Next Game
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Brooke Andrus is Head Coach Bart Andrus’ daughter and is in Mississauga interning with the Argonauts’ communications department. She is a photojournalism major and a track athlete at the University of Montana.
I wore an Argos t-shirt on the sidelines in Hamilton during Tuesday’s pre-season game, and I lived to tell about it!
Before I set foot in Ivor Wynne Stadium, I could not have imagined the magnitude of the Toronto-Hamilton rivalry, much less the scope of nastiness exhibited by the crowd of die-hard Tiger-Cat fans — and this was just a pre-season game. I was mocked, taunted, yelled at and sworn at. I did my best to ignore the onslaught of insults, knowing full-well that it was my own fault for having the audacity to don the Double Blue in Tiger-town.
Even though the bright blue “A” on my shirt made me a target for a few amped-up (and possibly liquored-up) Hamiltonians, seeing an authentic, deep-rooted football rivalry in action made it all worthwhile. Still, I took the precaution of befriending the sideline security guards, just in case things got messy.
The game kicked off at 7:00 p.m., and as the late evening sun slid closer and closer to the horizon, a golden light illuminated the field and created an almost magical atmosphere. The key word, though, is almost. A shirtless fan berating the referees after a close call that went in favour of the Argos coupled with the swarm of seagulls dining on the curry-chicken vomit on the 50-yard line, sort of killed the magic.
Turns out, no magic was required. The Argos looked great as they defeated the Tiger-Cats, 27-17. It was a huge improvement from last week’s game, and although the team still has some things to work on, it was encouraging to see all of their hard work pay off. As he addressed the team in the locker room following the game, my dad told the players to enjoy the victory, even if it was just a pre-season game, because it feels good to win no matter what game you’re playing; be it football, checkers or Monopoly.
So bring on the verbal abuse, Ticat fans. Because next week, we’ll be back in town to chalk up our first official win of the season. But I might bring a different shirt.