Jason Allan and David Cicci can remember standing outside Ivor Wynne Stadium as 12-year-old boys in 1978, jockeying for the busiest spots on Melrose and Balsam Avenues to sell programs. They would eagerly report their sales after the first quarter and earn free admission inside to watch the Tiger-Cats.

Today their passion for the Ticats still burns, and they belong to one of the most recognizable fan groups in the CFL. The Box J Boys are that big crew of diehards in Hamilton known for their black-and-gold kilts, T-shirts and helmets. They toss a fan in the air to celebrate every touchdown, blow their deafening horns and throw huge tailgate parties at Hamilton's Scott Park. This gregarious group of long-time friends has been making the annual pilgrimage to the Grey Cup for nearly 20 years and has become a fixture there.

Allan, Cicci, their friend Mario Citino and other family members and friends began buying tickets to Ticats games when they were teens. By 1995, the high-spirited group bought season's seats up so high in Ivor Wynne, as Allan says "we felt three rows from God." The league was in dire financial straits and the tone at Ticats games needed revitalizing.

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"We said, 'let's create a group that drives more fun and excitement at the games, but to make a difference, we've got to be close,'" Allan said. "So the next year, some spots opened up in Box J, behind the players' bench. Some guys that sat in front of us joined our group too. We started wearing Box J Boys T-shirts, and originally some black construction helmets until Dave found us some tougher-looking miners' helmets. Man, if those things could talk. …"

They started having small pregame barbecues at one of the Boys' houses in 1996, nearby the stadium, but eventually moved the tailgating to a park across the street from the stadium. That's when their intimate little gatherings started to grow along with the Boys' popularity.

Adding eye-catching kilts made them original. They bought a big bolt of black-and-gold tartan fabric of the Scottish Maclachlan clan, and even followed tradition and sought official permission for their "clan" to wear it.

"The first time we showed up in the kilts in '99, people were like, 'Whoa, there are some fans willing to take it up a few notches,'" said Box J Boy Shawn Nugent. "Then we started to notice other people were dressing up a bit more; soon we saw some Saskatchewan guys in green kilts. Sometimes when I'm leaving for the game, I think, 'Do I really want to put this kilt on and freeze my butt off?' But then I always think, 'Yeah, put it in, that's what you're here for.' Once we're crammed into the stands with everyone, it's fine. If you're a kilt-wearer with the Box J Boys, you're not going to be caught wearing jeans at the Grey Cup."

Their first Grey Cup in the kilts goes down as the Box J Boys' favourite. Just like this year's, it featured the Ticats and Stampeders meeting in Vancouver. They began attracting cameras, interview requests and party invitations. After the Ticats hoisted the Cup in victory, a bag-piper in the crowd insisted on piping the Box J Boys out of the stadium to go celebrate. Then they befriended a couple of disappointed Stamps fans wearing long Western coats and cowboy hats, at the Roxy bar in Vancouver.

"After we met them, we thought, 'This is a blast, we have to stick with these guys,'" said Mike Salwach, one of those Stampeders fans. "We thought, Wouldn't it be great to start up our own group, so we started the Cowtown Posse in Calgary and we've hung around with them at the Grey Cup every year since. They're great people and great ambassadors of our league."

The group is often invited to do appearances, parades, and television commercials. They're often the life of Grey Cup parties.

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But despite their fun-loving spirit, a group of burly, beer-swilling guys with big voices can irk the odd local looking for a fight. And they've heard every one-liner in the book about their kilts.

"Not everyone likes us, that's for sure," Allan said. "But we're a fun, family-oriented group of guys, not hoodlums. There's no membership or constitution. The individuals that have joined our group over the years have just kind of known what it takes and have been asked in. We're guys of all walks of life – blue-collar, white-collar, no collar."

Some have moved away as far as Nashville and Edmonton, but still make a few Ticats games a year. The Box J Boys group has grown to more than 20 – new guys eventually get tartan pants. Most are in their late 40s, but there are also teenaged sons and guys in their 70s. Once they rented a motor home and drove together from Hamilton to Montreal for the Grey Cup.

"I love the Box J Boys because their passion for their Ticats and our league is infectious," said CFL commissioner Mark Cohon, who has visited their tailgate parties and sat with them at games. "They come to every Grey Cup, travel for Touchdown Atlantic, attend my Fan State of the League and just have a lot of fun."

Their tailgates today are elaborate productions, all out of their own pockets, involving tents and a professional sound system and stage, and loads of food. Sometimes hundreds visit. They even co-ordinate efforts to party with buses of Toronto Argonauts fans when the two rivals meet on Labour Day.

"We've done it all – one year, we even camped out and had an all-night tailgate, and the fire department and cops just drove by and honked the horn to us," Cicci said. "The Box J Boys family has evolved over the years. We're old friends and this is our chance to catch up."