Disclaimer 1: I’m a crazy football fan.
Okay, so this isn’t news to anyone who has known me for more than thirty seconds or stepped inside my office or followed me when I’m coaching one of my three teams I lead…a year! I love the CFL, CIS, NCAA, GFL (German Football League), and the NFL. But like most Canadian football fans I have long wished we could tailgate like our pigskin loving cohorts to the South. For a true fan, a three-hour game isn’t long enough. It needs to be primed with three hours of food, suds, and football talk. It needs to be energized by meeting new friends, high fiving strangers, and listening to the tales of the old-timers. Outdoors, in a parking lot or an empty field or wide trekked golf course, your BBQ sizzling, and your beverages flowing. That’s football.
Disclaimer 2: I’m an Argos season ticket holder.
I haven’t been for super long. A few years. But I wanted to support the team despite the fact that football in the Rogers Centre just didn’t work for me. Yes, I was somewhat motivated by the work we do with the CFL and brands such as Nissan, but if your clients can’t rely on your support, then something is really wrong. Even though I didn’t make it to many games, the others were all used by very appreciative recipients of the MH3 ticket fairy. So the money was well spent.
Until this year. I couldn’t believe my eyes as to how quickly the sale of the team to Bell and Larry Tannenbaum resulted in their moving to the marvelous BMO Field. My first and swift reaction was to renew my season tickets for 2016. My patience was about to be rewarded! Football at BMO. Naturally outdoors! Yeah baby!
Disclaimer 3: The Toronto Argonauts are my client.
I wasn’t the only person excited about the Argos sale and move. Newly minted President and CEO, Michael Copeland, deservedly holds the mantle for being most excited. He needs to. He’s in charge of a 100-year-old start-up! One of his first tasks for reinvention was to pursue the tailgating experience he knows so well as a Michigan football goer. Luckily for me, his team reached out to T1 and engaged us to help them turn the fantasy of beer in parking lots into reality.
In an unbelievably collegial wave of cooperation that would embarrass the UN, the Argos, the city, Ontario Place, Exhibition Place, MADD, AGCO, and others all worked together to make this thing come to life. They say it takes a village. They are right!
Last weekend we tested the first tailgate event at BMO, and it was magical. The fans knew what to do. They brought foosball tables, mini footballs, full-sized footballs, girlfriends, moms, kids, barbecues, picnic tables, coolers, tablecloths, and music. We brought them sunshine, inexpensive perfectly-chilled beer, marching bands, cheerleaders, and smiles.
It was amazing. I wished I had spent the whole day there.
Disclaimer 4: I’m actually a diehard Ottawa Rough Riders fan.
This is a strange thing to say after declaring that the Argos are my client. Well, it has a purpose in the mix. Ottawa has been successfully reborn. New name (can’t say I like). New stadium (can easily say I love). New team (Grey Cup finalists!)
Now it’s the Argos’ turn.
Disclaimer 5: I became an Argos fan when they traded for Condredge Holloway.
I was crushed when Holloway left the Riders, but he made me cheer for the Argos. He was a dangerous scrambler with a shot-put-like throwing method and a ‘fro that I modelled my hair after.
He was also a pioneer. The first black QB in the SEC and obviously at the University of Tennessee. He was also the school’s first black baseball player. He won a Grey Cup for Ottawa and another for Toronto, so now I had two teams to cheer for!
Disclaimer 6: One of my childhood nicknames was Leon, after Argos RB X-Ray McQuay of the famous 1971 Grey Cup fumble.
If you don’t know who McQuay is, or what the Argo Bounce means, or who Joe Krol or Joe Theismann were, then you need to learn. Because the Argos are a rich, rich, rich part of our city’s history. The infamous Argooooos call is heard at sporting events everywhere. I kid you not, I heard it at the London Olympics.
But if history isn’t your favourite subject, then perhaps you prefer Social Studies. If so, then you should get to an Argos game this summer, and get ready to have the best experience. The tailgating zone is only going to get bigger. There will soon be a setup for people who travel by transit or foot, because the Argos want everyone to be able to tailgate. The setting by the lake is magical. The stadium comes alive with every hit and hut.
Every week I do get someone suggesting I blog about their activity or event. Every couple of weeks I get accused of being paid. Or biased. Let’s set things straight. Nobody has offered enough for me to accept payment for writing a blog. Everybody knows I’m biased and I admit to being guilty as charged.
