The Labour Day Classic

It's All Fun and Games... Unless It's Labour Day

If there are any fans in Calgary and Edmonton that are reading this, they may take offense to this, but I don't care. The one and true Labour Day Classic takes place in Hamilton, Ontario.

I have said twice previously that the greatest rivalry in all of professional sports is Hamilton-Toronto. It's the most intense rivalry I have ever witnessed, and the annual Labour Day Classic is the apex of that rivalry.

It's not just the fans that feel this way either. Players feel it as well. Here is what Ti-Cat Centre Marwan Hage had to say about playing the Argonauts on Labour Day:



"That's what we live for." I repeat, "That's what we live for." For fans and players alike, truer words were never spoken.

One of the easiest things in the world to do is hate the Toronto Argonauts. Citizens of Toronto seem to believe that they are better than everybody else. They look down their noses at our blue-collar town. They think we want to be them, that we envy them, that only Toronto matters. Arrogance of the highest order, that is portrayed perfectly in the following video:



"How many 'o's' are there in loser?" Only one, but there are more than a couple in Toronto Argonauts, and when it comes to the Labour Day Classic, the Argos have been on the losing end more often than not. Hamilton has a record of 29-13-1 on Labour Day. It would take a winning streak from now until my recently born nephew is old enough to drive for the Argos to tie the series. 

Labour Day is different from any other day; the Labour Day Classic is different from any other game. In a city where the citizens feel that an honest day's work deserves an honest wage; where hard work and getting your hands dirty is a sign of strength, not weakness; where the term "working class" is worn as a badge of honour; in Hamilton, it is nice to be able to watch the Tiger-Cats kick the living daylights out of the Argonauts. It's nice for Hamilton to be able to stick it to the elitist snobs that inhabit Toronto. Aside from winning the Grey Cup, there is no better feeling than beating Toronto. The season, regardless of record, can be considered a success if a Ti-Cat victory against Toronto is achieved. In fact, it's part of the Hamilton Code.



Labour Day: there is nothing like it.