Least favourite CFL team and why...

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David
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I'll start:

Winnipeg Blue Bombers. Why?

* They tried to block our entrance into the Western Interprovincial Football Union (WIFU, today's West Division) in 1953.

* The huge rivalry/animosity that started in the '80s has never waned for me.

* Bomber fans attacking some of our players in the 2002 West Semi-Final. A drunken fan tried to jump on Eric Carter in the dying minutes and was kicked by Carl Kidd while he was pinned down. "We've got to protect ourselves,'' Kidd said at the time. "You never know what that guy had in his pocket. (Fans) threw bottles at us, snowballs. It's ridiculous.''

* The "BC Sucks!" chant has always stuck in my craw.

* My perception of homerism in the Winnipeg media. This was somewhat dispelled this year when they didn't vote for Andrew Harris for MOP....but there's always Bob Irving. :wink:


DH :cool:
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Gridiron Ernie
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Well, I suppose it's small-minded of me, but it seems I hold a team's success against them, and our Lions have too often stood on the sidelines witnessing the success of the two rival Alberta organizations. So both Edmonton and Calgary qualify as my least favourite.

For me Edmonton's dynasty years of yore play into it -- as a teenager I was so sick and tired of EE being in yet another Grey Cup and winning it. And over the decades since they've never had staffs or rosters that endeared me to them, so the feeling remains. I couldn't care if they never won another cup in my lifetime. Anyone is preferable to them IMO.

But, while Calgary's more recent success plays into things, for me in Calgary's case my main reason for lack of any emotional support is due to some of their current people. I'm actually a big Hufnagel fan, but the hybrid smugness-meets-cry-babyness of Bo Levi and Dickenson combine to deflect away all potential support to whoever their opponent might be on any given day, excepting EE.

And David, you break my heart... The Bombers are my go-to team and always have been (any time the Lions are out of the picture) since the days of the great Bud Grant, but especially so these more recent years with Buck Pierce there who remains a top-fave ex-Lion. Your dump of cold water was like water off a duck's back to me, heh heh. Cheers!
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B.C.FAN
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Good history refresher, David. I had forgotten most of those factors. Perhaps I’ve just forgiven and moved on.

My thoughts about other teams are based on more recent history, specifically the current head coaches. I can’t stand Jason Maas so that makes Edmonton my least favourite team. I’ve never liked the Esks but Maas’s hot temper and disrespect for fans, the media and the CFL’s broadcast partners make him the least likeable person in the CFL.

On the flip side, I’ve always had a soft spot for Ottawa. Their fans endured a lot of of hardship and the collapse of two franchises before the Redblacks entered the league and made football popular and successful again. I still think of them as underdogs.

Hamilton is a close second to Ottawa as my favourite team aside from B.C., thanks largely to their recent Grey Cup drought. I’ve had great experiences as a Lions fan in both cities. I’ve forgiven the Ticats for Angelo Mosca’s hit on Willie Fleming in the 1963 Grey Cup but I haven’t forgotten. That was the first Grey Cup I watched. Beating the Ticats in the 1964 and 1985 Grey Cups took the sting out of the 1963 loss. I cheered ex-Lions Danny McManus and Darren Flutie and the rest of the Ticats to victory against Calgary in the 1999 Grey Cup at B.C. Place and still cheer for them in most games where they’re not playing the Lions.
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Lion Guy
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Meh. Don't hate any team.

Fan bases?
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Sir Purrcival
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Lion Guy wrote:
Sat Nov 09, 2019 3:55 pm
Meh. Don't hate any team.

Fan bases?
Fan bases, Yes. For me it is the Riders closely followed by the Esks fan base. I found the Canada's favourite team crap of the Riders got really old really fast. While I can't deny they have a very avid fan base, somehow translating that to "we are better than you" is a pile of horse hockey. I could just as easily say the reason they have so many fans in other places is because they have more people who have fled their province than anyone else who has a team in this country. Or perhaps because they were so blamed awful for so many years, that people learned to feel bad for them and cheered sympathetically. Equally dubious assertions. I also remember the beer can incident and the cow manure incident with Paul McCallum when he missed the FG. No player should have to put up with that kind of BS and no fan of any team should be proud of a fan base that does that kind of thing.

