Hamilton Tiger-Cats

Hamilton Tiger-Cats
2011 Hamilton Tiger-Cats season
Founded	1950
Based in	Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
Home field	Ivor Wynne Stadium (1950–2012) Pan American Stadium (2014–future)
League	Canadian Football League
Division	East Division
Colours	Black, gold, and white
Nickname(s)	Ti-Cats, Tigers, Tabbies
Head coach	Marcel Bellefeuille
General manager	Bob O'Billovich
Owner(s)	Bob Young
Grey Cup wins	1953, 1957, 1963, 1965 1967, 1972, 1986, 1999[1]
Mascot(s)	TC, Stripes & Pigskin Pete
Website	www.ticats.ca
Uniform

The Hamilton Tiger-Cats are a Canadian Football League team based in Hamilton, Ontario, founded in 1950 with the merger of the Hamilton Tigers and the Hamilton Wildcats.^[2] The Tiger-Cats play their home games at Ivor Wynne Stadium. Since the 1950 merger, the team has won the Grey Cup championship eight times, most recently in 1999.^[1]

Including their historical lineage, which dates back to 1869, Hamilton football clubs won league championships in every decade of the 20th century, a feat matched by only two other North American franchise in professional sports, the Triple-A Rochester Red Wings of the International League, and the Montreal Canadiens of the NHL. None of these teams won a championship in the first decade of the 21st century.

Team facts

Founded: 1950, a merger of the Hamilton Tigers and the Hamilton Wildcats.^[3]

Formerly known as: The Hamilton Tigers and Hamilton Wildcats.

Helmet design: Black background with a leaping tiger

Uniform colours: Black, Gold and White

Home stadium: Ivor Wynne Stadium (1950–present), Hamilton Amateur Athletic Association Grounds (1872–1949)

Current Owner: Bob Young

Eastern regular season championships: 21—1950, 1952, 1957, 1958, 1959, 1961, 1962, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1967, 1970, 1972, 1980, 1981, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1989, 1998, 1999

Grey Cup final appearances:: 29—1910—Tigers (lost), 1912—Alerts (won), 1912—Tigers (won), 1915—Tigers (won), 1927—Tigers (lost), 1928—Tigers (won), 1929—Tigers (won), 1932—Tigers (won), 1935—Tigers (lost), 1943—Flying Wildcats (won), 1944—Flying Wildcats (lost), 1953 (won), 1957 (won), 1958 (lost), 1959 (lost), 1961 (lost), 1962 (lost), 1963 (won), 1964 (lost), 1965 (won), 1967 (won), 1972 (won), 1980 (lost), 1984 (lost), 1985 (lost), 1986 (won), 1989 (lost), 1998 (lost), 1999 (won)^[1]

Grey Cup wins:: 15 (Alerts—1, Tigers—5, Flying Wildcats—1, Tiger-Cats—8)

Main Rivals: Toronto Argonauts (see Labour Day Classic), Winnipeg Blue Bombers (met eight times in Grey Cup games, seven other times in playoffs)

2011 Regular Season Record: 8 wins, 10 losses, 0 ties.

Franchise history

Early years

The history of Hamilton Tiger-Cats can be traced back to November 3, 1869 in a room above George Lee’s Fruit Store, when the Hamilton Football Club was formed.^[4] They became known as the Tigers in 1873 and joined the newly-formed Interprovincial Rugby Football Union in 1907. They faced local competition with the Ontario Rugby Football Union's Hamilton Alerts who, in 1912, won the City of Hamilton its first Grey Cup by beating the Toronto Argonauts 11–4. In the following season, the Tigers won their first of five Grey Cups when they beat the Parkdale Canoe Club by the lopsided margin of 44–2. The Alerts were refused entry into the ORFU in 1913 with many of its players opting to join the Tigers, while the Alerts gradually faded from existence.^[5] After World War II, the Tigers and the newly formed Hamilton Wildcats competed for fans, talent and bragging rights so vehemently that neither team could operate on a sound financial level.^[6][7]

Under the guidance of prominent and distinguished local leaders such as Ralph "Super-Duper" Cooper and F.M. Gibson, it was decided that the two teams should merge as one that would represent Hamilton. The Tiger-Cats were born in 1950 with Cooper as team president and Carl Voyles serve as head coach and general manager.

