form, or at the bottom of the league.

   These are words I leave behind everywhere I go these days, but I can’t emphasise enough why we need to love this game for the game itself. Why it’s time to be red and white first and foremost, before we are green and gold, black and gold, red and blue, double blue, blue and gold, green, red, or orange and black. Even before we are black and red patiently awaiting football in our city again  

   I seen a shirt in the Tiger Town store the other day that I would love to see the fans in every stadium wear. It is red and white and reads “This is our game.” Imagine for a moment, a sea of red at all home games this year? Or what if for two weeks this regular season, it looked like the playoffs in every CFL city, except everyone was in red and white instead of their hometown colors? Maybe I watch too many movies.

   As far as the Cats, they were in Montreal last Thursday night hoping to gain some ground in their division and turn things around.

   In keeping with the spirit of trying to cover each game in a unique manner, I decided I would catch the Cats on the radio instead of watch the game on television.

   Most of the first two quarters, I actually caught on the live play on CFL.ca, while I worked on the ABNFF site. The remainder of the game however, I listened to with a radio clipped to my hip as I walked the dog, and worked around the backyard.

   I had tuned into a few minutes here and there of Tiger-Cat games on AM900 before, but I had never set out to listen to a game exclusively on the radio. So this week, I chose to write about football at 900KHz.

   It was ironic that I happened to be listening to the radio broadcast of the game, and that the night before I had put together a couple of drafts  for last weeks article directed at the media’s disgruntled responses to Tiger-Cat losses.

   It was refreshing listening to someone talking positive about the Cats for a change – and not just because they had a good game. At times I wondered if I was listening to the radio version of a Buffalo Sabres game. I kid, but what I caught of the

game was very pro Ti-Cats - and so it should be.

   I have seen the avid fans at various sporting events with their radios and headphones listening to the same game they were watching and I will admit, I didn’t understand at the time why you would want to ‘multitask’ like that at a sporting event. Now I understand. Don’t be surprised if you see me with a radio clipped to my waistband a little more often now.

   It was evident by the third quarter, that the Cats probably weren’t going to come back, but somehow the radio hosts kept you believing right up until the final seconds, that there was a chance. And why not? Stranger things have happened.

   Yes, there actually was the slightest chance at the end that the Cats could come back, but even when we were down 37-18, listening to Tiger-Cats hometown radio left me wanting to stay tuned just a little longer. Just one more set of downs. Had they said the team sucked and there wass no way in hell the Cats were going to win, I would have probably shut the radio off and went to bed dejected about another Cats loss. Instead, if there were highlights, the crew was highlighting them. Enough so that if nothing else, I liked hearing them sell a team that was having troubles getting W’s.

   For the last couple of minutes, I stopped my puttering around the yard and listened intently to hear what the outcome would be. We had an exciting finish against Saskatchewan, we almost came back and beat Edmonton in the final seconds, and now there was the off chance  that the Cats would turn their season around and overcome a 19 point deficit against the Als.

   We all know the outcome, but what an ending.

   The following day I wondered over to QB Sports Bar & Grill in Burlington, ON, with my laptop in hand, to finish off last weeks story. I had actually never been there before, but as I drove in search of a place to write my article, I figured where better to write about football, than a place called QB’s?

   They call themselves the Home of the Big Screen, and I quickly seen why - and shiny new HD screens to

boot. I had yet to see a CFL game in high def, but no sooner had the waitress shown me to my seat, than a big screen HD television showing highlights from the previous nights CFL games, caught my undivided attention.

   I sat there for a few minutes in awe of just how beautiful Percival Molson and Commonwealth Stadiums looked in HD. It was nice to at least catch a few highlights of the games on television after avoiding that medium the night before.

   While watching the highlights of the Eskimos game, I noticed that after every catch or touchdown, the players would lift up their shirts and flash #83. It certainly isn’t uncommon for players in many team sports to pay tribute to fallen teammates in this way, but I was very touched at their sentiment.

   As I wrote last weeks story, I couldn’t get the images of the Eskimo players flashing Jason Tuckers number out of my head. I have always been a sucker for a feel good story, as you probably already guessed if you have been following the ABNFF series, but it’s moments like that that put a lump in your throat, that make me fall in love with this game that much more.

   Before I sign off for another week, I would like to pass on my well wishes to Ron Lancaster and his family. It was announced yesterday on TiCats.ca that he is battling cancer again. Click here to read Ron’s message to the fans.

   Well, the Cats are back in town this evening against their rivals from the east. I hope to run into you at the game.

   Lastly, if it suddenly get’s quiet around A Beautiful Night for Football.com, it’s because I got word yesterday afternoon that by this time next week, I will be a father again.

   Looks like I picked up that infant Cats gear just in time.

N   E   X   T        W    E    E    K    :

- the out-of-towners

- the newest CFL fan