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  • Sacramento Falls in Love with the CFL

    That was the headline in my hometown’s newspaper, the Hamilton Spectator, after the CFL’s debut in Sacramento, California. I became a CFL fan in the early 1990s. It was a tumultuous time for the Canadian Football League. Some teams across the country were on the verge of collapse. Several others were struggling to stay afloat. Against this backdrop, the CFL opted to add teams in the United States. The benefits of U.S. expansion were two-fold. First, expansion fees could bring in some much-needed cash in the short term. Second, a bigger North American wide football league could open up even greater revenue (i.e., an American TV deal) long term.

    An article in the Hamilton Spectator about Sacramento embracing the CFL.
    (Morris, Jim. “Sacramento falls in love with the CFL.” The Hamilton Spectator, 19 July 1993, p. 16.)

    The first American team to join the CFL was the Sacramento Gold Miners in 1993. There was also supposed to be a team in San Antonio, Texas, as well, but it was kiboshed before playing a single down. So, the 1993 CFL season featured nine teams with the addition of the California capital.

    The Gold Miners were spearheaded by Fred Anderson, a Sacramento businessman, who had owned the Sacramento Surge of the World League of American Football, a developmental spring league for the National Football League. The WLAF ceased operations in 1992. There was considerable overlap between the Surge and the Gold Miners. The teams’ colours were similar, and many former Surge players and personnel were brought into the Gold Miners’ organization. Kay Stephenson reprised his role as Sacramento’s head coach, having coached the Surge to the 1992 WLAF championship.

    Because of U.S. labour laws, the Gold Miners were not required to have any Canadian players on their roster. Instead, they played with an all-American lineup. Some suggested this gave Sacramento a unique advantage over their Canadian counterparts. Yet, the team did struggle as an expansion team while adapting to the Canadian game.

    The Gold Miners played their home games at Hornet Field on the campus of Sacramento State university. It was a rather bare bones stadium comprising temporary bleachers and portable washrooms. Nevertheless, the stage was set for a historic debut of Canadian football in northern California.

    July 17, 1993

    The Gold Miners and Stampeders about to go head to head in Sacramento
    Voet, Gary. “Today’s Game at a Glance.” The Sacramento Bee, 17 July 1993, p. 21)

    The Sacramento Gold Miners opened the 1993 season with a two-game road trip, losing both games in Ottawa and Hamilton. Their first home game was played on Saturday July 17th against the Calgary Stampeders, the defending Grey Cup champions, led by marquee quarterback Doug Flutie.

    Marking the field at Hornet Field in Sacramento prior to the CFL’s debut (The Sacramento Bee)

    A crowd of 20,082 filed into Hornet Field that night to see a great offensive display of football. Flutie and Sacramento quarterback David Archer lit up the scoreboard in what was truly a wild west shootout. You couldn’t have asked for a more exciting game to introduce Sacramento fans to the CFL.  Ultimately, the Stampeders came out on top 38-36. The Gold Miners dropped to 0-3.

    Coverage of the historic first CFL game in Sacramento from a Sacramento perspective.
    (Voet, Gary. “Miners lose a shootout to Calgary.” The Sacramento Bee, 18 July 1993, p. 25.)

    Sacramento finished their inaugural season with a 6-12 record, last place in the West Division. They were somewhat better the following year but still missed the playoffs in a competitive West division. Unfortunately, the Gold Miners would leave Sacramento following the 1994 season. After failing to secure a new stadium or upgrades to Hornet Field, Fred Anderson relocated the Gold Miners to the then-still-new Alamodome in San Antonio in 1995 where they became known as the Texans. In 1996, the CFL ended its American expansion experiment and returned to being an all-Canadian league.

    I reached out to award-winning journalist Bob Graswich, who was a columnist for the Sacramento Bee during the Gold Miners’ CFL run. His column praising the Canadian game resonated with me because it was exactly how I felt (and still do!) about the CFL when compared to the big bad NFL. Reading that sentiment from an American writer helps validate my position.

    Graswich told me the CFL was a “breath of fresh air” for Sacramento. “It was an exciting game, designed for the fans.” An antithesis of the NFL. He speaks very highly of Fred Anderson, saying he was somebody that was difficult not to like. Fred was a Sacramentan through and through, and he reluctantly moved the team only after he ran out of options. Graswich, who visited Anderson before his death, said Fred was truly disappointed that he couldn’t make the CFL work in Sacramento.

    A column by Bob Graswich praising the CFL. Sums up my thoughts perfectly.
    (Graswich, R.E., “Thanks, Fred: You’ve givenus a better game.” The Sacramento Bee, 18 July 1993, p. 23.)