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  The "Tigers" of Hamilton, Ontario circa 1906.

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  The Hamilton Tigers playing an unknown Ottawa team, 1910.

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  Ivor Wynne Stadium, home of the Tiger-Cats

A Steel Town dynasty (1950–1972)

The Ti-Cats had great success throughout the 1950s and 1960s, they finished first in the East thirteen times from 1950 to 1972. During that same timespan, they also appeared in eleven Grey Cup finals winning the championship six times. Players, such as Angelo Mosca, Bernie Faloney, Joe Zuger and Garney Henley became football icons in the Steel City. Their 1972 Grey Cup win, 13–10 over the Saskatchewan Roughriders, were led by two sensational rookies, Chuck Ealey who had an outstanding college career at the University of Toledo and Ian Sunter, an 18-year old kicker who booted the deciding field goal that gave Hamilton the cup.

During this era, the Tiger-Cats also became (and remain to this day) the only Canadian team to have ever defeated a current National Football League team; on August 8, 1961, they defeated the Buffalo Bills by a score of 38–21 (at the time, Buffalo was still a part of the American Football League).^[8][9]

Later years

Tiger-Cats vs. Argonauts, October 27, 2005, at Rogers Centre

In 1978, Toronto Maple Leafs owner, Harold Ballard assumed ownership of the Tiger Cats. Ballard claimed to be losing a million dollars a year.^[10] The Tiger-Cats contended on and off during the rest of the 1970s and 1980s, reaching the Grey Cup final in 1980 and winning the East Division by a mile in 1981 with an 11–4–1 record under head coach Frank Kush, but were stunned by the Ottawa Rough Riders, who finished a distant second at 5–11, in the East final. The Tabbies' defense was very stout, talented and hungry that decade, led by standouts Grover Covington, Ben Zambiasi, Howard Fields and Mitchell Price. They were complemented very well on offense with quarterbacks Tom Clements and Mike Kerrigan throwing to Rocky DiPietro and Tony Champion leading to three straight trips to the Grey Cup in 1984, 1985 and 1986, the latter resulting in winning the title over the Edmonton Eskimos by a score of 39–15. In 1986, Ballard publicly called the Tiger-Cats a bunch of overpaid losers.^[10] After the Tiger-Cats beat the Toronto Argonauts in the 1986 Eastern Final, Ballard said “You guys may still be overpaid, but after today, no one can call you losers.”^[10] A few days later, the Tiger-Cats won the 1986 Grey Cup by beating the Edmonton Eskimos 39–15; Ballard said it was worth every penny. Hamilton returned to the Grey Cup in 1989, but were on the losing end of a 43–40 thriller to Saskatchewan.

The 1990s were marked by financial instability, and constant struggles on the field. Quarterback was a weak spot for the Ti-Cats, as in the first half of the decade had names like Don McPherson, Damon Allen, Timm Rosenbach, Matt Dunigan, Lee Saltz and Todd Dillon taking their turns at the pivot. Despite the excellent play of Eastern All Star Earl Winfield rewriting the team's record books for pass catching, Hamilton struggled to attract crowds to Ivor Wynne Stadium. It was not until 1998 with the arrival of head coach Ron Lancaster and the pitch-and-catch duo of Danny McManus and Darren Flutie plus the pass rush abilities of Joe Montford that led Hamilton back to the CFL's elite, reaching the Grey Cup finals in 1998 and winning the cup the following year.

