CFL doesn't select London as site

Tiger-Cats schedule for Guelph announced

By Mark Schadenberg

I’m still mildly miffed.

You could say, put a tick beside my name of CFL fans somewhat ticked that London didn’t receive any Hamilton Tiger-Cats home games.

The Canadian Football League’s Tabbies will call the University of Guelph home for eight (nine including pre-season) home dates and Moncton, New Brunswick for one contest.

When the CFL released its full schedule this past week, I was in the camp that was still hoping and wishing you could put three cities down for Hamilton football in 2013 as the Ticats (www.ticats.ca) usual home Yvor Wynne Stadium is getting a complete re-build.

Take it from someone who has seen more than 20 football games in London’s TD Waterhouse complex (Rogers TV commentary for Mustangs, OVFL and even London high school championships), the Western University campus would have been a good choice for our pro pigskin. Temporary seats could easily increase capacity to 18,000 (There will be 14,000 ducats in Guelph). The CFL might envision expansion in the future, which I think should include all of -- Quebec City, Moncton, Halifax and London.

I would guess that Guelph became the logical selection because geographically it’s much closer for Tigers-Cats fans to make the trek from Steel Town to the Royal City.

Anyway, here’s some bits and pieces of three stories that appeared in The Guelph Mercury newspaper

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Tony Saxon & Drew Edwards

The Guelph Mercury

March 6, 2013

Give the Hamilton Ticats credit. They delivered a spirited ‘Guelph’ launch event Wednesday.

GUELPH – The only thing missing was the marching band.

Like every good pep rally, the Hamilton Tiger-Cats officially kicked off their year in Guelph Wednesday with a gala event at the Cutten Fields complete with cheerleaders, rousing speeches and cherished alumni.

“It’s about fun, first and foremost, but for us in Guelph, this is a bit more. This will become part of our sports history,” Guelph Mayor Karen Farbridge said.

Although the temporary redesign of Alumni Stadium is yet complete, it is expected to hold roughly 14,000 fans for the nine home games the Tiger-Cats will play there this summer.

Around 3,000 of those seats will be reserved for Guelph residents.

Ticats Director of Ticket Sales and Service Gerry Fonzo said Guelph fans wanting to put down deposits on a season ticket can call the team’s ticket office now. Prices will range from roughly $300 to $835.

Single game tickets are expected to go on sale mid-May.

Canadian Football League president Mark Cohon was one of roughly 250 people in attendance at Wednesday’s event, including U of G vice-president Brenda Whiteside, Gryphon football coach Stu Lang and members of Guelph’s high school and minor football programs.

King Kong Mosca

Owner Bob Young, President Scott Mitchell, several players, head coach/general manager Kent Austin and legendary alumni Angelo Mosca represented the Tiger-Cats.

Ticats owner Bob Young said the team resonates beyond the borders of Hamilton and has no doubt its year in Guelph will be a success.

“It’s so much a part of the history of not just Hamilton, but Southern Ontario and Canada generally,” Young said.

The Ticats released their 2013 schedule and it has them playing one pre-season game and eight regular season games at the University of Guelph stadium. The Tiger-Cats also have a regular-season game scheduled to be played at Moncton in September.

First game at Alumni Stadium will be a pre-season tilt with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers June 20. Game time is 7 p.m.

The Ticats will not be playing their annual Labour Day Classic against the Toronto Argonauts. However, those two teams are to play at Alumni Stadium on Thanksgiving Monday (Oct. 14) at 4:30 p.m.

Six of the Ticats home games at Alumni Stadium are to be played on Saturdays, with game times varying from 1 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. They’re also to play one Sunday game.

Tabbies Schedule

The following is the Ticats schedule for Alumni Stadium.

Thur., June 20: vs. Winnipeg, 7 p.m. (Exhibition)

Sun., July 7: vs. Edmonton, 5 p.m.

Sat., July 13: vs. Winnipeg, 6:30 p.m.

Sat., July 27: vs. Saskatchewan, 7:30 p.m.

Sat., Aug. 24: vs. Winnipeg, 1 p.m.

Sat., Sept. 7: vs. B.C., 4 p.m.

Sat., Sept. 28: vs. Calgary, 6 p.m.

Mon., Oct. 14: vs. Toronto, 4:30 p.m.

Sat., Oct. 26: vs. Montreal, 1 p.m.

Learning Curve 

Given that it’s his first year at the helm, coach Kent Austin acknowledged there will likely be a learning curve for players as they learn new schemes and terminology on both offence and defence. The schedule may ease whatever growing pains there are.

“I like the fact that going down the stretch, six of the last seven games are against Eastern opponents,” Austin said. “All games matter but some games matter more. Hopefully, we’re playing our best football and we’re healthy at that time of the year.”

 “We had some interesting offers to play some neutral site games but we thought that one would be plenty, particularly because of the reaction in Guelph,” Mitchell said.