As for the Esks, I remember well the game I took in at Commonwealth where the Esks stormed back in the 4th Q and went on to win the game against our Lions. No problem with that but a big a problem with a joker that chose come from wherever he was sitting and run through our row just to rub in in. He nearly knocked over my 80 something father who was standing there. I was microns away from bashing his head in. Then to add insult to injury, one of commonwealth staff had the audacity to come down and tell us all to sit down in the last 30 seconds. Where was she when dick head came into our section behaving badly 1 minute earlier. It's ok to be a jubilant winner, it is another thing to be classless about it.

Every team has em unfortunately, I remember backing up an Edmonton fan here at BC place on an occasion where they lost and some 20 something yahoo's were saying some pretty crude things to him right in front of his 6 something year old. The father didn't react to his credit but his son was trying to understand the whole thing. I ended up talking to the both of them and explaining to the little boy that his father did the right thing and that people don't always behave the way they should that he should be proud of the way his father conducted himself. Imagine killing the excitement of young child at a big sporting event because you are too stupid to have some common sense.
Last edited by Sir Purrcival on Sat Nov 09, 2019 5:13 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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don corleone
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* The "BC Sucks!" chant has always stuck in my craw.


Hey, that's the one song all Bomber fans know the words to. :)

Would bet money that it started in BC as well at a game the Bombers weren't even playing in when the camera panned the crowd and a fan yelled Winnipeg sucks. Might have been the late seventies and both the Lions and Bombers had good teams back then. Possibly the year Joe Fourquean made that damn play. The new fans don't really know why they yell it other than being fun to do. It is fading.

For my current least favorite team I have to say it's the Bombers under their current regime. Smug as hell and living in denial. They might win tomorrow but they really don't have the better team. At least they have seemingly moved on from Jeff Hecht. Worst contract of the year to Adam Bighill who can't do it all by himself needs to be addressed but it won't be.

Hard to like Edmonton as well as much for their winning years of the same late 70's early 80's teams. Dislike for Calgary goes back to 1970 and nobody likes the Riders.

But we all love the CFL.
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Hambone
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Bomber fans might counter with the time the were playing in BC Place and a Lions fan jumped over the rail to clobber either Boomer or Buzzer. Can't remember which one but if a recall it resulted in a broken bone for the person inside the mascot's costume.
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Belize City Lion
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Least favourite? Edmonton, hands down. Mostly due to the time when Hugh Campbell would stand on the sideline staring down officials and getting calls (or non-calls). Or from when Commonwealth had grass and the Eskimos wouldn't let visiting teams practise on the field (that would get watered down). In the 80s and 90s the Eskimos behaved like they ran the CFL. I still hold that against them. Maas comes off like an entitled little brat child raised by that era. Only he can't back it up that way Campbell could.

My second least favourite team is also my second most favourite team: The Riders. I grew up rooting for the Riders (except for when they played BC), and I spent the first 10 years of my adult life living in Saskatchewan. So I have a soft spot in my heart for the Riders. But in recent years they have been a hard team to like due to their fans. They seem to have chilled a bit the last season or two so I am almost back on their bandwagon for the 2019 playoffs (although to be honest I would love to see Montreal win the Grey Cup).
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KnowItAll
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not hate but don't like

mtl - Quebec issues.

ed - got tired of them winning in 80s. Did cheer for them when they won with Reilly.

cal - tired of them winning so much lately. Did cheer for them when they had Flutie.

not to mention alberta political issues. OK, I will....oil and wexit


That wpg chant also always bugged me, specially when I would be at a game in wpg in the 80's and they would chant that when they were playing some other team.
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TheLionKing
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Another vote for the Riders. Tired of being taken to the wood shed by Lancaster, Reed, Barwell etc and the infamous time keeper who always find a few seconds to allow Jack Abenschan to kick the winning field goal. Demo ton would be my second choice
maxlion
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I prefer enemies to be weak and far away. So I like Eastern teams.