Native Hamiltonian Bob Young has owned the Tiger-Cats since 2004, and although the team has had a resurgence in home attendance, corporate sponsorship plus a brand new "Tiger Vision" scoreboard at Ivor Wynne, it has struggled with its on field performance. Last place finishes both in 2005 (5–13) and 2006 (4–14), have resulted in an overhaul of the coaching staff for 2007. The moves still did not immediately help, as the team continued to lag in last place in 2007 and 2008 despite numerous apparent upgrades. In 2009, their fortunes turned around when they finished in second place in the East, qualifying for the playoffs for the first time in several years. However, they failed to win the Grey Cup, marking the 2000s as the first decade since the 1890s that Hamilton failed to do so.

On August 31, 2011, the Tiger-Cats announced plans to close Ivor Wynne Stadium in 2012 and begin play in the long-planned Pan American Stadium in 2014.^[11] The team has not finalized plans for the 2013 season, when the new stadium will be under construction and the old one will have been demolished; people from Moncton have been negotiating to bring the Tiger-Cats to Moncton Stadium for a portion of the Tiger-Cats' 2013 home schedule, and other proposals include relocating to Ron Joyce Stadium, TD Waterhouse Stadium in London, UB Stadium in Buffalo or another regional stadium, with another possibility being converting the Tiger-Cats into a traveling team for the year (which would be only the second such team in CFL history).^[12][13]

Logo

The Tiger-Cats logo for many decades was an exact reverse of the Princeton University Tigers athletic logo. The artwork for the original "leaping tiger" is claimed by Hamilton. Both logos have since been revised or replaced.

Rivals

Since 1873, the arch-rivals of the Ti-Cats have been the Toronto Argonauts. The first ever meeting between the two teams took place on October 18, 1873 at the University of Toronto where the Argonauts defeated the Hamilton Football Club by a Goal and a Try to Nil.^[5] Hamilton and Toronto are merely 51 km apart along the Queen Elizabeth Way (QEW) highway and are currently the only CFL teams in Ontario. The two teams have recently played each other every year at Hamilton's Ivor Wynne Stadium during the Labour Day Classic, with the 2011 season being a recent exception. On some occasions, the two teams would have a rematch the following week at Toronto's Rogers Centre. On November 14th, 2010 the Tiger-Cats were defeated by the Toronto Argonauts in the East Division Semi-Final game in the first playoff meeting between the two teams since 2004.

Broadcasters

Hamilton Tiger-Cats games are currently broadcast on CHML with announcers Rick Zamperin, John Salavantis, and Matt Holmes. Zamperin, CHML's sports director, became the play-by-play announcer in 2007 after six seasons as sideline reporter. Color commentator John Salavantis is a former football coach with the Tiger-Cats, Ottawa Rough Riders, Montreal Machine, and the Ottawa University Braves. CHML's Matt Holmes is the pre-game show host and sideline reporter. The post-game show, "The Fifth Quarter", is hosted by Ted Michaels.

Tiger-Cats radio announcers

Years	Flagship station	Play-by-Play	Color Commentator
1950–59	CHML	Norm Marshall
1960–66	CHML	Norm Marshall	Perc Allen
1967–78	CHML	Perc Allen	John Michaluk
1979–83	CHAM	Norm Marshall	Bobby Dawson
1984–87	CHML	Perc Allen	John Michaluk
1988–92	CHML	Bob Bratina	John Michaluk
1993	CHML	Bob Bratina	John Salavantis and Bob Hooper
1994	CHML	Bob Bratina	John Bonk
1995	CHML	Bob Bratina	Bob Hooper
1996	CHML	Bob Bratina	Russ Jackson
1997–2001	CHML	Bob Hooper	Russ Jackson
2002	CHML	Bob Bratina	Guest Analysts
2003	CHML	Bob Bratina	John Salavantis
2004–06	CHML	Tim Micallef	John Salavantis
2007	CHML	Rick Zamperin	John Salavantis
2008	CHML/CJXY	Rick Zamperin	Ron Lancaster
2009–present	CHML	Rick Zamperin	John Salavantis

