Winnipeg Free Press

Hamilton Tiger-Cats
#1

I'm from Winnipeg, Bomber fan, no ties or interest in the Tiger Cats.

Just wanted to know your opinion on the following article Doug Brown wrote in the Winnipeg Free Press in reponse to your lame stab at Winnipeg "I'd rather be 1-5 than live in Winnipeg"

Snotty Steeltown attitude a tad confusing

Tue Aug 1 2006

DOUG BROWN

THEY say to never kick a man when he's down. Good advice, but in this instance you have to call 'em like you see 'em, and on Friday morning before the game at breakfast time, I saw a two-page insert in the Hamilton Spectator that advertised "I'D RATHER BE 1 AND 5 THAN FROM WINNIPEG."
My immediate thought for the Hamilton Spectator was "ARE YOU KIDDING ME?" Of course the question now is whether they would rather be 1 and 6 than from Winnipeg, but that really isn't the point of this story.

Drawing from my experiences in the city and of the facilities in Hamilton over the last six years, I can confidently say I would rather be 1 and 6 in Winnipeg than from Canada's version of Steeltown. Having missed last year's trip to Hamilton due to a foot injury (there is a God), this year, I was once again disappointed to see that a lot of things have not changed. The Hamilton "International" airport, while always at the forefront of technology, still has not managed to bridge the gap between the terminal and where the plane stops taxi-ing. Simply from the perspective of transportation, I can't see how anyone would prefer to live in a city where if you need to get somewhere in a prudent manner, you have to drive to another city (Toronto) to catch a flight.

And if you thought Winnipeg's downtown needs a metropolitan makeover, visit Hamilton and it will cure you of all your misgivings. Aside from the charm of shwarma and gyro shops every single block and the biker boys' rally on Hess and King streets, Hamilton is a proverbial ghost town. This is the only road city I travel to in Canada where my eating sites are not pre-determined and sequenced out. Your best bet for lunch could quite possibly be the food fair at the mall, and it will cost you a $10 cab ride just to find a Keg.

Aside from the condition of some of the facilities, the Hamilton organization is one of the best-managed clubs in the CFL. Tiger-Cat owner Bob Young could be the most brilliant sales and marketing prodigy to ever land a franchise in this league. If the man can place more than 27,000 fans in the seats for a team that is currently not catching any breaks, once they get on track the fans will be breaking down the doors for a seat at Ivor Wynne -- but it certainly won't be any of the players from the visiting teams.

Winnipeg hasn't exactly had the best reputation when it comes to the luxury and accommodation of our visitors' dressing rooms, but at least we fixed ours up before Hamilton did -- and we are a publicly owned team. In my opinion, the locker-room at Ivor Wynne is the most abysmal facility on the circuit right now. Nothing has changed in this concrete labyrinth in the six years I have been in the CFL except for the fact that they painted tiger stripes on the walls. The place smells like urine on a good day, there is no hint of air- conditioning, and the soap is dispensed with the help of Gatorade bottles. They actually have portable fans set up, like the kind you can buy at Wal-Mart, to waft the stench evenly throughout the room.
While I am a big fan of the Field Turf they have installed at Ivor Wynne (as it is almost identical to ours), I noticed something in the second half of last week's game that was a little disappointing. I'm not sure if the conditions were conveyed accurately through the television broadcast or not, but it was dark on the field -- as in there wasn't as much lighting as there should have been. Since our offence decided to hog all the time of possession, I actually had a chance to look at the four lighting poles responsible for illuminating the field. Each pole holds 40 bulbs and in the fourth quarter I actually counted only 13 out of 40 bulbs working on one lighting pole, and about half on another.

Hence, you can see why when I read a removable insert in the Hamilton Spectator that says "I WOULD RATHER BE 1 AND 5 THAN FROM WINNIPEG," I get a little confused. The city and the stadium have a long way to go before their britches get big enough to look down on a Prairie town in such a fashion. Maybe somebody should point out to the Hamilton Spectator that just because Toronto is less than an hour away, it doesn't make you look any better.

Doug Brown, always a hard-hitting defensive lineman and frequently a hard-hitting columnist, appears Tuesdays in the Free Press.

#2

For my reply, I will paraphrase the article:

"Oh yeah? well.. you suck too!"

Very mature.

#3

Funny how Hamilton Airport is the preferred choice of almost every NHL, NBA and MLB teams heading in and out of Toronto......not to mention "major league" rock bands and movie stars.....

and lately, even Toronto is whining that all the "movie shoots" are happening in Hamilton.....

We're stylin! :thup:

And as far as the visitors locker room smelling like "pee"?......we do that on purpose just to "pee" the visitors off! (I hope we do anyhow) :wink:

What a freaking whiner this "Doug Brown" is!

#4

[quote="mikey"]
What a freaking whiner this "Doug Brown" is!

Mikey:

Well.......if what he says is true its about time somebody mentioned it. Caretaker...is this true??????

But in any event.....those idiot fans that started this nonsense should be banned from Ivor Wynne. And the Spectator should be ashamed of itself.

#5

No hard feelings from this Bomber fan. I understand when a subpar newspaper feels it has to put fuel on the fire to sell some copies. In Winnipeg we have the Sun (barely passes for tabloid journalism). Expect a lame response from them tomorrow.

