Slander Or Just A Poor Loser?

One of the greatest sporting events Canadian football fans look forward to, besides the Grey Cup game, is the rivalry known as the "Labour Day Classic". The greatest rivalry that I know of comes between the Toronto Argonauts and the Hamilton Tiger Cats. The banter between fans can and does get wild at times. This year was no different..... with one exception.

A female Toronto fan who was in Hamilton to cheer on her beloved Argos, sent off a letter to the Hamilton Spectator's   "Letters To The Editor" section  with accusations of everything from being called names to actually saying she was urinated on by a Hamilton fan while in the stands. Sixty one year old Sandra Granahan says it took her several days to recover from the shock and anxiety she suffered as a result of the abuse she received while in Hamilton. The letter appeared in about the Sept. 8th issue (not exactly sure).

Since her letter appeared in the paper, there have been other letters published. They ran the gamut from outrage, to sympathy to disbelief. There was a letter by someone from the Ti-Cat organization stating an investigation would be launched.

Today (Sept.16th), an article titled  Writer's Take On Ti-Cat Crowd Absurd  seems to dispel every statement made by Ms Granahan. The writer of this article, Mr. Ben Lawrence, was in the same section during the game and witnessed none of what was claimed. Mr. Lawrence backs everything up with logic, common sense and an eye-witness accounting of the whole time. Hard to dispute that.

On  Ms. Granahan's FaceBook page , she states, [QUOTE] I will never go to Hamilton again in my lifetime.[/QUOTE] All I can say is "Thank you. I'm sure you've made all Hamiltonians and Tiger Cat fans very happy.

Dalton McGuinty And Tragedy

Ontario's Premier Dalton McGuinty was visiting an Ontario primary school and the class was in the middle of a discussion related to words and their meanings.

The teacher asked Mr. McGuinty if he would like to lead the discussion on the word 'Tragedy'.

So our illustrious premier asked the class for an example of a 'Tragedy'.

A little boy stood up and offered: If my best friend, who lives on a farm, is playin' in the field and a tractor runs over him and kills him, that would be a tragedy.

Incorrect, said McGuinty. That would be an accident.

A little girl raised her hand: If a school bus carrying fifty children drove over a cliff, killing everybody inside, that would be a tragedy.

'I'm afraid not',explained McGuinty, that's what we would refer to as a great loss''

The room went silent. No other children volunteered. McGuinty searched the room.

Isn't there someone here who can give me an example of a tragedy?

Finally, at the back of the room, little Johnny raised his hand and said: If a plane carrying you and your cabinet members were struck by a 'friendly fire' missile & blown to smithereens, that would be a tragedy.

Fantastic, exclaimed McGuinty, and can you tell me why that would be a tragedy?

Well, said Johnny, it has to be a tragedy, because it certainly wouldn't be a great loss, and it probably wouldn't be a bloody accident either!

A Touch Of Class

One of the great things about any sporting event is the friendly little bets you make with friends, co-workers or even rivals. One such bet was made between Hamilton police Chief Glenn De Caire and Toronto police Chief Bill Blair over which team would win between the Hamilton Tiger-Cats and the Toronto Argonauts at the annual Labour Day Classic football game. The bet, whoever's team won the game would have their team flag fly proudly over the police station of the losing city for 1 week. Chief Blair was true to his word and as the video below shows, he hoisted up the Ti-Cats flag for all to see. Very classy Chief Blair.

Here's a request to Chief De Claire.... "What are the odds you can make the same bet with Montreal?"