Hamilton makes an honest go of it
Hope returns to Steel City with the impressive addition of Andy Fantuz to Tiger-cats lineup
Ivor Wynne Stadium is not a place for fancy things, and never has been. So when the Hamilton Tiger-cats landed the prize free agent in the CFL pool, relatively local boy Andy Fantuz, the formal introduction took place in the worn cinder block-and-steel locker-room, which has a great girder that runs up from the ground and across the ceiling, next to a list of all the franchise’s East Division titles and Grey Cups.
The numbers both end in 1999. Even before it was scheduled for demolition, Ivor Wynne had become a place of the past, more than anything.
It is also a place of the present, out of necessity, and the present is suddenly a very different place around these parts. In his last full season, Fantuz caught 87 passes for a league-leading 1,380 yards and six touchdowns, and was named the CFL’S top Canadian. After an injury-truncated final season in Saskatchewan and a muted training camp with the NFL’S Chicago Bears, he was a free agent. And he wound up here.
“It definitely wasn’t about the money,” said Fantuz, who will make a reported $180,000 in the first year of his four-year deal. “It was about winning championships, and kind of my life in general, setting up for the future ... with coach [George] Cortez, and the players we have here, and the fans in the city, it seems like a great fit to really start something special in Hamilton, and in southwestern Ontario.”
Hamilton had already traded for quarterback Henry Burris, signed Toronto linebacker Kevin Eiben, and added Cortez. Up the highway and around the bend, the Toronto Argonauts, the league’s black hole, have already made an eyebrowraising trade for Edmonton quarterback Ricky Ray, and signed one of his receivers, Jason Barnes. Southern Ontario, long the leftover region of an eight-team league, appears to be loading up.
“The signings that the Ontario teams have made have just given them a clear jump over what they had last year,” said Fantuz. “It’s hard to say until you get to the season ... but I love the direction Hamilton’s going. In the CFL there’s a lot of parity; any team can win on any day. I think it’s been like that for years.
“I think every team can make an argument that they have the talent to be there, but I think it’s pretty clear to the entire league, to the entire country, that Hamilton is on the verge, and I definitely want to be a part of that.”
Fantuz could have taken more money to stay in green; he could have remained an idol in the most football-mad part of the country, where he was recognized wherever he went. Instead, he came to Hamilton. Partly it was because he is from nearby Chatham, and went to Western, and wanted to come home. And partly it’s because the Tiger-cats, who followed a slapstick exit from the playoffs two years ago with an Eastern final appearance in 2011, could finally be something again.
And maybe Toronto could be, too. While Winnipeg players take to Twitter to complain about the Blue Bombers’ losses in free agency, and as the Montreal dynasty creaks toward a close, maybe this is southern Ontario’s year.
The 100th Grey Cup will be held in Toronto, the league is throwing $1 million at its two ailing franchises, and commissioner Mark Cohon has been open about southern Ontario being the biggest problem he has. Hamilton has a new stadium coming, sure. But it’s been a lean few years, around here.
“I think if there was some more success in this area, maybe that would help,” said Fantuz. “Toronto, since [Michael] Pinball [Clemons left], it’s been kind of slower. And Hamilton, when I was growing up, Hamilton was the team to cheer for where I’m from, and there were a lot of passionate fans, and I guess there were a few years where the team wasn’t doing too well on the field, and fans lost interest. I think the CFL’S making a commitment to really getting that fan base back in southern Ontario.”
That they are, and the franchises are, too. Hamilton owner Bob Young is spending money to make friends and influence people — “The reason I’m happy he’s here is he’s such a good-lookin’ guy. We’re going to sell tickets with Andy,” Tiger-cats general manager Bob O’billovich joked Tuesday — and now, all everyone has to do is win.
“Obviously by signing Andy, and acquiring Henry, we’ve done a lot on our team to keep ourselves in the eye of the public,” said Cortez, who was an offensive co-ordinator in Calgary and Saskatchewan before serving as the quarterbacks coach for the NFL’S Buffalo Bills.
“And ultimately, that’s important, because when you have a little bit of a buzz around, people get interested in buying tickets, in coming out to the game. And then, it’s all about being successful.”
Of course, it might not work. The conspiracy theory elucidated by my Vancouver Sun colleague Cam Cole last week — that power broker David Braley, who owns both the B.C. Lions and the Argonauts, had part of the debt owed to him by the league repaid by the gift of Ray, a topthree quarterback last season — is hard to shake, but Hamilton is doing unquestionably honest work.
Sure, Burris is 35, and bounces more passes every year. Yes, the last time they signed a big quarterback it was Casey Printers, and his name is now verboten within these old cinder block walls.
But Cortez so impressed Fantuz in his one season with the Riders that he was a big factor in Fantuz’s decision, and Fantuz himself is the rare Canadian who can dominate a ta skill position, and as O’billovich cheerfully barked out in that television character voice of his as he turned to leave, “We’re tied for first!”
There is hope in Hamilton, and in Toronto. Times change.