Not much to do with the CFL on this post either but;
my son's team won the provincial high school football championship this evening at Rocky Stone Field in Moncton.
The BMHS Highlanders (from Moncton) came back from a 13-0 deficit at the end of the third quarter to defeat the Tantramar High School Titans (from Sackville) by a final score 0f 14-13.
Needless to say, my son is truly thrilled!
Sitting in the stands, I pondered the significance of it all. The field was packed and it was standing room only with over 4,000 spectators in attendance. The excitement in the air was palpable, especially during the fourth quarter. The crowd was really into the game, and quite knowledgeable too - just as much as the crowd at a Q league hockey game. In the fourth quarter, the game announcer mentioned an out-of-town score. The Acadia Axemen had defeated the Saint Mary's Huskies and would be appearing at the Uteck Bowl in Moncton in one week's time. The crowd literally roared it's approval. The atmosphere was great....
One of my other sons played high school hockey and (for a while) Junior B hockey. I am also a Moncton Wildcats seasons ticket holder. Despite this, I am beginning to wonder which sport is truly
king in Moncton anymore.
All six high schools in Moncton have well supported football teams, four of them in the 12 man division. Of the nine high schools in NB with 12 man teams, 5 of them are from the southeast corner of the province (three of the others are in Fredericton/Oromocto and one in Saint John). The Mount Allison Mounties are building support in Moncton as well as in Sackville and I think there is at least even odds that U de M will develop a football program in the next few years. The Moncton Mustangs play in the Maritime Football League and have won the championship four times in the last seven years. We have successfully hosted two regular season CFL games in the last two years, averaging over 20,000 each game in attendance.
Sure we have the Wildcats, Commandos and Aigles Bleues for hockey, but I think that metro Monctonians have become just as passionate about football over the last couple of decades as they have about hockey.
It is now a debatable point about whether hockey or football is king in greater Moncton.
One final note - I was at both Wildcats games on the weekend, and there were more people at this high school game than at either of the two Wildcats games....
food for thought.