Mike, you keep bringing up subjects that bring back memories from long ago. During the war, we played high school games at HAAA. Four of the five schools, Central, Cathedral, Delta, and Tech. played their home games at Civic Stadium, but Westdale played theirs at HAAA. Home field advantage?
mr62cats mentions track meets at Civic Stadium. I ran there too, and it was a great track, unless you were tripped and hit the cinders. All in a day's work. The Hamilton Olympic Club was a big deal in those days. We practiced at Civic Stadium, and in the glory days the club held it's own Track Meet every Wednesday night through the summer
Ah. memories. And ah, pep rallies. All part of the spirit of Tiger Football.
When things have gone wrong, as they sometimes will,
When the road to the Grey Cup seems all up hill,
When the funds are low and the debts are high,
And you want to smile, but you have to sigh,
When care is pressing you down in a pit,
Rest if you must, but don't you dare quit!
Life is queer with its twists and turns,
As every one of us sometimes learns,
And many a failure has turned about,
When they might have won had they just stuck it out.
Don't give up though the pace seems slow,
You may succeed with another blow!
Often the goal is nearer than It seems to a faint and faltering one,
Often the struggler has given up
When they might have captured the Canadian Grey Cup.
And they learned too late, when the night slipped down,
How close they were to the sparkling grey crown.
Success is failure turned inside out,
The silver tint to the clouds of doubt.
And you never can tell how close you are,
It may be near when it seems so far.
So stick to the task when you're hardest hit,
It's when things seem the worst, that you must not quit !
Oskie Wee Wee
Oskie Waa Waa
Holy Mackinaw
Tigers... Eat 'em RAW!! Go Cat's Go
Upon further digging, I found something even better:
Here's the plaque I spoke of earlier and it seems that the number of Grey Cups played at the HAAA was 7 instead of the 10 that I erroneously reported..............Hamilton won 4 of them.....
Wow. The HAAA grounds hosted football for 77 years! That's worth a plaque..and then some.
I think it would be a great idea at some time to get a gang together, call the media and have a pep rally there for the Tiger-Cats. I'll gladly make the pilgrimage in from Peterborough.
An historical reminder and some razzle-dazzle for everyone in Hamilton.
My Dad tells me about Ticat pep rallies downtown – most likely he’s refering to this one. Always sounds like it’d be a lot of fun. Would be cool if the Cats and the folks in charge of downtown (in conjunction with the art folks) could arrange some stuff like this. Get crowds down there, have some fun stuff and music going on, and have it under the banner of a Ticat Pep Rally. I think it’d be pretty fun. Would be cool if, somehow you could pull it off in Gore Park.
Yep, those rallies were always fun, especially the ones in front of the Royal Connaught. They created a lot of buzz and excitement downtown and really hyped the up-coming game. I have fond memories of going with my friends.
[quote="mr62cats"]Great thread deerhunter.
The last Tiger-Cat pep rally I was at was in 1961.....it was at Jackson Square (long before what's there now) if I remember correctly.
8) TiCat rallies were always held in front of the Royal Connaught Hotel back then.
In 1961, there were still stores in the present location of Jackson Square !!
No room there at all for rallies, just as it is today.
Im not getting into that battle again about tickets …But your right i got my tickets for Greenback tail kicking party …So another time the ticats got Me off the couch so if its happening to ME maybe others like me that haven’t been attending are Now … Good things take time …Once ya lost the fans takes tons of effort and a good team to get some fans back .
Maybe you don’t want to hear couple games a year but its a start considering what fans have been threw in Hamilton
Take the comment for what its worth you come into a thread thats talking about the old pep rally and club history and where it all started !!! Your in the wrong subject to be talking ticket sales …I bet most of the posters on this subject all ready have season tickets or have been to games this year …So maybe take the comment to somewhere that needs it
Im not against your post i just think the conversation would better be in another area other then talking history and the start of the Great Hamilton Tigercat’s Football Club …
No ticket sales, no money.
Memories dont pay the bills and memories dont pay the salaries of good players and good coaches to produce winning football.
Pretty soon memories will be all that's left.
Be constructive. Save the pep rallies for when the Cats make it to the Grey Cup.
Right now what the team really needs are asses in the seats both economically and for vocal support.
Tipper:
Not the one I remember …and I don’t think my mind has completely gone yet even though it was 48 years ago. If I am wrong about the location, I am sure it was not outside the hotel. My Dad worked there.
It was for the Grey Cup…I remember the players being introduced on a platform and a heck of a noisy crowd. It would have been just across the street from the old Downtown movie theatre. That was my last rally. I left Hamilton that New Year’s Eve by train to join the RCAF and never moved back.
The Spec archives would have something on it.
8) Well mr62cats, you are half right there. The old Palace Theatre located on King St. was across the road from the
Royal Connaught Hotel. The rallies were always held in front of the hotel, where they set up a big platform for the
players to be introduced on. They would close off one half of King St. to traffic and the fans would gather in that area
directly in front of the hotel for the festivities.
They usually held these rallies just before a Grey Cup game, or an Eastern Final, being played in Hamilton.
I can vividly remember crowds in the 3-5000 figure attending these events !!
By the way, I don't think your mind has completely gone !! Not as of yet, anyway !! <!-- s:wink: -->:wink:<!-- s:wink: --> <!-- s:lol: -->:lol:<!-- s:lol: -->
Well these are all Great ideas for future plans ...... I hope the mods do more then erase posts and take down these great ideas for some future pep rallies or celebration of football in Hamilton ... I love to hear the old storys about out city period ...
Even no the Conversation reveals ruffly how many years on me you gentlemen have .....hahahahah its great to compare and see if what has taken place over the years! People forget how close the city and the tigercat's were at one time . With the big top 2 steel giants and many other foundry's and union drawn steel companys ( i no im not labeling them all ) but we don't have that brotherly love and that unity of people like we use to .....Now its easier to tell some one off then to say sorry ...or hey man my fault can i by ya a beer ...Society in general has changed so much i think there is one thing that brings people together in time likes these its sports ...
8) Well mr62cats, you are half right there. The old Palace Theatre located on King St. was across the road from the
Royal Connaught Hotel. The rallies were always held in front of the hotel, where they set up a big platform for the
players to be introduced on. They would close off one half of King St. to traffic and the fans would gather in that area
directly in front of the hotel for the festivities.
They usually held these rallies just before a Grey Cup game, or an Eastern Final, being played in Hamilton.
I can vividly remember crowds in the 3-5000 figure attending these events !!
By the way, I don't think your mind has completely gone !! Not as of yet, anyway !! <!-- s:wink: -->:wink:<!-- s:wink: --> <!-- s:lol: -->:lol:<!-- s:lol: --></blockquote>
Tipper:
Thanks for the vote of confidence! I’ll defer to your familiarity with the events but I could have sworn it was on James Street. It’s tough being a geezer
I may be down for the game Saturday. The last time I parked behind where the Palace was located and took the free bus. Maybe I had better buy a GPS system just in case. :?
Well, all in all, it sounds as if there are a lot of great memories of the old downtown pep rallies. I realize that within the current Ticats organization there are very few who have experienced what we are talking about..................perhaps the only few who remember or have attended them would be Bob Young and Mark Bowden.
