to move into the future”
That future looks to be bright, but it will be forged with the fond memory of Ivor Wynne and the accomplishments of legendary Ticats in mind.