Players and coaches of note

Canadian Football Hall of Famers

• John Barrow
• Tommy Joe Coffey
• Grover Covington
• Rocky DiPietro
• Matt Dunigan
• Bernie Faloney
• Tony Gabriel
• Garney Henley
• Ellison Kelly
• Joe Montford
• Angelo Mosca
• Peter Neumann
• Hal Patterson
• Ralph Sazio (inducted 1988 in Builders category)
• Vince Scott
• Dave S. Sprague
• Don Sutherin
• Brian Timmis
• Ben Zambiasi

Canadian Sports Hall of Famers

• Denis Whitaker

Current Roster

Hamilton Tiger-Cats rosterview · talk · edit
Quarterbacks 16 Jason Boltus  5 Kevin Glenn 12 Quinton Porter Running Backs 39 Agustin Barrenechea FB  0 Darcy Brown FB 22 Avon Cobourne 24 Daryl Stephenson Wide Receivers 84 Bakari Grant 11 Jeremy Kelley 81 Aaron Kelly 15 Glenn MacKay 17 Liam Mahoney Slotbacks 88 Dave Stala  8 Marcus Thigpen RB/SB		Offensive Linemen 53 Mark Dewit OL 67 Peter Dyakowski G 60 Jason Jimenez T 56 Belton Johnson T 65 Simeon Rottier G 59 Brian Simmons OL 52 Wayne Smith OL Defensive Linemen 55 Stevie Baggs DE 98 Ivan Brown DE 95 Justin Hickman DE 93 Matt Kirk DT 90 Luc Mullinder DE 97 Darius Powell DE 92 Robert Rose DE 98 Eddie Steele DT		Linebackers 42 Brandon Denson LB 41 Jonathan Hood LB 45 Nathan Kanya LB 44 Ray Mariuz LB 25 Markeith Knowlton OLB  9 Renauld Williams LB Defensive Backs  3 Marc Beswick DB 23 Michael Carter DB 19 Woodny Turenne DB 32 Chris Rwabukamba DB 14 Bo Smith DB  4 Carlos Thomas DB 18 Dee Webb DB 26 Raymond Wladichuk DB 37 Marcell Young DB Special Teams 30 Kevin Scott LS  7 Justin Medlock P/K		Injured List 20 Dylan Barker S (9 Game) 36 Ike Brown LB (9 Game) 85 Matt Carter WR (1 Game) 48 Yannick Carter OLB (9 Game) 31 Milton Collins DB (1 Game) 21 Terry Grant RB (1 Game) 62 Marwan Hage C (1 Game) 34 Ryan Hinds DB (1 Game) 57 Cody Husband OL (9 Game) 28 Jamall Johnson OLB (1 Game) 49 Kyle Jones DB (1 Game) 29 Loyce Means DB (1 Game)  2 Jason Shivers DB (1 Game) 80 Chris Williams WR (1 Game) Practice Roster 94 Angelo Craig DT 99 Maurice Forbes DT 13 Josh Maveety P/K 68 Adam Rogers OL 87 Courtney Smith WR 27 Chaz Thompson DB Italics indicate Import player Roster updated 2011-10-24 Depth Chart • Transactions 46 Active → More rosters
East: HAM  · MON  · TOR  · WIN • West: BC  · CAL  · EDM  · SAS

Current coaching staff

Hamilton Tiger-Cats Staffview · Bob Young President – Scott Mitchell General Manager – Bob O'Billovich Assistant General Manager/Director of Player Personnel – Joe Womack Director of Football Operations – Shawn Burke Canadian Player Development Coordinator and Head Canadian Scout – Drew Allemang Head U.S. Scout – Danny McManus Western Regional Scout – Richard Wade Head Coaches Head Coach – Marcel Bellefeuille Assistant Head Coach – Brad Miller Offensive Coaches Offensive Coordinator – Khari Jones Receivers – Tim Kearse Running Backs – Rick Worman Offensive Line – Doug Malone Offensive Assistant - Vince Luciani									Defensive Coaches Defensive Coordinator/Defensive Backs – Corey Chamblin Linebackers – Brad Miller Defensive Line – John Kropke Defensive Assistant - Dwayne Cameron Special Teams Coaches Special Teams Coordinator – Brad Miller Special Teams Assistant - Scott Fawcett → Coaching Staff → More CFL staffs
East: HAM  · MON  · TOR  · WIN • West: BC  · CAL  · EDM  · SAS

