Wouldn’t it be nice … if it were us?
It was easy for that thought to drift into the minds of Halifax football fans in New Brunswick yesterday, as Moncton Stadium played host to the first neutral-site, regular-season game in Canadian Football League history.
The immaculate, brand-new facility was jam-packed to its capacity of almost 21,000 and delivered a big-league experience that will be hard for any Maritime city to top.
“It’s a beautiful stadium,” said Dartmouth’s Marc Perry, who watched the Toronto Argonauts fall 24-6 to the Edmonton Eskimos.
“Go on Moncton, do your thing. Halifax, come on council … start doing what you can.”
While Haligonians couldn’t help but feel stadium envy, New Brunswickers were basking in the glow of the game’s success.
If the?CFL ever establishes a team east of Quebec, Moncton likes its chances.
“I think we deserve the team because Moncton went ahead and built the stadium, and Halifax has only made promises,” said Argonauts fan Kyle Merrell, of Sackville, N.B.
Perfect weather and a raucous crowd contributed to what former Saint Mary’s linebacker Tim St. Pierre of the Eskimos called a “homecoming atmosphere.” He said “either city could handle (a CFL team), for sure.”
“No matter where they choose to put a team, it’s obviously going to be the Maritimes’ team,” St. Pierre said.
