Edmonton Eskimo fans have been treated one of the most successful franchises in the league and North America professional sports. Having been in the CFL since 1949 (third youngest in the league) has been competitive every year.
Having some of the most rabid fans in the league creates a great atmosphere. Commonwealth Stadium is a large venue for CFL football, compared to the other teams stadiums. The fans have no trouble coming out and filling it either. For a regular season game in 2009, Edmonton sold out and needed standing room capacity to fit the 62,517+ that turned out for the game.
The Green & Gold faithful have been treated to 13 Grey Cups, 34 consecutive playoff appearances (ending in 2005) and have done this while being a community owned franchise.
The Eskimos will continue to have success on and off the field and in the stands with the fans.
However, the weather does not stop Blue Bomber fans from coming out and supporting the team. Bomber fans are known to be some of the most passionate sports fans in North America. Prior to the Winnipeg Jets returning to the NHL, the Bombers is all Manitoba had for professional sports.
These fans deserve credit. In professional sports, when a team does not win a championship in years, let alone decades, fans typically boycott and stop supporting to show their frustration (other than the Maple Leafs). The Blue Bombers have not won a Grey Cup since 1990. In an eight-team league this is unacceptable to most fans.
The Blue Bomber fans may not be able to claim a Grey Cup championship in recent memory, but they were able to rebrand themselves a couple years ago. In football, defence wins championships. Typically, the defence is not the talk of the town though. However, in Winnipeg the defence is the town. The front office assembled an aggressive and talented defence in 2011. The defensive leaders went on to portray themselves as 'Swaggerville.' Over the course of the season the term 'swagger' and 'swaggerville' took over Winnipeg, Mannitoba and even across the league.
Fans loved the idea of classifying the defence as Swaggerville. Some fans may of taken it too far.
The defence even elected a mayor of Swaggerville. Odell Willis, loved the attention, he did not shy away from the camera and made it known he was the mayor of Swaggerville every chance he had.
The team is looking to start the 2013 season off on the right foot, opening their new stadium. The fans will come out to support their team and be some of the most unique CFL fans there are.
When sitting in the giant concrete bowl (known as the 'Rogers Centre'), all you will hear is "AARRRRRRGGOOOOOOOOSSSS!"
The Toronto Argonauts play in a stadium that may be a little too big for them. However, the fans that do show up are the 'true' fans in Toronto. They hoot and holler like any other CFL fans throughout the league. The Argonauts are also lucky to have their own fan groups like many other teams.
For a city that needs to compete with every other major professional sport, they are doing well. Considering that the Argo fans are the only ones that have been able to enjoy championships in recent memory; not one, not two, but four championships since the last Toronto professional sports team won (Blue Jays) other than the Toronto Rock. The Argonauts have the 'Argonotes' and 'Argos Admirals' who are dedicated to the team like no others. They commit their own time to ensure news is forwarded to the rest of Argo Nation and that the team has a presence at any event that the Argos are apart of. The Argonotes are a pipe band that plays throughout the game. Some consider it a distraction, others consider it a tradition and fun.
This past season, the Argo fans showed how much they loved their team. The 100th Grey Cup was being played in Toronto and the Argonauts eventually made the finals after a long season. I, myself attended the game and have never seen so much "double blue" at a football game in Toronto. For a stadium that holds over 53,000, it had to be three-quarters Argos fans. It was a great site to see, even though they ended up winning the Grey Cup (as a Tiger-Cat fan).
Even as Tiger-Cat fan, I hope that the city of Toronto continues to support the Argonauts in large numbers. The CFL depends on the teams in southern Ontario (Toronto and Hamilton) to be successful, if the league is to be successful. It would just be nice if the Tiger-Cats were competitive, because there is nothing like watching Argo and Tiger-Cat fans battle it out at football games.
I realize this post is not reflecting on a team's specific fan group. However, the fact that Ivor Wynne Stadium is now completely down and in piles of rubbish is news for any CFL fan.
Ivor Wynne is a stadium that held a lot of character. Wooden bench seats, trough urinals and pedal sinks. The stadium is known for the sightlines by the fans. The visiting players know how close they are to the next trash talking from the vocal crowd. Over the last 82 years, the stadium became a beautiful piece of history for many people.
As a 25-year-old, I have already experienced many memories within Ivor Wynne Stadium. There has been highs and lows, wins and loses. And as any sports fan, some memories are greater than others. The best memories have come over the last three years.
Christmas 2009, my father surprised my brother and myself with season tickets. It has been a Christmas present that keeps on giving. 'The Ol' Boys' get to attend the Tiger-Cat games together, drink a couple brown pops, cheer Oskee Wee Wee and even a cow bell or two.
There are many more memories, but thought I would touch on the most important memory and let the picture above do all the talking.
It will be missed by many, but I myself am looking forward to Ivor Wynne 2.0 to create new memories and hopefully successful championship seasons by the Tiger-Cats starting in 2014.