Head coaches

• Carl Voyles (1950–1955)
• Jim Trimble (1956–1962)
• Ralph Sazio (1963–1967)
• Joe Restic (1968–1970)
• Al Dorow (1971)
• Jerry Williams (1972–1975)
• George Dickson (1976)
• Bob Shaw (1976–1977)
• Tom Dimitroff, Sr. (1978)
• John Payne (1978–1980)
• Frank Kush (1981)
• Bud Riley (1982–1983)
• Al Bruno (1983–1987)
• Ted Schmitz (interim) (1987)
• Al Bruno (1987–1990)
• David Beckman (1990–1991)
• John Gregory (1991–1994)
• Don Sutherin (1994–1997)
• Urban Bowman (interim) (1997)
• Ron Lancaster (1998–2003)
• Greg Marshall (2004–2006)
• Ron Lancaster (interim) (2006)
• Charlie Taaffe (2007–2008)
• Marcel Bellefeuille (2008–Present)

See also

• Hamilton Tiger-Cats all time records and statistics
• Canadian Football Hall of Fame
• Canadian football
• Comparison of Canadian and American football
• List of Canadian Football League seasons
• Oski Yell
• Oldest football clubs

References

1. ^ ^{a b c} There is some contention regarding the number of times that this franchise has won the Grey Cup. Many people include all the teams that merged to form the team: Hamilton Tigers (5 championships), Hamilton Flying Wildcats (1 championship) and the Hamilton Alerts (1 championship) in addition to the 8 as the Hamilton Tiger-Cats, while others do not agree and only count the wins since the 1950 merger.
2. ^ http://www.cfl.ca/page/his_timeline_1860
3. ^ http://www.cfl.ca/page/his_timeline_1950 CFL 1950s
4. ^ "Tiger-Cats History". http://www.ticats.ca/page/history_history. Retrieved 2008-09-14. 
5. ^ ^{a b} 2009 Canadian Football League Facts, Figures & Records, Canadian Football League Properties/Publications, Toronto, Ontario, ISBN 978-0-9739425-4-5, p.293
6. ^ http://cflapedia.com/teams/hamilton.htm CFLapedia Hamilton Tiger-Cats
7. ^ http://www.ticats.ca/page/history_history Tiger-Cats History
8. ^ "NFL International historical results". National Football League. 2002-05-08. Archived from the original on 2005-02-07. http://web.archive.org/web/20050207165524/http://www.nfl.com/international/story/6699961. Retrieved 2008-01-05. 
9. ^ "Hamilton Tiger-Cats vs. Buffalo Bills, August 8, 1961,". Mark Bolding. http://www.mmbolding.com/BSR/CFL-NFL_Hamilton_Tiger-Cats_vs_Buffalo_Bills_1961.htm. Retrieved 2008-01-05. 
10. ^ ^{a b c} All Work and All Play: A Life in the Outrageous Sport, p.124, John Wiley and Sons Canada Ltd., Mississauga, ON, 2005, ISBN 0-470-83552-4
11. ^ http://www.ticats.ca/article/new-stadium-announcement-caretaker-s-commitment
12. ^ Radley, Scott (August 31, 2011). The Moncton Tiger-Cats? Hmmmmmm. Hamilton Spectator. Retrieved August 31, 2011.
13. ^ Naylor, Dave. TICATS MULLING OPTIONS FOR HOSTING GAMES IN 2013. TSN. Retrieved August 31, 2011.

External links

• Hamilton Tiger-Cats Official Site
• Complete Tiger-Cats History
• TicatFans
• CFL Scrapbook Hamilton Tiger-Cats