    Fred Anderson was no doubt the most committed of the U.S. team owners. Perhaps under different circumstances and in a different time, things could’ve worked out better. Ironically, years later Sacramento State upgraded Hornet Field and renamed the field in Anderson’s honour – a fitting legacy for a man who did so much for football in Sacramento.

    Perhaps it was the novelty factor. Perhaps it was the name and logo, which I really liked. Whatever the reason, I purchased a Sacramento Gold Miners t-shirt. It was one of my favourites, and I still have it. Well, my daughter actually took it and still wears it to school. How’s that for vintage CFL USA cool?

    It didn’t last long. But football fans in Sacramento enjoyed it while they had it. For a brief period over thirty years ago, Sacramento indeed fell in love with the CFL.

    I remember watching this game on television. My family had just returned from a summer road trip to northern Ontario and Ottawa. We made it home just in the nick of time to catch the game on CBC. I really felt like I was watching the beginning of something big. Seeing Americans embrace Canadian football seemed so satisfying to me at the time. It still does, really.

    Back home in Calgary, Tom Elder was also watching this game with excitement. Tom has an extensive library of old CFL games on his Calgary Stampeders Classics YouTube channel . You can watch the historic Calgary-Sacramento game below. Please consider contributing to Tom’s project if you can. It takes a considerable amount of time, resources, and effort to help preserve some of these great CFL memories.

  • The CFL Scores in Saint John

    The Canadian Football League has long pined for a presence in Atlantic Canada. In fact, Halifax has been granted not one but two conditional expansion franchises, the emphasis on “conditional” as neither attempt materialized. When Moncton opened its new stadium in 2010 there was some chatter about the Hub City being a home for a future CFL team. While no expansion team has been forthcoming, Moncton has hosted three regular season CFL games. And of course, there have been regular season games played in Halifax and Acadia University in Wolfville, Nova Scotia, as well.

    “CFL Tickets Go On Sale May 1.” Saint John Times-Globe, 23 April 1986, p. 29.

    But the CFL actually made its debut in the Maritimes back 1986 when Saint John, New Brunswick hosted an exhibition game between the Montreal Alouettes and Winnipeg Blue Bombers. The game, played at the then newly constructed Canada Games Stadium, drew a crowd of over 11,000 fans who saw the Bombers down the Als 35-10.

    “10,000 Assured for CFL Game.” Saint John Telegraph-Journal and Evening Times-Globe, 6 June 1986, p. 31.

    It appears the game was designed to take the CFL on the road and expose the product to a new market rather than to test the waters for a prospective expansion site. In fact, CFL Commissioner Doug Mitchell seemed to go out his way to temper any expansion expectations. Still, New Brunswickers embraced the CFL and the players enjoyed the Atlantic hospitality.

    Munford, Bruce. “Thousands Flock to See Bombers Blast Montreal.” Saint John Evening Times-Globe, 9 June 1986, p. 15.

    The Bombers were quarterbacked by veteran Tom Clements, who had his way with the Montreal defence. A scary moment occurred early in the game when Montreal’s Nick Arakgi suffered a broken vertebrae when he was hit after reaching up high for an overthrown pass by Montreal quarterback Joe Barnes. He was taken to the hospital and ended up missing the entire 1986 CFL season.

    Saint John Mayor Elsie Wayne was ecstatic about having the CFL in her city. She presented Winnipeg head coach Cal Murphy with a trophy called the Saint John CFL Cup after the game.

    A Labatt’s ad sponsoring the CFL game in Saint John. (Saint John Telegraph-Journal, 6 June 1986, p. 71.)
    An ad promoting the CFL game in Saint John. (Saint John Telegraph-Journal, 6 June 1986, p. 72.)

    The CFL’s success in Saint John in 1986 prompted the league to return the following year for another exhibition game. This time, Montreal played the Hamilton Tiger-Cats. The Ti-Cats won 14-13 in what turned out to be the last game for the Montreal Alouettes who folded a couple weeks later.

    Kelly Ryback was the original “Buzz”, the mascot of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers. Here are his personal reflections of the event.

    The ’86 trip was a career and life highlight!

    I had never been to an ocean or feasted on lobster. I was on the advance team in Saint John Wednesday through Sunday.

    We stayed at the Hilton on the harbour, ate lobster, mussels, and frog legs several times. We were hosted by Labatt’s with summer student valets. One became a friend for life, still 39 years later.

    Meeting Mayor Elsie Wayne in her office was a hoot and she later hosted a fine reception where we were all presented with City of Saint John ties.

    The crowd of 12K+ was fantastic and it was a bright, sunny day.

    An absolutely incredible event.

    A souvenir t-shirt from the 1986 CFL game in Saint John and a City of Saint John tie.
    Photo provided by Kelly Ryback.

