Hamilton CPL Supporters Thread

[-Hammer-]

Here we are

In case no one is familair with one of the greatest Canadian songs of all time, here is a youtube clip to go with it. Optional Harmonica Chorus by the supporters section....highly unlikely.

Determination
and our amibition
It's why we're here decked out in Black and Gold
We're linked together
Now and forever
We'll be here decked out in Black and Gold
Till we're dead and cold
Nah Nah Nah Nah, Nadala
We'll be here decked out in Black and Gold
Till we're dead and cold
Nah Nah Nah Nah
(or optionally during the fall months)
And it's &%^$in' cold

We have to say
That on a match day
We'll be here decked out in Black and Gold
There is no place
we'd rather be
Then right here decked out in Black and Gold
Till we're dead and cold
Nah Nah Nah Nah, Nadala
We'll be here decked out in Black and Gold
Till we're dead and cold
Nah Nah Nah Nah
(or optional "And it's &%^$in' Cold")

 

[GuillermoDelQuarto]

awesome

[GuillermoDelQuarto]

How do people feel about toques?  I know personally even I feel a little bit uncomfortable rocking the scarf at times haha

might not be a bad call considering it is Canada and all.

[-Hammer-]

1 hour ago, GuillermoDelQuarto said:

How do people feel about toques?  I know personally even I feel a little bit uncomfortable rocking the scarf at times haha

might not be a bad call considering it is Canada and all.

I'll be honest on this one, this is a bit lower on the list for me, for a couple of reasons.

The first, simply put is T-Shirts and Hoodies are much easier items to sell and we don't have T-Shirts or Hoodies yet. That also said, Jamie and the Voyaguers have been fairly gracious in getting the CPL shirts running, but basically there are other merch items that I think take priority over Toques, which are harder to sell, if only because of the seasons.

The second, is price vs quality. Most toques on some of the sites I've gone to are these Acrylic one size fits all, all year toques which I know from experience are not one size, fits alll. The few ones that are Fleece lined, or are acrylic/poly combos have fairly high unit prices, making them costly. They also seem to have fairly high minimum order numbers (typically 100+) but I haven't done a lot of digging, so there might be better options there, but it is going to need more digging to find a reasonable supplier.

The third, is that during the season, they'll likely see limited use. It really doesn't start to get winter hat chilly in Hamilton till around late October now a days.

Just my two cents.

[GuillermoDelQuarto]

fair enough.  I've never been there so not overly certain what the weather is like.

I know i'd wear mine everyday from mid october to about april if I had it(Whitehorse/Edmonton tend to be a little chilly this time of year haha)

i'll look around and see if I can find a good supplier, but no pressure, just a thought I had.

[Complete Homer]

I think toques are a great idea, but @-Hammer- makes good points. Might be better suited to a later round of merch

Someone made the point at the BSB meeting that hoodies have a very good profit margin on them and tend to sell well. Depending on the lag time on an order, that might be good to jump on for winter sales

[-Hammer-]

7 hours ago, GuillermoDelQuarto said:

fair enough.  I've never been there so not overly certain what the weather is like.

I know i'd wear mine everyday from mid october to about april if I had it(Whitehorse/Edmonton tend to be a little chilly this time of year haha)

i'll look around and see if I can find a good supplier, but no pressure, just a thought I had.

Honestly Guilermo, if it wasn't for the lake effect snow and the weird lake and escarpment wind, Hamilton would probably be one of the tamest climates in Canada. The problem is because of the Niagara Escarpment and Lake Ontario the city is mashed between two climate zones, which makes for very weird wind and weather conditions when the cold weather comes along. We tend to get a couple unseaonably mild weeks, and then vicious extreme weeks with few happy mediums.

That and we get good old lake effect.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake-effect_snow

Thankfully we tend to avoid the worst of it, being just far enough from Lake Huron and Michigan and before the real cold hits, Erie and Ontario have mostly cooled down at that point.

That said, it's probably nothing compared to what you deal with up there.

[GuillermoDelQuarto]

3 hours ago, -Hammer- said:

Honestly Guilermo, if it wasn't for the lake effect snow and the weird lake and escarpment wind, Hamilton would probably be one of the tamest climates in Canada. The problem is because of the Niagara Escarpment and Lake Ontario the city is mashed between two climate zones, which makes for very weird wind and weather conditions when the cold weather comes along. We tend to get a couple unseaonably mild weeks, and then vicious extreme weeks with few happy mediums.

That and we get good old lake effect.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake-effect_snow

Thankfully we tend to avoid the worst of it, being just far enough from Lake Huron and Michigan and before the real cold hits, Erie and Ontario have mostly cooled down at that point.

