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This is a place that is passionate about the Tiger-Cats, passionate about the CFL.

It is, in other words, everything that Toronto is not.

There has long been a dichotomy between the CFL experience at either end of the Golden Horseshoe, but 2019 has taken it to entirely new levels. The Argonauts, just two seasons removed from their surprising Grey Cup win in the Ottawa snow, bumbled to their second straight 4-14 record. They started 2-12, and fired general manager Jim Popp, who had fired head coach Marc Trestman a year earlier. The disastrous on-field results were matched — or perhaps exceeded — by problems at the business end, where the team averaged barely 10,000 fans per game at BMO Field. In a league that averages just under 24,000 fans per game, Argonauts did not manage to crack the 17,000 mark even once, despite having every one of their home dates on a Friday night or the weekend. Attendance sagged to a franchise low of 9,819 for a September game against the Calgary Stampeders. Four seasons after the team moved from the unfriendly confines of Rogers Centre, the long-sought bump that was expected from playing at the more intimate stadium near the waterfront has proven to be more of a splat.

But while the Argos hit several potholes, broke an axle and leaked oil, the Tiger-Cats cruised along all season. They piled up 15 wins against just three lessons, and when it seemed like a brilliant start behind quarterback Jeremiah Masoli might unravel when he was lost to a leg injury, little-known Dane Evans stepped in and kept Hamilton rolling. They have been the class of the East — which is, admittedly, not saying much — and it has been evident that they would host the conference final since about late August. The crowds, as has been the case since Tim Hortons Field opened in 2014, have been excellent, and the performance of the Tiger-Cats this season has been a nice booked to the announcement in February that Hamilton would finally host a Grey Cup again, 35 years after the last one here.