Cats played home game in Philadelphia 1958

Interesting article how the Cats played a home game in Philly in 1958 and how/why it transpired...

[url]http://www.thespec.com/sports/ticats/article/597481--home-away-from-home-has-happened-before-for-ticats[/url]

Thanks tangle for this link, super read. :thup:

no probs. It is intriguing to say the least.

If Americans were more familiar with the Canadian game/rules, it may have been a success.

I had heard of that game in the past but have never read so much detail about it. Very cool. Thanks!

I was at that game in Philadelphia. Four of us who worked together jumped in a car Saturday afternoon and headed out. In those days, cars and highways weren’t quite as good as today.

My clearest recollection of that day…at halftime, talking with some Americans who were sitting near us. Ottawa had the lead at halftime, and these Americans were commiserating that we were probably going to lose. We assured them that our team’s strategy was to concentrate in the first half on physically pounding the opposition, then surging in the second half against a tired defense. sure enough, that’s exactly how the second half played out.

Then, grab something to eat, back in the car, drive half the night, and show up for work Monday morning. And, of course, we spent much of that day regaling our co-workers about the game. There was real disappointment, but no real surprise, that the game had not been well attended by the Americans.

Great story Wilf. Thanks for sharing.

Why do you believe attendance was abysmal? Marketing? American indifference?

I can’t speculate on how much, or how effective, the marketing was in Philadelphia. It was promoted well here, but there was a limit on how many fans would be able to travel to the game.

American indifference? Of course that was a factor. Not well remembered, but a factor, is the way the CFL was viewed by by the American sports fraternity. A popular comparison in the States in those days went like this…

The NFL is a league in which white QB’s throw to fast black guys. The CFL is a league in which black QB’s throw to slow white guys.

A little nasty, but containing a lot of truth. There was no opportunity for the American fan to be exposed to the Canadian game, so it was like asking them to spend money to watch a completely unknown entity.