Hamilton’s Grey Cup hangover

For a few seconds on Sunday night, the city of Hamilton was home to a championship team. That is until a red flag on the field at B.C. Place silenced the cheers and turned an amazing run into a highlight of what could have been. But did that crushing defeat, throw the city of Hamilton’s emerging sense of swagger, for a loss? We went out today to probe the psyche of the city — with some of its leading experts.

If you’ve lived in this city for any length of time, you know that disaster, disappointment and failure has been woven into the fabric of Hamilton, throughout its history. But somehow, it’s just a colourful accent. A thread that, rather than weaken the city, has only strengthened it.

But this one hurt. Deeply. That much, was obvious.

Ticats receiver Andy Fantuz: “I feel so bad for these guys. They worked so hard. My family was here. We’re pretty sad right now.”

There are few communities in North America that are tied so closely to a sports team. Both emotionally, and psychologically as Hamilton is to it’s Ticats. And while Hamiltonians weren’t exactly crying in their beer, they were clearly crest-fallen as civic pride took a beating once more.

But was that red flag on the field significant in community terms? Will Hamilton’s recent sense of positive momentum, be thrown for a loss?

Ryan McGreal: “It would be nice to see them win. But the fact that they didn’t win doesn’t mean we’re suddenly going to slide into a tailspin again.”

Ryan McGreal, is the publisher of Raise the Hammer — and a tireless advocate for his hometown. But he’s not the only civic cheerleader that sees hope in a weekend of despair.

Chris Ecklund: “You never truly want to arrive, really, in anything in life, and the reason why is because then what happens next is most people give up.”

Chris Ecklund, widely known as The Waterfall Guy is deeply connected to both the city, and the Ticats: “We are going to win the Grey Cup. That is going to happen. But it’s the ability to keep going. To keep getting better as a city, as a people, as a team.”

Tim Potocic, the man behind SuperCrawl says failure doesn’t defeat the city. Instead, it often drives Hamilton forward: “I think it just fuels the fire. I think that Hamiltonians in general, and Ticat fans, McMaster fans, are just like ‘Nope. Let’s just take this, put it in our back pocket, and move forward, and be stronger next year’.”

And one of the city’s foremost champions, Terry Cooke, the CEO of the Hamilton Community Foundation agrees: “There certainly is here, a sense that I think that this community is on the ascent. That our best days are ahead. That we’ve gotten up off the mat, as we always have when faced with adversity.”

Ryan McGreal: “This Renaissance isn’t going to end right now. It’s a long thing that’s going to happen over multiple years, and there are a lot more opportunities for the team, to kind of put a bow on that.”

No matter what the problems are, you just can’t keep a great city down.