#6

Doug Brown said:

"Since our offence decided to hog all the time of possession, I actually had a chance to look at the four lighting poles responsible for illuminating the field. Each pole holds 40 bulbs and in the fourth quarter I actually counted only 13 out of 40 bulbs working on one lighting pole, and about half on another."

Doug Brown is lying through his teeth!........he specifically said we only have 4 light poles illuminating the field....try eight!

here's the four from the north side alone! (and by the way Doug, all the light bulbs are brand new......each 1,000 watts and more than 380 of them!)....they all work!

http://www.alumni.uwo.ca/images/ivorwynne.jpg
[/quote]

#7

mikey personally satres at each one for ten minutes (wow 3800 minutes) just to make sure!

hahaha

but i'd still rather be a 1-6 ticat fan than a from whinerpeg

#8

Well, at least we don't have 8 inches of mosquitos on our lights like Winnipeg does....(their provincial bird) :lol:

#9

Maybe Doug Brown had best check out the exciting landscape of Winnipeg before he "disses" Hamilton...... :lol:

Yawnnnnnnnn......

http://content.answers.com/main/content/wp/en/thumb/e/ec/300px-Winnipeg.jpg

#10

Point A:

Whoever thought up the idea to print that in the Spectator is a classless schmoe. Reason # 3472 why I don't bother to read it anymore.

Point B:

Whoever gave the greenlight to that article in the Winnipeg Free Press is also a classless schmoe. I've been from one end of this continent to the other, and then some, and Hamilton remains a great city to live, work, and play in. Hell, half of the article is wrong; he's just making stuff up (paging Marty York).

In otherwords - this is all classless, childish and stupid. What, we couldn't just have a great football rivalry? We had to start bashing other cities? Frankly, I LIKE Winnipeg; great arts scene, lots of interesting restaurants, and hard-working, friendly people.

Kinda like Hamilton.

#11

Back in the late eighties/early nineties the night life in Winterpeg was great and the Jets were a lot of fun. If it wasn't for the Oilers they may even have won a playoff series.

My fondest memory is the "Thank you for visiting" sign on the way home. Most Winnipegers are just glad they're not living in Saskatchewan.

#12

So maybe counting isn't his strength. We all have our own strengths. I personally wouldn't be very good at running through 300 pound offensive linemen.

#13

As a former 'Pegger and Hamiltonian, I find this all monotonous.

Anyhow, I hope for the love of God, that our Cats can score at least one point tomorrow or my ‘Pegger friends are never going to let me hear the end of it… :wink:

#14

I'll be the first to say that the Hammer has some ugly areas and can be "culturally challenged". But I do love the place.

My question is: Has Mr. Brown ever spent time in Winnipeg in the winter? 7 foot snow banks, never ending wind and that damp, bone chilling cold? Winnipeg is a great city during most of the CFL season. But once the first frost hits...

Maybe the sign should have read: I'd rather be 1-6 than be from fetid, frigid Winnipeg in the winter.

#15

Can I remind all you "Hamiltonians" that is was in fact your city's newspaper who started this? We had just a regular football game atmosphere here, until your lame attempt to bash not only our football club, but our city as a whole with useless banter "I'd rather be 1-5 than live in Winnipeg" - that is just LOW...What did you expect? No response? We had nothing against you, until your classless editors allowed something like this in your paper...live with the consequences.

#16

I was quite ticked that the Spec ran that crap. As I said to my friends here in Winnipeg, why on Earth would you bash a city of a 4-2 team when your own team is a dismal 1-5? That only gave them even more incentive to rub our faces in a loss.

I grew up in the Hamilton area and now reside in the Winnipeg area (still diehard Cat fan though) and I wouldn't rate one city over the other. Quite comparable...both have good points...both have bad points.

And actually....in the winter...it may be -40 C, but it's a dry cold. lol

#17

Can I remind you that it was the Newspaper and not the Hamilton Fans. Seems to me if you Peggers were all you say you are you wouldnt care what us Hamilton folk think. Quit your crying and leave it on the field.

#18

Welcome to the site Chris. I haven't really posted in the other 2 threads on this topic but I will give you my opinion on this one. I don't much care about the article you posted, didn't even really read it, but I want to respond to your above post. Many of the posters here are not big fans of the Spectator and it's coverage of many things, sports included. Many were ticked off by the idiocy of the comment made in the Spec and felt it had no place. It was similar to beating someone in a debate and having them say "Yeah, well your mother's ugly" or some other such "mature" response. Insulting our city and our fans because one of our "reporters" insulted yours isn't a very mature response either. I'd prefer we just let the guys play football without all the rest of the crap.

#19
live with the consequences
Hey man, the consequences were nothing more than another immature newspaper item that I didn't read. So it's no big deal to us.

Point is, I think most people feel like Mr. Brown could have written a more classy article.

For the record, I actually wouldn't mind living in Winnipeg. Seems like a nice place (I was born in Thunder Bay...maybe it reminds me of "home")

#20

I guess I'd better fess up to my nasty deed.
I heard Doug Brown was coming to town so I peed in the visitor's dressing room. :lol:

I never read the article in the Spectator....the paper is actually to left wing liberal for me. This really begs for this city to get some compitition to this liberal propaganda machine.....how about a Hamilton Sun, put this paper out of it's misery. :cowboy: