Milton: Allow Me to Reintroduce Myself

To a lifelong writer who cherishes metaphors, it should come as no surprise that this would happen in the immediate aftermath of a total eclipse.

The world goes dark, the sky clears, the darkness retreats.

And in that new dawn, here I am right back where I’ve always been, back in the home I’d never really left.  

I’m back on the sidelines, in the press box, and in the locker rooms of Tim Hortons Field –The House That Bob Built—spending hours intently studying the two most accomplished sports franchises this city has ever produced.

No trip worth taking ever follows a straight line, and my own journey was detoured in December when I was forced to depart “heritage media” after 47 years paddling in journalism’s mainstream.

But sometimes, as the cliché goes, when a door closes a window opens and I was flat-out fortunate that the timing of the  Ticats’ and Forge’s desire to escalate their storytelling capabilities coincided with my desire to continue telling those very stories.   

In creating a role for me as the country’s first two-sport, Multiplatform Columnist, Hamilton Sports Group, which runs both the Tiger-Cats and Forge FC, has taken a unique step forward in Canadian professional sport ownership. This is a natural evolution of the creation of the Ticats Audio Network and the Forge Audio network, themselves a sharp departure from traditional sports broadcasting philosophy, and will build upon the great coverage that fans of both teams have come to expect.

Our plan is to move deliberately and thoughtfully as we elevate Hamilton-area fans’ access to both the Forge and Tiger-Cats to unprecedented levels. The teams’ respective websites, audio networks, podcasts and social media outlets, will combine to be the go-to source for all things –and I mean all things—Ticat and Forge. And everything will be on multiple platforms: print, audio and video.

Whether they’re new to a sport or have personal and family investments dating back decades, a fan’s experience is maximized by a closer connection to, and understanding of, the players. We will broaden that knowledge and connection through unprecedented levels of player and coach interviews, explanations of their competitive environment, overall context, feature stories, game analysis, and colourful description. We will write and broadcast  thoroughly about the present, but also connect to the past and  look to the future. And, naturally, there will also be lots of humour—most of it intentional, I hope.

One thing I’ve always admired about the Tiger-Cats since Bob Young took over as “Caretaker” 21 years ago is a sense of vision. I referred to it in my farewell mainstream media column in December: noting that when almost everyone else regarded the Ticats’ and CFL’s then-decline as an inevitable landslide to oblivion Bob Young saw the “flicker of a city’s soul” and began fanning it back into a flame. It has worked far beyond what I would have believed possible and Young’s perceptive view has since been adopted and crystallized by a strong group of focused management and staff, many of whom have matured from barely-post-teens to full adulthood, growing up with and within the organization. I’m looking forward to spending even more time with all these people than I already have, and learning from them.

It takes a slice of institutional courage to bring a career hard-core journalist into a sports franchise and not include “public relations” as part of the job description. And I applaud that forward-thinking.  In return, I hope to bring to the Hamilton Sports Group some of the lessons learned from nearly a half-century in daily and weekly print. We will institute a few of the best and timeless parts of the heritage journalism that is fading so quickly: there will be comprehensive notebooks on both sports, classic reporting and opinion/column pieces on the beauties, and the warts, of the Ticats and Forge.

Enhanced by top-flight video, you will know these players and their sport, better than you ever have.

On Labour Day, the city will celebrate the 10^th season (2020 was negated by the pandemic) of Tim Hortons Field, which towers over the same plot of land as its predecessors, Ivor Wynne Stadium, Civic Stadium and the ancient playing fields of Scott’s Farm.

Contrary to popular belief I wasn’t covering the Tigers or Wildcats way back then but I have been around the Ticats long enough to have been present for Mike Kerrigan’s playoff-completions record as the 1986 Ticats came back from a 26-point deficit to beat the Argos and ride Ben Zambiasi’s defence to a berth in the Grey Cup which they won; I covered a one-win and two-win team, but I have also covered the Ticats in seven Grey Cup games including the only one they’ve won since 1986.

And consider that in a career that has included being there in person for the first non-US team to win the World Series, Joe Carter touchin’ ‘em all, Kirk Gibson’s home run, the French Judge scandal, the 2002 Olympic Loonie under centre ice, Sidney Crosby’s and Marie Philip Poulin’s golden goals and Wayne Gretzky’s last game, my in-person top 20 “greatest hits” include Tony Champion’s catch, Ozzie’s windswept 54-yarder to win the 1998 East final, Darren Flutie’s one-hander that cinched the 1999 Grey Cup, the first CPL game and Tristan Borge’s Olimpico goal to give Forge its fourth league title.

Many younger fans won’t know about some of those, but their families do, and those younger fans do know about today’s Tim Hortons Field, which pioneered social viewing in Canada, and continues to champion the concept. In other words, there are many ways to be a fan of the Ticats and Forge. And there are just as many ways to reflect that in covering the team.

Sports-media-wise, Hamilton is in an unusual position, caught between, and essentially ignored by, two major markets that have NHL and/or NFL, NBA and MLB teams. But the Ticats and Forge give Hamilton something distinct and proprietary. They are locally owned and operated, and so are their media programs which are now expanding. As the media world changes and new realities of shrinkage arrive almost without notice, who wouldn’t want to be part of a progressive group which has the confidence to substantially expand its media reach rather than contract it?

So, the eclipse was only temporary, the laptop is booted back up, and the words and thoughts ready to flow again. The Forge opens on Saturday, Bo Levi Mitchell is throwing passes at the stadium, and head coach Scott Milanovich is already in his office.

 Let the new seasons – and this new stage of a long writing career– begin.