The Canadian Press
I’m looking forward to heading down to BMO Field on Thursday night to watch the Toronto Argonauts take on the Winnipeg Blue Bombers. I’m fully aware the odds are slim that Toronto will defeat a Bombers team that is coming off of its first loss of the season to the Hamilton Tiger-Cats. As a sports fan I am at peace with the knowledge that every franchise not named the “Calgary Stampeders” (only five losing seasons since 1990 is just straight up sports voodoo) goes through hard times and let’s be honest, this is as difficult as it gets for any CFL fan.
I was in my happy place on Thursday night at my family cottage and even that wasn’t enough to prevent my insides from being filled with rage watching Toronto get shutout by Edmonton. However that’s just life as a sports fan as I spent much of the game focusing on the 2017 Grey Cup with memories of DeVier Posey and Cassius Vaughn’s 100- and 109-yard touchdown plays dancing in my head during every Zack Medeiros punt.
I actually spent part of the weekend looking up just who was the last CFL team to finish a season winless. Fun fact, it was the 1949 Hamilton Wildcats, who were part of the Interprovincial Rugby Football Union. Coincidentally this was their final year in existence as they merged with the Hamilton Tigers to become, yes, you guessed it, the Hamilton Tiger-Cats.
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I spent a couple minutes poking around the history of that team when two things stuck out. The first is that this same team had won it all in 1943, beating the Winnipeg RCAF Bombers (teams had different names when there was a World War going on), and that the 0-12 Wildcats had two future Hall of Famers on their roster in running back Tom Casey and offensive lineman Vince Scott. This reminded me of two important lessons in sport that applies to the current day Toronto Argonauts. The first lesson is that things can and often do turn quicker than you expect, and second, that even in the middle of a bad season there is always talent to root for.
I hope Toronto Argonauts fans can take some solace in those simple sports axioms. I still enjoy Argonauts football because I am at peace knowing things will turn around. When Ottawa returned to the CFL as the REDBLACKS, they finished their inaugural season with just two wins. They would go on to win the Grey Cup two years later. In 2016, the season before Posey and Vaughn were racing a century’s worth of yards in Toronto’s upset over Calgary, the Argonauts found themselves last in the East Division basement with a meager 5-13 record. As for talent, you can win Grey Cups with players like James Wilder Jr, Derel Walker, Abdul Kanneh and Cleyon Laing on your roster. They have the championships and All-Star selections to prove it.
This isn’t the first time that all-star players find themselves in the middle of disastrous seasons. Anthony Calvillo broke into the league starting 14 games for the 5-13 Las Vegas Posse. Soon after he was a part of a 2-16 Tiger-Cats team starting 10 games for them back in 1997. Yes, Ricky Ray found early success at a young age in Edmonton, but he also was under centre in 13 games for a 2007 team that finished 5-12-1. Henry Burris was the quarterback of record for all 18 games of that 2-16 REDBLACKS season I mentioned earlier, and poor Danny McManus was once part of a Hamilton group that failed to win a single game in regulation. If you remember back in 2003, McManus started 15 games for a Tabbies team whose only win came in overtime beating the Saskatchewan Roughriders 27-24.
I’ll get away from the quarterbacks for a moment to point out that the great Milt Stegall once put up an astounding 1,616 yards, averaging (wait for it!!) 26.5 yards per catch and scoring 14 touchdowns for the 1997 Winnipeg Blue Bombers. Despite one of the greatest deep threat seasons in my lifetime, the Bombers ended the year with four wins.
Now, I am not telling you that everyone is going to turn it around like that. A lot has to go right for those rags to riches realities to come true. My point is I fully understand your anger and frustration; you wouldn’t be a real fan without that being a part of your sports experience. However, let’s just try and keep in perspective that losing, even of this magnitude, happens. It happens to Hall of Fame players all the time. What Argonauts fans have to hope for is a run of good luck with health and some changes throughout the organization, and over the course of a year or two you can find yourself back in contention. This is not about mass firings or wholesale changes, but a simple, smart approach to building your roster the right way with the right people in charge to develop the talent that exists within the organization.
As for this current team, I can always find players to root for sitting in a stadium with no real bad seats that offers some of the best views of the city. It really is a sneaky good stadium to watch a football game. Also, and this is true of EVERY CFL team, it is easy to look up and down and roster and find a whole slew of interesting players who are easy to root for. I remember watching Armanti Edwards quarterbacking Appalachian State to one of the craziest upsets I’ve ever seen in College Football when they shocked the Michigan Wolverines, who were ranked fifth in the nation at the time. Did you know that Micah Awe majored in Petroleum Engineering during his Texas Tech days? Can you name one other football player with the same educational path?
How can you not cheer for McLeod Bethel-Thompson, whose difficult path to the CFL is well documented. Even the most jaded sports fan would have hard time rooting against a player who was cut 11 times after his collegiate career came to an end and was paid under $400 a week to play in the Arena Football league. I’m fascinated with Ian Wild, who is a financial planner for HBKS Wealth Advisors in the off-season and spends much of his time working to help other professional athletes plan for their financial future after their playing days are done.
Now, if none of this has convinced you to tune in, let me try one last thing: S’more fried chicken sandwiches, burgers with fried chicken and spam on a bun made of ramen noodles, and chocolate banana ‘Steakclairs’. These are just some of the food items that were available at the CNE last year. Just imagine what sort of delicious caloric nightmare they have cooked up for 2019! A ticket to Toronto’s Aug. 16 game against Edmonton gets you free access to the home of deep fried Mars Bars and the Polar Express ride.
So in summation, let me first say this piece was not commissioned by the Toronto Argonauts, but I’m always down for some shady kickbacks or to at least have Mike Hogan come over and cook me dinner with Pinball Clemons joining in. Nor am I telling you to believe that all is right in the world and you need to go back and dive fully into what the Double Blue are doing. That would be an unrealistic ask by me.
All I’m hoping to do is bring a little slice of peace to all Toronto fans that yes, things will get better. Terrible starts happen in sports, and maybe don’t go on the Polar Express minutes after consuming some of the more adventurous food items at the CNE. Hope to see as many football fans on Thursday night.