That said, it's probably nothing compared to what you deal with up there.

haha.  thats interesting.  I'd never really thought about how complicated it gets with the great lakes.  

As for whitehorse, you'd be surprised.  We ussually get a few -30 or so weeks, but for some reason it feels like a dry cold so you kinda get used to it.  

I've spent time in edmonton and I don't find it much worse.  We're closer to the coast which makes it more temperate, I think.  It's like bc if it was colder.  Halfway between vancouver and edmonton I tell people.  

its strange because when u really look at it, the "great lakes" are really small oceans by any other standard.

I'm already planning an eastern road trip if the wife allows it haha

slightly bipolar post but its 2am here haha

[RickC]

Lake effect snow in Hamilton? I suppose so, but to a limited extent. Growing up in Hamilton I recall large snowfalls and two ski hills operating. It seems they don't get as much snow anymore. But, 150 kms away in Barrie, we get lake effect snow. According to Wikipedia, Hamilton receives 118.1 cm while Barrie gets 223.0 cm. Not that Barrie will have a CPL team, but if we get L1O we'd need the toques!

[marauder01]

Its time to get some events going - no need to wait on the CSA for us to have fun.

Take a vote on our twitter page here for events or let me know in comments/tweets if there is something else you'd like to get up to!

https://twitter.com/BartonBattalion

[marauder01]

K peeps, I need your input. Going to book the Pheasant Plucker upstairs for the last week in January. I'm Thinking Thursday the 26th, thoughts or preferences on a particular day of the week?

[marauder01]

Alright you beautiful people, I'll see you on the 26th

https://www.facebook.com/events/236502403444595/

 

[SuperCanuck]

10 minutes ago, marauder01 said:

Alright you beautiful people, I'll see you on the 26th

https://www.facebook.com/events/236502403444595/

 

Pardon the intrusion from a non-Hamiltonian, but what a great name for a pub, assuming the play on words is intentional.

[-Hammer-]

On 12/29/2016 at 8:29 AM, RickC said:

Lake effect snow in Hamilton? I suppose so, but to a limited extent. Growing up in Hamilton I recall large snowfalls and two ski hills operating. It seems they don't get as much snow anymore. But, 150 kms away in Barrie, we get lake effect snow. According to Wikipedia, Hamilton receives 118.1 cm while Barrie gets 223.0 cm. Not that Barrie will have a CPL team, but if we get L1O we'd need the toques!

Like I said, if it wasn't for it, we'd have one of the mildest climates. We generally don't get it as bad anymore though. The Jet Stream seems to have shifted more east, so now Buffalo gets the worst off lake Erie. That said, driving up the 403 around Cootes Paradise, I've experienced Sun, Fog, Rain, Hail and Snow in the span of 10 minutes. Like I said, weird.

Not like those poor folks up in Tobermory or Wiarton. They get an average of 426cm.

[marauder01]

Politics.

http://www.thespec.com/news-story/7063792-soccer-dome-considered-for-tim-hortons-field/

[Complete Homer]

On 13/01/2017 at 1:25 AM, marauder01 said:

Glitch 

More politics with the dome 

http://m.thespec.com/news-story/7073191-stadium-dome-won-t-be-considered-until-ticat-city-litigation-settled

[Gopherbashi]

4 minutes ago, Complete Homer said:

More politics with the dome 

http://m.thespec.com/news-story/7073191-stadium-dome-won-t-be-considered-until-ticat-city-litigation-settled

" McGrane said he expected formal news about the league and Hamilton's prospective team within the next month and a half."

THIS IS GREAT NEWS!

Only a year ago, the announcement was 4 months away.  Now it's a month and a half away!  At that rate of 2.5 months per year, we should have an announcement in... *punches calculator a few times* 7.2 months!  

[Gopherbashi]

Also, I can't wait to hear about how this wouldn't be an issue if Hamilton was gunning for a USL team.

[Complete Homer]

5 minutes ago, Gopherbashi said:

" McGrane said he expected formal news about the league and Hamilton's prospective team within the next month and a half."

THIS IS GREAT NEWS!

Only a year ago, the announcement was 4 months away.  Now it's a month and a half away!  At that rate of 2.5 months per year, we should have an announcement in... *punches calculator a few times* 7.2 months!  

I think I subconsciously ignored that part of the article

McGrane *clearly* exists in a state of time dilation

[marauder01]

Thanks to those who came out last night - another meetup is only one week away!

See you all for Tancredi's final game:

https://www.facebook.com/events/1877279549169226/1877353029161878/?notif_t=like&notif_id=1485550006889838

 

[GuillermoDelQuarto]

i think at this point this is a little off topic, but I just can't get enough of this tune.

Think imma try to make it into a chant that might be usable.

