By 1983, my Hamilton Tiger-Cats fandom was pretty solid.
I had jumped on their bandwagon when Canadian Football League games were first beamed into my living room back in the early 70s, and my fondness for the Tabbies was holding strong.
With a black and gold color scheme and a hyphenated nickname born of the merger of the Hamilton Tigers and Hamilton Wildcats, what wasn’t to love?
But for a brief period that year, it appeared I might have to look for another side to support: Ti-Cats owner Harold Ballard threatened to fold the team.
Ballard wanted to move the franchise to Toronto’s Varsity Stadium after the Hamilton city council refused to renovate Ivor Wynne Stadium and grant him concession rights.
“We have been approached by the Tiger-Cats and all I can say at this point is that we have been asked what would be involved in moving the club to Toronto,” CFL commissioner Jake Gaudaur told United Press Canada on March 15, 1983. “We replied that the team would have to receive permission from the Toronto Argonauts and then from the CFL.”
Permission was denied.
The Argos quickly exercised their territorial rights, and prevented the Tiger-Cats from shifting 40 miles east and creating an intra-city arch rivalry.
Thus, Ballard put the club was on the chopping block, threatening to relegate the Oskee Wee Wee cheer (“Oskee wee wee! Oskee wa wa! Holy mackinaw! Tigers, eat ‘em raw!”) to the dustbin of history.
But 1983 was also the first season of the United States Football League, and Canadian John Bassett – who owned the Tampa Bay Bandits of the USFL – was chairman of the fledgling circuit’s expansion committee.
After failing nine years earlier to get a Toronto franchise in the World Football League (I wrote about Bassett’s WFL days last week), he believed Hamilton could have a future in the USFL.
“Hamilton is a great football city,” Bassett said in a Canadian Press story published on March 22. “It’s rich in football tradition and Ivor Wynne Stadium is acceptable. I know all kinds of people in Canada who would be willing to own a USFL franchise in Hamilton. I absolutely guarantee that it would take less than two days to get owners from the USFL to approve of Hamilton.
“If (Ballard) wanted to leave Hamilton, or if he wants to fold the Tiger-Cats, the USFL would welcome the opportunity to take advantage of the Hamilton football market. The people in Hamilton are sitting there thinking they can lose a football club, but they should know it won’t take very much to get another club.”
Ballard was a majority owner of the NHL Toronto Maple Leafs, so it made sense he’d want his football team in the same town as his skaters.
After being rebuffed by the city council, he had all the Ti-Cats equipment loaded on a van and moved to Maple Leaf Gardens.
“It’s all over,” Ballard said. “I’m changing the location of the team.”
Hamilton mayor Bob Morrow wanted to keep Hamilton a CFL city, of course, but reportedly expressed interest in the USFL if Ballard pulled the plug. After all, competing in a new circuit would be better than having no tackle football team at all.
Morrow announced that he had been charged with mediating the dispute.
“Council has authorized me to negotiate with the necessary people to keep the Ti-Cats in Hamilton, and that includes Mr. Ballard,” Morrow said in a radio interview. “I’m confident we can do that. We’ll do what we have to do.
“The bottom line is keeping our team. I’m looking closely at every aspect of our association with Mr. Ballard.”
If you don’t remember the “Hamilton to the USFL” talk – and the only reason I know anything about it is because I stumbled across it doing research – it might be because it ended almost as quickly as it began.
On March 23, the Hamilton city council – following six hours of debate – reached an agreement with Ballard. They approved a $300,000 contract package for use of the stadium, and Ballard got control of all concessions at Ivor Wynne.
“I’m glad to be back in Hamilton,” Ballard said after the deal was closed. “The politicians are lousy, but the people have always treated me fine. They even cheered me once.”
As intriguing as the thought of the Hamilton Hammers (or Hamilton Whatevers) participating in four-down football might have been, the original USFL played just three seasons.
Fortunately for gridiron supporters in Steeltown – and me – the Tiger-Cats play on.
The club is now owned by Hamilton Sports Group, with Bob Young the largest shareholder, and Ivor Wynne Stadium was demolished in 2013; the Tabbies currently ply their trade at Hamilton Stadium (originally Tim Hortons Field).
And all those years later, I’m still a fan – of both the Ti-Cats and the Canadian Football League.
Which reminds me … the Ti-Cats host the Argos in a preseason game on May 24. I should probably go ahead and start working on my Oskee Wee Wee cheer.