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When the last second ticked off, and it was plain the Ottawa Redblacks had performed a certifiable miracle, some guy turned to high-five me once, then twice, and — still underwhelmed — proceeded to hug me until we both nearly fell down on the west-end terrace at Lansdowne Park.
He did smell a little lager-ish, maybe all part of the CFL magic on a Sunday afternoon. How else to describe, with time running out in a tie game, Greg Ellingson reaching high to snag the pigskin, straight-arming the defender, and racing, then loping a little — moving from hard shadows to brilliant sunlight — to send his team to the Grey Cup?
The crowd, 25,000 strong, erupted. In only year two, this was actually happening. “Talk about drama,” someone uttered behind us. Absolutely. It is what this whole thing — new stadium, restaurants, scoreboard, shops, condos, endless hand-wringing — was built for: singular moments of victory.
But, back to the people.
Football fans, honestly, are a little crazy. It’s November, windy and cold, and the patios at Lansdowne are full, sprinkled with painted faces and ridiculous hats.
Here comes Rick Ward, 67, who looks like he’s wearing a dead animal on his head. It’s actually a fake tiger that drapes all the way down his back. On his hands are two puppets, one is named Bob and one is David, named for Bob Young and David Braley, two owners he credits with saving the Hamilton Tiger-Cats in turbulent times.
“The puppets go with me everywhere,” he says, and he moves their mouths as he speaks, so it’s unclear who is narrating what. “The kids get a kick out of them.”
An electrical contractor, he is a longtime Ticats season-ticket holder and came up Thursday by train, sometimes yelling “Oskee Wee Wee.”
Maybe CFL fans aren’t a little crazy. That was harsh. Maybe only people from Hamilton are a little crazy. Here is Sal Salgadoe, 38, who works for LCBO in Steeltown. He is wearing a woman’s wig, one with pigtails, has his face painted yellow and black, and is sporting a white boxing glove, which he pounds into what I think is called a punch mitt. Makes quite a thud.
Rick Ward (left) and Dave Armstrong cheer for their team before Ottawa Redblacks vs. Hamilton Tiger-Cats game.
“We’re coming in as underdogs and leaving with victory,” he said before the game began. “You guys are over-confident.” And, at that, he departed to scream, “EAT ‘EM RAW” at a nearby booth run by a radio station.
Along the walkway between the north and south stands, I met a woman named Maria, who said she is from Colombia. She’s wearing a full-length, one-piece tiger suit, including removable ears and a ropy tail. She also has a tiger-pattern purse.
Rangi and Sal Salgadoe put on their game faces for the Ottawa Redblacks vs. Hamilton Tiger-Cats game.
Her eyes looked weird. Because her eyes were weird. She had contacts lenses that had a blood-red ring around an olive-green ring around very dark pupils. She was also face-painted, with whiskers.
“I like to look unique,” she said of the homemade costume. And you do.
Well, at least the Hamilton fans kept their clothes on.
In the first quarter, at the west end of the south side, just in front of the Frank Clair statue — the professor would not have approved — there stood Stéphane Boudreault, 29, on a little ledge.
He had no shirt on, but in each gloved hand he held a can of Bud Light. People began talking selfies with him, as though they’d come across an exotic creature, a bare-skinned centaur out of habitat.
“It’s Canada,” he said, by way of explanation. “As the game heats up, I just get warmer.” It wasn’t long before a security guard asked him to put his shirt back on, some modesty regulation having been violated.
There are a couple of neat features about TD Place at an afternoon game in November. On a sunny day, about 3:30 p.m., the new 20-storey condo on Bank Street is throwing a sharply-drawn shadow on the field, darkening about three-quarters of the surface with a huge rectangle, or rhombus maybe.
A condo as an eclipse. Who could have guessed?
There is also a charming spot on the east end of the field, apparently called just “the hill.” It is a sodded mound that is high enough to view the whole field (and quite well, by the way). And fans can sit there for free.
The first ones to arrive and park in the best seats were Sylvain Bourdeau, 53, and his wife Michella. They unfolded their portable chairs at roughly 10:30 a.m., or 2.5 hours before kickoff.
Spectators gathered on the hill outside the stadium to catch a free view of the Ottawa Redblacks vs. Hamilton Tiger-Cats game.
But they came prepared: food, water, plenty of warm clothing, a sleeping bag. When I stopped by, he was checking the weather on his cellphone. “Isn’t this a great view?” he asked.
Yes, actually. Place never looked better, absolutely magical.