Rise Again... Rise Again = Ham-il-ton, Ham-il-ton 

let the mary ellen carter rise again = Our boys are draped in black and gold in Ham-il-ton

potential right?

[Pottsy3]

I'm not completely up to date with what is expected of the CPL, but as a resident of the Niagara Region I'm assuming Hamilton is expected to be the closest CPL team? Likely a pipe dream that my region ever gets a team.  

[grande]

7 hours ago, Pottsy3 said:

I'm not completely up to date with what is expected of the CPL, but as a resident of the Niagara Region I'm assuming Hamilton is expected to be the closest CPL team? Likely a pipe dream that my region ever gets a team.  

That seems likely, although I'd love to see a team in St Cats.

[GuillermoDelQuarto]

10 hours ago, Pottsy3 said:

I'm not completely up to date with what is expected of the CPL, but as a resident of the Niagara Region I'm assuming Hamilton is expected to be the closest CPL team? Likely a pipe dream that my region ever gets a team.  

shrug, I wouldn't say never.  

The metro area has more than 400,000 people, thats more than Halifax..

plus it's in that golden horseshoe area, which means travel wouldn't be too bad.  

[-Hammer-]

So we made the Hamilton Spectator, that's pretty awesome.

http://www.thespec.com/sports-story/7097728-hamilton-s-canadian-premier-league-fans-no-team-yet-no-league-yet-but-they-re-already-cheering/

So, are they the Red Patch Boys or more the Box J Boys?

"I'd say we're a combination of the two," says James Hutton, the 25-year-old president of the Barton Street Battalion, the fan group which has dedicated itself to the Hamilton soccer franchise in the pending, but as yet unannounced, Canadian Premier League.

"When I'm explaining the Battalion to a lot of Hamiltonians, if they don't understand what Toronto FC is and what the Red Patch Boys (the TFC's team's wildly active supporter group) are, we say 'We're essentially going to be the Box J Boys of soccer.' Which speaks to the passion we've got and the passion we're going to be bringing to games.

"On top of that, there's a bit of a different culture to soccer. We'll be having our flags, and our drums, our smoke and our confetti, all the things which make soccer a different atmosphere."

Supporter groups for pro sports franchises, like the Box J Boys, are common and, like the Battalion, are not officially connected to the club. But Hutton thinks the Barton Street Battalion "is the first supporters group in the world to be formed before the league actually exists."

Hutton and a few friends who follow TFC closely had read Spectator stories about the potential new league and the Tiger-Cats' heavy involvement in it. They were meeting in Hamilton pubs to watch Toronto FC away games, "when at a certain point we said, 'Would we support a Hamilton team over Toronto?' And the pretty much unanimous answer was 'yes.'"

So the first booster meeting took place last February at the Anchor Bar, with about a dozen supporters. Kevin Matchett, the Ticats' director of new stadium development, came along and remains the liaison between the Ticats and the Battalion.

"That gave us that validation, that push to go forward," Hutton says. "As a group we talked a lot about what we wanted to be. We came up with the name, created a logo, created a website and got some press inside the soccer world."

The name combines a strongly identifiable neighbourhood reference with the military feel of 'Battalion,' suggesting banding together for a common, larger, purpose.

"Three words that sum us up, and maybe sum up Hamilton are, 'Impatience, passion and ambition,'" Hutton says. "We're super passionate about soccer and about Hamilton. We couldn't wait for this to start, so we started a year early."

Battalion scarves are black and gold and feature 'The Ambitious City' on one side, and 'Barton St. Battalion' on the other. When Hutton got the first 50 scarves in June, he sold them out in four days, and about 160 have been sold since then.

Between 20 and 30 fans meet semi-regularly, and on Saturday at the Pheasant Plucker they'll celebrate Hamilton's Melissa Tancredi while watching the broadcast of the final match of her brilliant career.

Prospective Battalion members are welcome, and scarves (20 bucks per) will be on sale.

One of the Battalion's hottest topics of discussion is the potential nickname for the Hamilton franchise. At least two, United and Steelers, have been registered for patents.

Many of the group prefer the Steelers, the name of a previous pro team here, but Hutton's view is that, "steel is a part of our history and it's part of what Hamilton represents now but it's a part that's getting smaller. It has less effect than it did in the '80s, and I think it'll have less effect in 2020 and 2030."

And what effect will the Barton Street Battalion have?

"The Box J Boys have woven themselves into the identity of the Ticats. If you're a CFL fan anywhere in the country, you know about the Box J Boys. I think that's an amazing identity to have for your passion for your city, and your passion for the team.

"We don't want to be a group that identifies with the hooliganism in soccer, but I'm not claiming we're going to be choir boys."