Touchdown! Argos tailgate kickoff scores with fans
Maryam Shah, Toronto Sun June 11, 2016
This tailgate was certainly no fail-gate.
With the Toronto Argonauts move to BMO Field comes the first of what is a tradition south of the border — the tailgate.
Ahead of the Boatmen’s first pre-season game on Saturday against the Hamilton Tiger-Cats, Argo fans could hangout outside the field for a tailgate party starting at 1 p.m. — three hours before kickoff.
One diehard Argos fan said it could have been earlier.
“Maybe open a little earlier, like 11 a.m., like they do in the States,” suggested Sam Sultana from Whitby.
The new tailgating tradition will be happening before every Argos game now that they’ve moved from the Rogers Centre to BMO Field.
Here’s a brief tailgate timeline on the rookie run in a 250-spot Ontario Place parking lot:
1 p.m. — The tailgate begins and it is hot — around 27 C
1:20 p.m. - Katherine Shayanpour from Ottawa and her seven friends from Hamilton and Toronto arrived at 12:45 p.m. and set up one of the first barbecues. A lifelong CFL fan, Shayanpour was decked out in black and gold to cheer on the Ti-Cats.
“Some people go to their cottage every weekend,” she said. “We do football.”
2:15 p.m. - Cars lined up briefly to enter the lot.
Sara Moore, senior vice-president for Argos business operations, said the tailgate at the Ontario Place lot will grow in subsequent games.
Another 350 parking spots at an Exhibition Place lot will be ready for tailgating for at least five games.
“We spent months working with the AGCO, with police, with fire, to be able to make this happen,” she said.
You can’t bring your own alcohol, unlike American tailgates, but organizers provided cold beer and cider for $4 onsite.
2:40 p.m. - The Argo-Notes played for cheering fans.
Erwin Wolf, 58, took the GO train in for the tailgate. Standing under a tree for shade on the hot Saturday, beer in hand, he said he simply wanted to see what it was all about.
“It actually looks pretty good,” he said.
Factoring in a tip, Wolf said “you can’t go wrong” with a $5 beer.
2:45 p.m. -
Most of the lot appeared full, as cheerleaders went around and hyped up fans.
Amanda and Brent Whetstone were two of the few Hamilton fans around. The season ticket holders from Hamilton brought their three-year-old Katelyn, who sported a Tiger-Cats training camp shirt. Both were thrilled that the Argos moved to BMO field.
“No offence, SkyDome was empty and it echoed,” Amanda said, almost apologetic. “This is better entertainment, it’s better for the fans for sure.”
3:25 p.m. - Ten pairs of moms and sons from Lindsay, Ont. drove down to celebrate a tradition of their own – an annual mother-son outing.
“You know what, only two people out of our whole group knew what we were doing today,” said Chris Ferguson, 33, sporting a ‘Moms and Sons 2016’ shirt. “We just got on a party bus and we drove down.”
Mary Hennessey sheepishly admitted they couldn’t get Blue Jays tickets, so tailgating was next on the list.
“It’s cheap enough and we’re just having a fun day and that’s what it’s all about,” she said.
3:45 p.m. - The line at the hot dog stand grew shorter. Most people packed up their barbecues and prepared to walk a short five minutes to BMO field.
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