  • Remembering My First CFL Game

    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.

  • Alouette, gentille alouette, Alouette, je te plumerai.

    Concordes. Bulldogs. Hornets. Winged Wheelers. Indians. These are some of the names that have been used by Montreal’s football teams over the years. The Montreal Football Club was founded in 1872 and were a member of the Quebec Rugby Football Union. In 1907, Montreal joined Ottawa, Toronto, and Hamilton in forming the Interprovincial Rugby Football Union (IRFU), the precursor to the CFL’s East Division.

    The original Montreal Alouettes logo
    The original Montreal Alouettes logo
    (via sportslogos.net)

    When the IRFU (also known as the Big Four) returned to play in 1945 following the Second World War, Montreal’s team was called the Hornets. Unfortunately, for Montreal football fans, the Hornets finished in last place. The following year, Montreal’s IRFU entry was reorganized, and the Montreal Alouettes were born.

    “Montreal’s Football Entry Named Alouettes.” Ottawa Journal, 21 May 1946, p. 18.
    Officials from the new Montreal Alouettes (Montreal Gazette, 21 May 1946, p. 16.)

    The Montreal Alouettes were founded by Leo Dandurand and Lew Hayman among others. Hayman had led the Toronto Argonauts to several Grey Cups, bringing instant credibility back to Montreal football.

    McGowan, Lloyd. “Take It From Hayman Grid Team a Lew-Lu.” Montreal Star, 21 May 1946, p. 24.

    According to the Alouettes’ website, Messrs. Dandurand and Hayman decided to name the new football club the Alouettes after hearing men singing the Quebecois children’s song Alouette. Alouette is the French word for lark. As in the bird. Now, any Canadian school-aged child can easily recognise the popular song. It is often used to teach English-speaking students the names of various body parts in French and in my humble opinion is one of the catchiest songs around.

    Check out the video below produced by the National Film Board of Canada in 1944. It features the Alouette song along with an animated paper cutout presentation by Norman McLaren and René Jodoin.

    There is a strong connection to the 425 Squadron of the Royal Canadian Air Force. This French-Canadian unit of the RCAF was active during the Second World War and was nicknamed the “Alouette Squadron.” Their motto? Je te plumerai, of course. It’s not surprising that Montreal adopted the Alouette moniker in honour of the Alouette Squadron following the conclusion of the war.

    The Als – the oft-used abbreviation – represented professional football in Montreal through to the early 1980s. Then, after an ownership controversy in 1982 the team folded only to be quickly replaced by a new franchise called the Montreal Concordes. After playing as the Concordes for four seasons, the team readopted the Alouettes name for 1986. Sadly, the renaissance was short lived as the Alouettes ceased operations on the eve of the 1987 CFL season.

    The Montreal Stallions

    In the early 1990s, the Canadian Football League added several teams in the United States as part of an American expansion plan. While most of the expansion teams struggled on and off the field, one major exception was the Baltimore Stallions.

    The Stallions were a dominant force and played in the Grey Cup in both years of their brief existence, winning the championship in 1995. The team also enjoyed great support from the fans in Baltimore and easily led the CFL in attendance. But in 1996 the National Football League announced it would return to Baltimore, causing the Stallions to look for new pastures.

    Ultimately, that new home was to be Montreal. In February 1996, the Stallions left Maryland for Quebec. While the team was initially referred to as the Montreal Stallions, it was generally assumed that the team would be rebranded. And it was obvious to all what that “new” name should be. Thus, after a nine-year absence in the CFL the Montreal Alouettes were back in business.

    “Montreal Alouettes back in business.” Hamilton Spectator, 29 February 1996, p. 29.

    This is the ninth of a series of posts that will explore the stories behind the names of the existing Canadian Football League teams. See the previous post on the Ottawa Redblacks.

  • Red and Black Rough Riding Renegades

    Source:Government of Canada. Photo: Cpl Heather Tiffany

    The colours red and black have long been associated with the city of Ottawa and its various football teams throughout the years. Pay a visit to Parliament Hill or to Rideau Hall, and you will see the Ceremonial Guards donning their traditional black and red uniforms. The Ottawa Football Club, founded in 1876, eventually adopted red and black (and white) as their team colours. This is the team that would become known as the Ottawa Rough Riders in October 1898.

    The story behind the Rough Rider name is clouded in mystery. The “official” line is that Ottawa adopted the name Rough Riders as some sort of tribute to future U.S. President Teddy Roosevelt’s regiment (called the Rough Riders) in the Spanish-American War in 1898. But there is no mention of this connection in local newspapers at the time. Why would a football team in Ottawa be named after a regiment fighting a war that had absolutely nothing to do with Canada, anyway? It really doesn’t make much sense.