To contact Kelly Egan, please call 613-726-5896 or email kegan@ottawacitizen.com.
twitter.com/kellyegancolumn
查看原文...
He did smell a little lager-ish, maybe all part of the CFL magic on a Sunday afternoon. How else to describe, with time running out in a tie game, Greg Ellingson reaching high to snag the pigskin, straight-arming the defender, and racing, then loping a little — moving from hard shadows to brilliant sunlight — to send his team to the Grey Cup?
The crowd, 25,000 strong, erupted. In only year two, this was actually happening. “Talk about drama,” someone uttered behind us. Absolutely. It is what this whole thing — new stadium, restaurants, scoreboard, shops, condos, endless hand-wringing — was built for: singular moments of victory.
But, back to the people.
Football fans, honestly, are a little crazy. It’s November, windy and cold, and the patios at Lansdowne are full, sprinkled with painted faces and ridiculous hats.
Here comes Rick Ward, 67, who looks like he’s wearing a dead animal on his head. It’s actually a fake tiger that drapes all the way down his back. On his hands are two puppets, one is named Bob and one is David, named for Bob Young and David Braley, two owners he credits with saving the Hamilton Tiger-Cats in turbulent times.
“The puppets go with me everywhere,” he says, and he moves their mouths as he speaks, so it’s unclear who is narrating what. “The kids get a kick out of them.”
An electrical contractor, he is a longtime Ticats season-ticket holder and came up Thursday by train, sometimes yelling “Oskee Wee Wee.”
Maybe CFL fans aren’t a little crazy. That was harsh. Maybe only people from Hamilton are a little crazy. Here is Sal Salgadoe, 38, who works for LCBO in Steeltown. He is wearing a woman’s wig, one with pigtails, has his face painted yellow and black, and is sporting a white boxing glove, which he pounds into what I think is called a punch mitt. Makes quite a thud.
Rick Ward (left) and Dave Armstrong cheer for their team before Ottawa Redblacks vs. Hamilton Tiger-Cats game.
“We’re coming in as underdogs and leaving with victory,” he said before the game began. “You guys are over-confident.” And, at that, he departed to scream, “EAT ‘EM RAW” at a nearby booth run by a radio station.
Along the walkway between the north and south stands, I met a woman named Maria, who said she is from Colombia. She’s wearing a full-length, one-piece tiger suit, including removable ears and a ropy tail. She also has a tiger-pattern purse.
Rangi and Sal Salgadoe put on their game faces for the Ottawa Redblacks vs. Hamilton Tiger-Cats game.
Her eyes looked weird. Because her eyes were weird. She had contacts lenses that had a blood-red ring around an olive-green ring around very dark pupils. She was also face-painted, with whiskers.
“I like to look unique,” she said of the homemade costume. And you do.
Well, at least the Hamilton fans kept their clothes on.
In the first quarter, at the west end of the south side, just in front of the Frank Clair statue — the professor would not have approved — there stood Stéphane Boudreault, 29, on a little ledge.
He had no shirt on, but in each gloved hand he held a can of Bud Light. People began talking selfies with him, as though they’d come across an exotic creature, a bare-skinned centaur out of habitat.
“It’s Canada,” he said, by way of explanation. “As the game heats up, I just get warmer.” It wasn’t long before a security guard asked him to put his shirt back on, some modesty regulation having been violated.
There are a couple of neat features about TD Place at an afternoon game in November. On a sunny day, about 3:30 p.m., the new 20-storey condo on Bank Street is throwing a sharply-drawn shadow on the field, darkening about three-quarters of the surface with a huge rectangle, or rhombus maybe.
A condo as an eclipse. Who could have guessed?
There is also a charming spot on the east end of the field, apparently called just “the hill.” It is a sodded mound that is high enough to view the whole field (and quite well, by the way). And fans can sit there for free.
The first ones to arrive and park in the best seats were Sylvain Bourdeau, 53, and his wife Michella. They unfolded their portable chairs at roughly 10:30 a.m., or 2.5 hours before kickoff.
Spectators gathered on the hill outside the stadium to catch a free view of the Ottawa Redblacks vs. Hamilton Tiger-Cats game.
But they came prepared: food, water, plenty of warm clothing, a sleeping bag. When I stopped by, he was checking the weather on his cellphone. “Isn’t this a great view?” he asked.
Yes, actually. Place never looked better, absolutely magical.
To contact Kelly Egan, please call 613-726-5896 or email kegan@ottawacitizen.com.
twitter.com/kellyegancolumn
查看原文...
