Susan Firbank
Special to CFL.ca
It was the 1985 Western Final at BC Place. The Lions were playing the Winnipeg Blue Bombers and the crowd was electric! The media would later report the noise level to be in a ridiculous decibel range, thanks to the crowd of about 60,000. The Lions were in the process of handing the Bombers defeat to the tune of 42-22. It was becoming clear that my team would go on to meet the Hamilton Tiger-Cats in the 73rd annual Grey Cup in Montreal.
A week or so later, glued in front of the TV (back when remote controls were attached by a cord), I would watch Roy Dewalt, Ned Armour, Jim Sandusky, Lui Passaglia, James “Quick” Parker and the rest of the team take the championship with a 37-24 victory over the Tiger-Cats. I’m sure they heard me screaming all the way to la belle province. The dog didn’t know whether to bark at me or leap for the orange and brown pom poms I was madly shaking in the air.
I was 13 at the time and already a 5-year “veteran” fan of the BC Lions and the CFL. My friends all knew I was a Lions fan – our grade 7 yearbook mentioned it and my first school sewing project was an apron with the BC Lions logo embroidered on it.
I would later impress my grade 9 phys ed teacher with a surprise quarterback sneak during a flag football game. I felt like I had just won MOP as she explained what had just happened to my confused classmates. In fact, I think the girls on the other team may still be chasing my would-be running back.
GREY CUP COMMUNITY
Looking back on those early days, it’s clear what hooked me – the passion, excitement and energy in the stadium; the opportunity to spend time with family (Mom had a huge crush on Nick Hebeler); a sense of investment in the team, as I followed it through an entire season – the CFL had become a tradition. This tradition remains a big part of my life to this day, except it’s become even richer in the last few years.
I attended my first Grey Cup in 2007 in Toronto and immediately become hooked on what some describe as a cross between a Canadian Mardi Gras and a family reunion. I’ve made a number of friends and acquaintances located across the country. We stay in touch through fan forums and Facebook, and I’ve never met such a wonderful group of fun and warm-hearted people.
I’m not alone. I recently asked the question on Lions fan site BCLionsDen.ca: “What do you love about the CFL and what keeps you coming back for more?”
Everyone referred to the friends they’ve made through games, road trips, Grey Cups and fan forums. They describe football as a family tradition – an affordable and financially sustainable tradition. Aside from the social aspect, they love the fact the game is Canadian. They say it’s a wide open and faster game. They like the intimacy of eight teams and the fact that the CFL is more personal than its NFL counterpart. In the words of an American CFL fan who goes by the handle cromartie:
“The CFL is a community. It’s bigger than minor league baseball, but not so big that it loses touch with or ends the need to see the value of its core fans. It’s also a great game, better than the NFL game.”
And that, right there, is what I see as the CFL advantage – the CFL is a community.
THE CFL ADVANTAGE
In health promotion, we use the phrase “community happens” to describe how communities naturally emerge where people gather. And when they do, some wonderful (and healthy) things can happen. The CFL fan community that I’ve witnessed is much more than a group of people who love to talk football and go to games together. It’s a group of people who support one another, work together on worthy causes and channel their passion for the CFL into creative and skill-building endeavors.
CFL Fans Fight Cancer is one of those worthy causes. This fundraising group was founded in 2005 by CFL fan Jarrett Harris. Through events held in southern Ontario, Winnipeg and BC’s Lower Mainland, CFL Fans Fight Cancer has raised thousands of dollars for cancer research. The money stays in the community it’s raised in. Recipient charities have included the Canadian Cancer Society, CancerCare Manitoba, EndCancer.ca, Hannah’s Heroes, Wellspring Odette House and Wellwood Resource Centre. CFLFFC encourages you to “Be a Fan. Make a Difference.” For more information, you can check out their website.
In addition to organizing fund-raising events, CFL fans are learning web design and creating fan forums, writing articles for blogs, and even writing plays. Linda Wood Edwards, an Edmonton playwright and owner of Northern Sabbatical Productions, wrote and produced the play “True Grid,” which ran during the 2007 Edmonton International Fringe Theatre Festival. True Grid tells the story of four friends who bond over multiple CFL football seasons. Linda regularly writes CFL football references into her plays, and has been a fan of the Edmonton Eskimos for a number of years.
CFL fans have even tried their hand at advocacy. When Lions fans faced this season without a tailgate home, BCLionsDen.ca owner Brian Wawryshyn utilized the local media and social media vehicles (i.e. Twitter) to get the attention of local politicians. It worked! Lions fans have a new tailgate lot with the parking management company’s blessing.
This CFL community has had its share of tragedy too. In December last year, Garry Terpstra (known on the fan sites as GreyCupGarry) passed away unexpectedly. Earlier this year, long-time BC Lions fan Ritch Dowrey (known as 3rd Down) was the victim of an unprovoked assault that has left him with severe brain damage. In both cases, CFL fans, even those who had never met these two gentlemen in person, rallied their support for the victims’ families and closest friends. A number of tributes were organized for Garry and, to this day, Ritch receives visits at his care home from out of town CFL friends who travel to Vancouver for games. These tragedies have strengthened the bonds among remaining CFL fans, much as they would in a family or a small town setting.
Those who don’t bother to follow the CFL or who’ve never tapped into this community of fans are missing out on the unexpected perks of being a Canadian football fan – the friendship, the fun and the support. The next time Grey Cup comes to your city, stop for a moment watch a bunch of CFL fans in action – the secret will be revealed in their smiles, their laughter, and their friendly needling.
Susan Firbank is a BC Lions fan. She posts on Twitter as @Stargazer_Girl.
