For eons, the Canadian Football League published Media Guides or Fact Books for its teams. These little handbooks were meant to familiarize local journalists with the players and coaching staff of the team they were covering. They included biographies, statistics, records, and team histories.
Team media guides were also a great little souvenir for the savvy football fan. I have several in my own collection I like to peruse every now and then.
The CFL still produces them at least in electronic form. At least for some teams. I’m not sure if the league still offers print copies, though. It looks like they’ve met the same fate as game day programs and printed tickets, which is unfortunate.
Anyway, I thought what better way to spend the dog days of summer than by taking a look at some of these CFL media guides from the 1960s (or the late 1950s in a couple of cases). It was an exciting decade for the CFL and Canadian football.
Here are some photos of the media guides (front and back covers) for each CFL team from that era:
The above photos are courtesy of the good folks at the Canadian Football Research Society.
A close game always makes for good entertainment for us football fans. We enjoy the back-and-forth battle and the inevitable drama that ultimately decides the final score. But sometimes the game is anything but close. That was the case on October 20, 1956 when the Montreal Alouettes cruised to an 82-14 victory over the Hamilton Tiger-Cats.
The headline in the Montreal Gazette tells the story.
The crowd at Molson Stadium witnessed history in the making that Saturday afternoon with the Alouettes breaking a couple dozen IRFU/Big Four records. Newspapers in both Hamilton and Montreal remarked how the game kept the statisticians busy.
A recap of records broken as outlined in the Montreal Gazette. (Degeer, Vern. “Team, Game Scoring Marks Fall in Fantastic Frolic.” Montreal Gazette, 22 October 1956, p. 25.)The Hamilton Spectator’s recap of records broken. (“Statisticians Go Crazy.” Hamilton Spectator, 22 October 1956, p. 17.)
Montreal’s opening kickoff by Johnny Blaicher sailed through the Hamilton endzone to put the Alouettes up 1-0 from the get-go. What followed can only be described as good old fashion Canadian walloping.
Led by quarterback Sam “The Rifle” Etcheverry, Montreal scored an incredible 12 touchdowns. Yes, twelve! The Alouettes were up 20-0 after the first quarter and went into halftime with a commanding 54-7 lead. I certainly wouldn’t’ve wanted to be in the Hamilton dressing room at the half.
Montreal players who scored touchdowns in the record-setting game. Future Alabama Governor Fob James scored four touchdowns for the Alouettes.
Unfortunately for the Ti-Cats the second half wasn’t any better. Montreal’s Hal Patterson returned Hamilton’s kickoff to start the third quarter a record-breaking 104 yards for a touchdown. Talk about going from bad to worse. Having his way with the Tiger-Cat defence all afternoon, the Rifle might’ve put the Als over the 100-point mark had he stayed in the entire game. His favourite target Fob James, who years later would become the Governor of Alabama, scored four majors for the Alouettes.
The Hamilton Spectator didn’t mince words. (Miller, Ivan. “Alouettes Re-write Record Book in Wild Game.” Hamilton Spectator, 22 October 1956, p. 16.)
With the astounding lopsided victory, Montreal clinched first place in the Big Four conference. The two teams would meet again the following month in a two-game total-point series for the IRFU final. Montreal came out on top, winning by a 78-62 combined score, but would lose to the Edmonton Eskimos in the 1956 Grey Cup game.
The 82-14 score set on October 20, 1956 still stands today as the largest margin of victory in a game played in the modern era of Canadian football.
We all remember the “firsts” of things. Like the first day of school or a first date. We know the first person to do this or that. Or something that happens for the first time in history. You get the picture. Today I want to take a stroll down memory lane and remember a first for me: my very first CFL game.
An advertisement for the Hamilton-Calgary game (Hamilton Spectator, 20 August 1993, p. 19.)
It’s August 1993. Summer holidays are winding down. The effects of recession are still wreaking havoc in Hamilton. And the Tiger-Cats are in a whole lot of trouble. Against this backdrop, I attended my very first Canadian Football League game.