    Another suggestion is that the name derives from the lumberjacks or log drivers who used to ride logs down the Ottawa River. Again, though, there isn’t any reference to lumberjacks or log drivers in Ottawa newspapers around the time the football team started using the name.

    Perhaps the Ottawas (yes, they were called that, too) follow the same “rough rider” origins as the Saskatchewan Roughriders. The Regina Roughriders adopted the name in 1924, a reference to the trainers who broke wild horses in the west. In the 1960s and 1970s the Ottawa Rough Riders used a cowboy riding a bucking horse atop a football as their logo. And their mascot was a guy named Okee the Cowboy. So, who knows?

    But there is strong evidence that the Rough Rider name given to Ottawa’s football team had nothing to do with a Teddy Roosevelt tribute or lumberjacks or horse-riding cowboys at all. Instead, the “rough rider” label was most likely used as an insult by a Hamilton journalist. See, in October 1898 the Hamilton Tigers and Ottawa Football Club were involved in an intense couple of games that would determine the champion of the Ontario Rugby Football Union. Ottawa had quite the reputation of being an aggressive or “rough” team. Some back-and-forth trash talk between journalists in Ottawa and Hamilton was almost as intense as the on-field rivalry. The Ottawa Journal accused the Hamilton press of maligning their team by calling them “thugs, “murderers, and “rough riders.”

    Hamilton Spectator reporter C.A. Mitchell calls Ottawa football players “roughriders” (The Ottawa Citizen, 17 October 1898, p. 6.)
    Another Hamilton reporter refers to Ottawa as “Captain Kenney’s rough riders”. Kenney was the Ottawa captain. (“The Tigers at Work.” The Ottawa Journal, 19 October 1898, p. 6.)

    Ultimately, The Ottawa Football Club embraced the insult and began wearing the Rough Rider moniker as a badge of honour. Literally. The team made up pins with the Rough Rider name and distributed them to fans travelling to Hamilton for the second game. It’s entirely possible that the team piggy backed on the “Roosevelt Rough Riders” that were in the news at the time, but the actual origins of football rough riders centred around their reputed rough style of play on the field.

    A reference by Ottawa Citizen reporter to “Roosevelt Kenny” alluding to his hero status after the October 29 rematch between Ottawa and Hamilton. (“The Tiger Hunter’s Laugh.” The Hamilton Spectator, 1 November 1898, p. 4.)
    The Ottawa press accusing the Hamilton press of maligning the Ottawa Football Club by calling them “murderers,” “thugs,” and “rough riders.” (“Ottawa’s Position.” The Ottawa Journal, 31 October 1898, p. 6.)

    Unfortunately, the Ottawa Rough Riders folded following the 1996 CFL season, ending a 120-year football tradition. In 2002, a new CFL team was founded called the Ottawa Renegades. The Renegades, too, adopted red and black as team colours. However, the Renegades met the same fate as the Rough Riders after playing only four seasons.

    It wasn’t until 2014 that the Canadian Football League would return to the Nation’s Capital. There was certainly some support for the new team to be called the Rough Riders. However, Saskatchewan objected to it, and the name didn’t carry the same weight for younger football fans who were either too young or not even born yet to have any recollection of the old Ottawa Rough Riders.

    In the lead up to the CFL’s return, fans were asked to vote online for the new team’s name. The options included the Rush, Nationals, Voyageurs, Raftsmen, and Redblacks.  On June 8, 2013, the team announced that its new name would be the Ottawa REDBLACKS. The nickname is capitalized for marketing purposes. In French, the team is known as the Rouge et Noir.

    The new name was meant with mixed reviews. Detractors suggested it was a made-up word while others pointed to the New Zealand All Blacks, that country’s national rugby team, as an example of a successful moniker named simply after team colours. Surely, Ottawa’s new team could be seen through the same lens.

    In the end, football fans in Ottawa rallied around their new team. The Red and Black plays homage to the old Ottawa Rough Riders’ colours, the Ceremonial Guards, as well as the plaid jackets worn by the great lumberjacks of the area. The Ottawa REDBLACKS name sounds like a perfect solution, really. And it sure beats the Ottawa Murderers or Ottawa Thugs, doesn’t it?

    A special thanks to Chris Sinclair and Ian Symes who pointed me in the right direction when it came to the origins behind the Ottawa Rough Riders name. Thanks, guys. – RF

    Further reading:

    https://redandblackrecall.blogspot.com/2021/05/that-whole-name-thing.html

    https://cfldb.ca/faq/teams

    This is the eigth of a series of posts that will explore the stories behind the names of the existing Canadian Football League teams. See the previous post on the Toronto Argonauts.