Calgary is worst. Getting clobbered by them year after year is such a bore.
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DanoT
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My least fav team would be the Esks because I am not a fan of Maas as a HC. That said I will be cheering for them to beat the Als so Maas keeps his job in Edmonton.
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Toppy Vann
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Don't really have a least favourite team in the CFL.

Only watched CFL games in BC (lots) and once each in Calgary and Winnipeg where it's clearly different. Leaving a Stamps game there was a fight between their fans in a packed train car that was completely insane (about 2006 IIRC) and makes you wonder - but that was just two starting it.

WPG - again you had a sense if you were cheering for BC it'd not be appreciated. That game was a Bomber blowout. Even as BC came onto the field at the pre-game introductions you could see they didn't look confident and they weren't that day.

In both those two away games I kind of thought Wally and his coaches didn't exude the kind of confidence in a leader that I'd expect or I'd have shown in a hostile place. In senior mens soccer in the 90s the then star Van Fire-fighters' two top teams played at Clinton Pk in front of up to 1000 or more fans and firetruck sirens going off when they scored. Refs and linesmen intimidated and sometimes teams.

I like to think my guys played good there as we'd say - these games are the best crowds we'll see - and just don't get into it with them.

Wally I thought look defeated in both those away games and he team played like he looked.

If I don't like the HC - maybe it spills over to the team. I dislike how Jason Maas has acted at times and how he handled under GM Hervey the mic'd up games and how QB Mike Reilly was onside with it was wrong to have them but I didn' t dislike their team nor Maas as everything you read about him as friend with Ricky Ray and how players like him incl Reilly tells me - you'd love him as your coach.
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swervynmerv
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Sir Purcival hit the nail on the head for me! HATE the Riders and am happy whenever they lose.

Like many on here they used to be my default team cause they were always so bad and you had a soft spot for them. Moving to Sask changed that for several reasons:

1. The Riders started to get good when the Lions were on top in the 2004-2012 range so a natural rivalry formed. It’s like being a Red Sox fan living in NY and hearing about the Yankees non-stop. I swear Christ himself could return and the news shows would lead with a story of some Div 3 CB they signed.

2. With success, many in their fan base got arrogant and in your face. They truly believe that the only reason the CFL exists is because of them. Never mind the other 90 plus years when the league survived and they had to be bailed out. They aren’t Canada’s Team. No team is. It’s just their fan base is spread out as so many people move or move away from Sask. Give them credit they do support the team even when they move away.

3. I firmly believe no team in the CFL gets more breaks and favourable calls than the Riders, especially when at home. Last weeks poor roughing the passer call against the Eskimos with 5 minutes left changed the game and helped them win a game and clinch the West in a game they should have lost.

4. Am I the only one sick of seeing Green jerseys at EVERY event on the planet? Buy some other clothes! I get it, you love your team but wearing Rider gear to NHL, NBA, MLB, rock concert or your cousins weddings is beyond belief.

5. I will admit though, that if every CFL city has the NUMBER of fans the Riders do the CFL would be in phenomenal shape. That being said, as a Lions fan, my passion is no less, it’s just unfortunate that there aren’t as many out there. It bugs me when I hear fans of a team that almost folded multiple times in the 90’s act so smug at ever increasing times.

6. So in summary cheer for the Lions first and whoever in the CFL is playing the Riders that week! :rotf: :rotf: :rotf:
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David
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swervynmerv wrote:
Sun Nov 10, 2019 11:20 am
4. Am I the only one sick of seeing Green jerseys at EVERY event on the planet? Buy some other clothes! I get it, you love your team but wearing Rider gear to NHL, NBA, MLB, rock concert or your cousins weddings is beyond belief.
Lol, yea this is a little odd. Wearing Rider jerseys to some random sporting event down in the States? I don't get that one. Makes us all look like a bunch of rubes.

Doesn't a big contingent of Rider fans convene every year down in Arizona and it's a vertible "green out" at a Coyotes hockey game? SMH


DH :cool:
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