Argos-Suck.com

by Perry Lefko – August 10, 2007

The world is really small indeed, connected by time, people, places … and an Argos Suck button.

Allow me to explain.

Last week, following the Hamilton Tiger-Cats win over Winnipeg, I descended the steps from the press box at Ivor Wynne Stadium toward the field level, only to be stopped halfway by a group of Tiger-Cats supporters.

“Are you Perry Lefko,” one of them asked.

“Ah, yeah,” I said somewhat reluctantly.

The individual identified himself as Jake The Snake, real name Jack O’Neill. He is president of the Argos Suck, a group of Hamiltonians who have a hate-on for the Argos, proudly wear buttons to proclaim and loudly chant those two words when the two teams play at Ivor Wynne.

Jack also said he is a friend of Lindsay Giles, a name from my past. I first met Lindsay Giles around 1976 or ’77 while working at a gas station that was used as a parking lot at night to handle overflow traffic eminating from a popular midtown Toronto hotspot called The Ports. Lindsay worked at the gas station during the day and we crossed when he finished his job and handed me the keys to the station.

I did the job for a year, the highlights of which included meeting Argo middle linebacker Sam Cvijanivoch, who was surprised I recognized him. But I was a huge Argo fan at the time.

I also met a girl, Lee Ann Lee, who lived near the gas station and often passed by riding her bike. We developed a friendship and I had the occasion to one day go on a date with her. Lee Ann Lee made news in Toronto as the cover girl in the September, 1982 issue of Penthouse. We had long since lost contact with another by that time.

Alas, I digress.

I never saw Lindsay again after I left my job as a parking lot attendant, but strangely I found myself thinking about him recently. Perhaps it was karma or destiny telling me something.

Or maybe it was just a coincidence.

Jack gave me Lindsay’s e-mail address and I fired him off a note to catch up on his life. He’s living in Calgary.

“I first met Jack O’Neill in May 1998 in Athabasca, Alberta,” Lindsay said in his e-mail. “I was there doing some work on behalf of Gulf Canada, which was proposing to build a heavy oil extraction project on forest land managed by Jack’s employer, Al-Pac (Alberta-Pacific Forest Industries Inc.). Jacko was a Geographic Information Systems analyst as was I. It didn’t take long to figure out that we were both CFL fans, his fandom being quite a bit more entrenched than mine as he was a Ticats fan of epic proportions.

“I was originally from Edmonton, so my team was the Esks, not hard to take in that time period as it was the originator of the City of Champions label, not the Oilers. Anyway, Jacko introduced me to the world of all things Hammer-based the next year at an October-tailgater in Calgary. Needless to say, prairie weather ensured that we were frozen to our seats by the end of the first half. Calgary won that game, much to Jacko’s bitter disappointment, but we at least met the grandparents of Orlondo Steinauer (who was playing for Hamilton at the time).

“J.O. and I kept in touch over the years since we were in the same general business and his company controlled some data that was highly prized by companies that I supported. A few years later, J.O. moved back to the Hammer working at a distance from Al-Pac for a while, then on his own and for a short while with another company. He also took this opportunity to get married and reconnect with the Ticat faithful. I would have thought those activities were mutually exclusive and at the very least, unrelated. Just before Halloween 2002, J.O. called me to chat and let me know that his employed days in the Hammer were drawing to a close and would I know of any opportunities that would be opening up anywhere.”

Lindsay suggested to Jake The Snake that he consider a return to Alberta to work in Calgary. There was a job opening at Lindsay’s workplace, so Jack made the move while his new bride stayed behind to complete her year of teaching. It was at this time that Jake gave Lindsay an Argos Suck button.

Jack moved back to Hamilton after a short stint in Calgary, but he and his Argos Suck buddies received nationwide publicity in 2004. Tiger-Cats’ new owner Bob Young went public with his dislike for the Argos Suck chant claiming it was extremely inappropriate and in bad taste and offered $1,000 to the person who could develop the most polite, inoffensive and good-natured alternative cheer.

Young’s attempt at political correctness backfired as the national media jumped on the story. The following spring Young abandoned his anti-chant campaign and the $1,000 prize.

Jake The Snake gave me an Argos Suck button and had one of his cohorts snap a shot of me and him. Maybe it will appear on the Argos Suck website (http://www.argos-suck.com).
Thanks, Jack.

Great catching up with you, Lindsay.

And Lee Ann, if you happen to read this, let’s catch up on old times.