Gray Cup: Hamilton emerges from the shadows as a sports city

According to former Canadian Football League commissioner Jim Lawson, Hamilton’s reputation is well established in the Canadian football world. Tiger-Cats fans are known to be as loyal as possible.

I think Hamilton is a great sporting city and a lot of that is because the fans are knowledgeable and passionate about it. We see him with their tiger cats, He said.

As a proud Hamilton and now a member of the Techats’ executive committee, Lawson agrees that despite having his own football team, the city is developing in the shadow of Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, Calgary, Ottawa and Edmonton.

After all, the population of Hamilton is lower than the latter, closer to the inhabitants of Quebec and Winnipeg. It also does not have a team among the major North American leagues established in Canada, namely National Hockey Leaguelife, the football League MLS, the Major League BaseballMLB and the National Basketball AssociationNBA.

The Raptors basketball team, the baseball team the Blue Jays, and the Toronto Maple Leafs get so much attention that I think it hurts their southern neighbors a little. Perhaps that’s also why fans in the region were so proud of Hamilton’s victory over Toronto in the East Final last weekend., cried laughing.

The city of nearly 700,000 will become the country’s sporting center as it hosts the most important event of the coming months in Canada: the Gray Cup on Sunday, the men’s national team’s qualifying match against the United States. The 2022 FIFA World Cup and the only NHL game far north of the 49th parallel this season, the Legacy Classic, was presented on March 13th.

As far as Tim Hortons Director of Field Events and Operations Jerry Fonzo can remember, her team has never been as busy as the past six months as they have combined preparation for these events with the seasons. De Ticats and Forge FC, the local professional soccer team.

We’ve slowly gone from one event a year, sometimes two, to what we have in our plans today with the Gray Cup and next year, four events and our teams’ seasons. We were busy in 2021, but we’ll be busier in the future, He said.

This ambition was born from the desire of Ticats owner, Bob Young, and team president, Scott Mitchell, to give his nobility back to the team and its stadium, which was renovated in 2014.

Remember, the Gray Cup hasn’t been played in Hamilton since 1996. The Canadian men’s soccer team hasn’t played there and the NHL hasn’t played there in the past.

Soon we will be organizing all possible events, from soccer to soccer and hockey soon. Rugby Canada was here. Circus Nitro also showed off its motorcycles. We had a concert by the Arkells group and Keith Urban too.

I think this sport has been great for Hamilton. Bringing Forge FC as a new football team… they did a great job by winning two championships and reaching the final again this year. These little things help make the city sporty, he explains.

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The next Legacy Classic will be held in Hamilton. Edmonton, Calgary, Vancouver, Winnipeg and Regina have hosted it in the past.

Photo: The Canadian Press / DARRYL DYCK

In an interview with Radio Canada, Hamilton Mayor Fred Eisenberger also hated the organization of the Tiger-Cats, which is behind all these events.

Obviously, all of this is great for the local economy, and for Hamilton’s hospitality and leisure industries.He said while the city, like many others, is looking for ways to recover from the blows of the pandemic.

Note that in addition to the soccer and soccer teams, Hamilton also has a junior hockey team, the Bulldogs. A team of the same name also had the Edmonton Oilers and Montreal Canadiens school club at one time.

In recent years, a basketball team from Canadian Basketball Elite League cable It also took root in Hamilton. The Toronto Rock, Queen City’s professional lacrosse team, moved there this summer.

So even after the big sporting events take place in the next few months, Hamilton’s name will likely continue to circulate. Especially since the city submitted its candidacy to host the Commonwealth Games in 2030. And in this city of Ontario it was created in 1930.