However bleak the situation was heading into the game on August 20, 1993, yours truly was about to have the time of his life. My brother and I had been talking about going to a Ti-Cat game for some time, but we were both students and didn’t have much money. There was a lot of media focus on this particular game but for all the wrong reasons. Quite frankly, there was a real risk of the team going under if fans didn’t turn out in droves for the game. So, it was now or never for us. Our Nan ended up giving us money to purchase tickets. We were off to watch CFL football at old Ivor Wynne Stadium.
“You Never Know Until You Go advertisement.” Hamilton Spectator, 20 August 1993, p. 17.
Hamilton was 3-3 going into this game. Not bad and good enough for second place in a weak East Division. The opponent that night was the mighty Calgary Stampeders, the class of the CFL, led by quarterback Doug Flutie. Hamilton had their own crop of talented players, too: receiver Earl Winfield, defensive end Tim Cofield, and a rookie linebacker named Michael O’Shea to name a few.
I remember walking into Ivor Wynne Stadium and being instantly engulfed by the game day excitement. Vendors selling popcorn. Programs for sale. The smell of concession food. We bought a pop that came in a plastic souvenir cup featuring an imprinted image of Ivor Wynne Stadium and then made our way up the stairs and got into our seats (Section 7 in the north stands as I recall) to watch the players warming up. “Seats” is rather generous; they were simply benches – backless and not at all comfortable. But that was okay.15-year-old me could handle that just fine.
I was blown away by the sheer size of the field. Watching CFL football on TV really doesn’t do the field size any justice. Being able to panoramically view the whole field and stadium is still something that excites me. The starting lineups for both teams were introduced. The PA announcer was Bill Stirrup, who was one of the best. The crowd playfully jeered the visitors and applauded each Tiger-Cat when their name was announced. The national anthem was sung, the coin toss was held, and a man wearing a bowler hat named Pigskin Pete led the crowd into the famous Oskee Wee Wee cheer. It was time for kick-off.
Unfortunately for us Ti-Cat fans it didn’t start off well at all. Calgary quickly scored…twice. Within three minutes, the Stampeders had two touchdowns and were up 14-0. Calgary continued to dominate and extended their lead to 21-0 only halfway through the opening quarter. Yikes. Around this time, I remember a couple arriving late to their seats only to look at the scoreboard and shake their heads in utter disappointment.
I forget what the halftime entertainment was or if there even was any. In those days they often had contests that were kind of fun like the “ball in the booth” where a fan used a giant sling shot to try and put a ball into the CHML radio broadcast booth that sat atop the south stands.
The Tiger-Cats managed to put up a measly 12 points in the first half. Defence ruled the game for both sides in the second half. Hamilton was shut out and Calgary only managed a single and a field goal. But Calgary had built up such a large early lead that it didn’t matter. Final score: Calgary 31 Hamilton 12.
The Tiger-Cats dropped to 3-4. Hamilton ultimately finished the 1993 season with a dismal 6-12 record. There were 19,402 fans in attendance at Ivor Wynne that night. A little less than the team had wanted but certainly better than the sub-16,000 crowds the previous two games produced. In other words, there was a glimmer of hope.
Dickens, Jeff. “TiCats stumped by Stamps.” Hamilton Spectator, 21 August 1993, p. 39.
Fans exited the stadium with mixed emotions. Many were fuming over the home team’s poor play. Others mused aloud whether they had just seen the last of the Tiger-Cats. Dejection. Anger. Sadness.
For me though it was different, and I kind of felt a bit guilty. Sure, the Ti-Cats just got clobbered. But I had finally got to see my first CFL game in person. I was still excited. I was also hooked. And I wanted more. As luck would have it the next home game was going to be against the archrival Toronto Argonauts in the so-called Labour Day Classic. My brother and I certainly didn’t want to miss that. We would have to use our charm on our Nan again and score tickets.
32 years later I look back at some of the great football games I’ve had the good fortune of attending. I’ve seen some memorable classics and have witnessed some truly iconic moments in Canadian football. The game on August 20, 1993, was definitely not one of those. For all intents and purposes, it was a dud. A stinker. But for me it represented something big and something special. It was a first for me. My first football game. And that was the day I became firmly entrenched as a life-long fan of the Hamilton Tiger-Cats and the CFL.
