A Change of Attitude — A Call to the CFL Media to Inspire

HAMILTON — The Cats returned to Tiger-Town last Friday to face off against the Edmonton Eskimos for another Beautiful Night for Football. 

For some Ti-Cat fans, the media, and perhaps the Cats players themselves, the sunny sky and 27 degree temperature was the only thing beautiful about Friday Night Football in Hamilton.

With the weather reminiscent of the season opener against the Alouettes, there was no where to go but up from that rough start, and the forgettable outing the week prior in Eskimo rival territory.

The beating in Calgary was probably the toughest loss of the season. Saskatchewan was a heart-breaker and Montreal was what it was, but after doubling our QEW rivals, and coming so close to upsetting the still undefeated Roughriders, the signs were all there that things were looking up in Tiger-Town.

Offensively, the first half wasn’t the most exciting two quarters of football.  The 6-3 score at the end of the half could have been lopsided in Edmonton’s favor, if not for the defence stepping up and keeping the 'Cats in the game.

As was the case in Week 4, the third quarter started off on a high note. The Cats offence, led by Casey Printers, marched deep into Eskies territory, only to have to settle for a field goal after Printers left the game with a thumb injury.

The second half was a little more offensive. Richie Williams stepped up in relief and gave fans something to get excited about – especially the last few couple of minutes.

I will admit, up until the drive that saw Williams throw for a 40 yarder, and Lumsden complete the series with a 29 yard run for a touchdown, the only thing, other than the weather, that I had been inspired to write about, was watching the infamous Pigskin Pete walking around the stadium with his prodigy, Danny “Pigskin Pete’" Black. The elder Pete signing autographs, all smiles, enjoying his retirement yet still finding comfort in being surround by the people that he spent so many years calling in to cheer.

No sooner had the Cats gone up 13-9, when Ray and the Eskimos marched back down the field with a touchdown of their own; quickly putting them back on top 16-13.

The fans start to leave.

A warm summers night, blue skies, bla, bla, bla … Cats only down by three points. Two-and-a-half minutes left to play. Lot’s of time in the CFL. 19-13.

More fans leave.

“We are still only one score from winning this thing!”

Sure, with the way the Hamilton offence had been playing, coming back from 16-13, never mind 19-16, didn’t look good, but isn’t that what’s great about this game? Anything can happen.

I was a little disappointed with the fans leaving early that night, but after watching the local 11 o’clock news, what really upset me was the way the media responded to this loss.

The sports caster who does the late night news had nothing nice to say about the Tiger-Cats. That certainly wasn’t the most exciting game I had attended in all my years either, but I was disappointed in his lack of enthusiasm. Just another loss from a team that was going nowhere. Those who were at the game, caught it on the radio, or saw the tail end on television after the black out was lifted in the fourth quarter, understands that this team is still going through some serious growing pains.

Cats Crash. Offence Sputters. Same old Tiger-Cats, Another Loss. All headlines in the paper the following morning.

Those articles did go on (in all fairness), to highlight some positives, but if the fans only catch the sports highlights on television, or the headlines in the newspaper, those few words could be the difference between filling the stadium, or people taking those little chunks of big bold text, as a reason to wait for a few more ‘Ti-Cats Win’ captions before they jump on the bandwagon and support this team.

What this team, this league needs from the media and the fans, is a change of attitude. I am not saying to sugar coat it. We should be open about how unhappy we are about our team constantly losing, but don’t dwell on it.

Bottom line is, we have to fill these stadiums. When the skies are blue, it’s 27 degrees, and Friday night, there is no reason why we shouldn’t be able to sell 30,000 seats, and have local bars packed full of passionate fans who couldn’t get tickets.

This isn’t the theatre. If a play stinks people stop going, the crew packs up and they leave town. Sure the Cats have stunk out the league the better part of the past three years, but the difference with football, is that if you stop going, stop supporting your team, stop believing, they may just pack up too, and then all that’s left is the dream that football might find it’s way back to your hometown again someday. Ask Ottawa how it feels to lose something that means so much to your community - twice.

Bob Young saved this team from suffering the same fate as Ottawa, but there is only so much one man can do. In the end, it is up to us, the fans (which I hope includes the media), to step up and show our support for everything he and the Cats organization have done (and continue to do), to make football in Hamilton fun again.

I challenge the media, to make the first words you speak or write about your hometown teams, optimistic if nothing else. Be positive. Headlines, the first few paragraphs, they are a fans first impression.

My challenge to the fans: What if every stadium across Canada was sold old next weekend? Perhaps it is time to give the players something to play for, instead of waiting for them to give us a reason to support them. Sure, they are paid to play, football is their job, but in the end, they are only human. Everyone needs inspiration. Be theirs.

An optimist? Naïve? Maybe a little bit of both, but bottom line, I love this game and what it represents in our communities.

My challenge to the media: You have the ability to influence fans. To inspire change.

It’s A Beautiful Night for Football. Click your cleats. There is no place like home.