T.O. versus Steel City: A Tradition Continues

Whether its football, baseball or another sport altogether, Toronto and Hamilton simply don't get along, with good reason. The eastern side of the Queen Elizabeth Way is the preppy, white-collar administration side of Ontario (quite like Ottawa) while the western side of the QEW is the ungroomed, blue-collar workers side of Ontario (quite like the rest of Ontario outside of Toronto), neither have much in common except for their discord for one another. Which is exactly why both cities will continue to hate the other, their separate histories, cultures and heritages with a passion, and is also a nice microcosm as to why the Province of Ontario isn't all one flavour, colour or way of life as many claim which it's obviously not.

Represented in the Eastern Division of the Canadian Football League, both Toronto Argonauts and Hamilton Tiger Cats are the two teams you love to watch play the other team you love to hate (other than Stamps of Calgary and Esks of Edmonton) as both perennial rivals were traditionally pitted against one another whether it was the Labour Day Classic which exclusively gives Hamilton home-field advantage at Ivor Wynne Stadium, or even the rare Thanksgiving Day Classic (Canada's Thanksgiving Day is the same date as the United States of America's Columbus Day) that might allow Toronto to gain the edge with play at either Varsity, Exhibition or Skydome stadiums.

Between both clubs, these games were not exhibitions, campaigns or battles, nay they were real wars. Though interrupted 19 times, including the inexcusable 1995 agreement to play Week 11 with the Baltimore Stallions at Hamilton where the Tiger Cats lost 41-14 while Week 12 would be played with the San Antonio Texans at Toronto where the Argonauts lost 47-28 (ironically also the same year Baltimore beat Calgary 37-20 at Taylor Field in Regina to take the Grey Cup down south) under Larry Smith-John Tory's watch, the war would live on with the Tiger Cats holding the belt with a wonderful record of 27-8 and one tie in 2004 at 30 after regulation and shootout play. Yet in the Grey Cup department, the Argonauts rule the roost with 15 wins and 22 when you include the Varsity Blues, Beachers and Hurricanes versus the Tiger Cats who only have 8 wins and 15 when you include the Alerts, Tigers and Flying Wildcats including one classic in 1912 where the Alerts beat the Argos 11-4 at Hamilton's Triple A (Amateur Athletic Association) Grounds!

Even in the Ontario University Athletics (formerly the Ontario Universities Athletic Association) division of the Canadian Interuniversity Sport (formerly the Canadian Interuniversity Athletic Union), a strong antagonism survives between these two tug-of-warriors in the form of the University of Toronto Varsity Blues and the McMaster University Marauders, with Toronto leading the row 26 to 4 Yates Cup and 2 to 0 Vanier Cup victories (Toronto had 22 Yates and lone invitational College Bowl win against the University of Alberta 14-7 at Varsity Stadium, before McMaster even got to its first though their lone College Bowl 9-10 loss against those same Golden Bears at Varsity in 1967 was the first to officially go national).

Now the independent Inter County Major Baseball League is a different story between them which is why the Toronto Maple Leafs (unlike the hockey club) and Hamilton Thunderbirds (formerly the Cardinals, who I was asked to workout and tryout for, before leaving for junior football in 1998) rivalry hasn't been as hot since their fight for the right to have Damon Allen on their roster to pitch (those Redbirds won that round in 1992 thanks to the Ti-Cats and the City of Hamilton, while the Buds wouyld later take on former World Series champion outfielder Rob Butler, Toronto Blue Jays pitcher Paul Spoljaric and current Atlanta Braves designate Pete Orr to make up for it in recent years), but I have heard that Bernie Arbour Stadium up on Upper Kenilworth and Mohawk road east still has its good nights after the club changed ownership in 2005.

Inter-County used to be Canada's amateur baseball league operating since 1919 in Central-Southern Ontario where back in the day future hockey great Wayne Gretzky fielded for today's Brantford Red Sox and future Prime Minister Lester Pearson pitched for today's Guelph Royals (also whom the Pearson Cup was named after, for the winner of the annual mid-season major league baseball exhibition between former Canadian rivals, the Toronto Blue Jays and the Montréal Expos-Washington Nationals), but since the Canadian Baseball League (Major League Baseball star and Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame member Ferguson Jenkins being its Commissioner) folded in 2003 many of its players with professional baseball experience from Mexico, the Caribbean and South America like ex-Brave Francisco Cabrera, ex-Expo Floyd Youmans and ex-Blue Jay Rich Butler have made it into a semi-professional AAA International, Northern or Frontier League.

Seven times a champion are the Leafs, winning the ICMBL championship in from the early 1970s onward and in 2002 were undefeated with a perfect record at home, while the Cardinal-Thunderbird past isn't quite so illustrious in the glory file, which makes this year's near top Maple Leafs (also unlike the hockey club ones, is known for its fan-friendly free admission at the Christie Pits ballpark, on the corner of Bloor and Christie streets) and near bottom Thunderbirds likely possible first round series, after a 36-game regular season that began in May and concludes in August, for the Jack and Lynne Dominico Trophy playdowns not as important as it once was, yet still important enough when one remembers the Canadiana magic behind it.

Back to an add-on for football, while Toronto has arm and hammer problems with Ricky Williams for the upcoming Labour Day Classic, one sees Hamilton's woes will continue to haunt them if they keep releasing the good guys and hold on to the rest, as Assistant General Manager and Interim Head Coach Ron Lancaster announced after dropping 5-foot-7 import slotback Craig Yeast that "this was a step backward". The 1-6 Ti-Cats need a 5-foot-6 over/under electrifying explosive all purpose diminutive returnman like current Argos Head Coach Michael "Pinball" Clemons or a Henry "Gizmo" Williams who enters the Canadian Football Hall of Fame as an Edmonton Eskimo this year, yet after Week 7 this club seems destined to go out at worse a one win wonder and at best tie up the laces to find a couple more for three without any star power, I mean August isn't even here yet and already they are out of contention for a playoff spot. So perhaps that Flutie brothers idea floated back in 2003 was just the thing those Tabbies there needed, perhaps Hamilton's chain of command starting with Bob Young is looking into this right now unless the future option really is Richie Williams, does he just need Doug's and Darren's cell phone number to make it happen?