This is the article in the Spectator that really prompted my brother and me to attend our first Tiger-Cat game in 1993. We would become season ticket holders in 1995.
Dickens, Jeff. “Empty Kitty.” Hamilton Spectator, 189 August 1993, p. 1.
Depending on the criteria chosen and who you ask (relax, Argo fans!) the city of Hamilton boasts Canada’s oldest football club. The Hamilton Foot Ball Club was founded on November 3, 1869. Yes, they spelled football with two words back then. The team played in the Ontario Rugby Football Union from 1893 to 1906 before joining the new Interprovincial Rugby Football Union in 1907.
A news article announcing the founding of the Hamilton Foot Ball Club (The Hamilton Spectator, 4 November 1869, p 2.)
The team wore black and orange and later black and yellow uniforms and were known as the Tigers. It was this Tigers team that played in the second Grey Cup in 1910.
In 1941, the Tigers suspended play as a result of the Second World War. The IRFU itself shut down a year later. To fill the void, the Hamilton Wildcats were formed and played in the ORFU, winning the Grey Cup in 1943. Due to the high number of air force personnel playing for the team, the club was known as the Flying Wildcats during the war years.
After the war ended, the IRFU and the Hamilton Tigers resumed play. Unfortunately, the Hamilton market couldn’t support two football teams. Both the Tigers and the Wildcats found themselves competing for business and facing financial challenges. After a dispute with the IRFU, the Tigers and Wildcats actually swapped leagues for a couple of seasons with the Tigers playing in the ORFU and the Wildcats joining the IRFU in 1948.
“Merger of Wildcats, Tigers, Completed.” The Hamilton Spectator, 31 January 1950, p 24.
Finally, a group of Hamilton citizens pushed for the amalgamation of the Tigers and Wildcats. It was clear that Hamilton could sustain only one team, especially with the growing professionalization of the game of football.
Thus, in 1950, the Hamilton Tigers and the Hamilton Wildcats merged into one club and became the Hamilton Tiger-Cats.
The 1950 amalgamated Hamilton Tiger-Cats (photo courtesy of the Canadian Football Research Society)
Source: The Hamilton Spectator, 17 December 1994, page 1.
Sell 12,500 season tickets. Raise $1 million in corporate sponsorship. Build adequate corporate boxes at Ivor Wynne Stadium. Provide stable ownership.
Those were the four demands set out by the Canadian Football League to the Hamilton Tiger-Cats in October 1994. If the Ti-Cats failed to meet those demands by a league-imposed December 23rd deadline, a 125 year old tradition would end. Professional football would be done in Hamilton.
The so-called “Drive for ’95” was in full swing around this time thirty years ago. Daily, the Hamilton Spectator ran tallies showing how many season tickets were sold for the 1995 season. Hamilton had a meagre 6,400 season ticket holders in 1994. Doubling that figure was a daunting task.
13,287
On Friday December 16, 1994, the Hamilton Tiger-Cats announced that they had sold 13,287 season tickets for 1995. What was considered the most “challenging” of the four demands was met…and with time to spare.
“The people of this city are resilient and they respond” – Ticat Legend Angelo Mosca
In the weeks to follow, the corporate sponsorship quota was met and the ownership situation became clearer, paving the way for David Macdonald and George Grant to purchase the franchise. As the 1995 season drew closer, the Hamilton Tiger-Cats – for the first time in years – were financially stable. Football was alive and well in Hamilton.
The Drive for ’95 stands out for me because that was the year I became a season ticket holder myself. My parents bought season tickets for me, my brother, and my sister for Christmas in 1994. I remember my Mom somewhat panicking because she didn’t have anything physically to give us, to show us we were now season ticket holders. So, she wrote each of us a note saying, “You are invited to attend every Hamilton Tiger-Cats home game in 1995.” She also referenced where we would be sitting: Section 23. I look back now and think – wow – we’ve been season ticket holders for 30 years. – RF
