Friday marked the final Toronto Argonauts game played at the Rogers Centre. The Argos have called that building home since 1989 but the team is moving to BMO Field in 2016.
With that in mind, here are some of the more memorable Argos moments that have taken place at the Rogers Centre, formerly the SkyDome.
The first game
It was a forgettable performance in a forgettable season for the Argos, but the first-ever regular season game at the then-SkyDome (July 12, 1989) marked a new era in Toronto football. The Argos were beaten 24-15 by their crosstown rival Hamilton Tiger-Cats in front of 32,527 fans.
1991 East Division Final
A week before beating the Calgary Stampeders in the Grey Cup in Winnipeg, the Argos demolished the Blue Bombers 42-3 in front of 50,380 boisterous Toronto fans. The 1991 Argos campaign was special for many reasons. The team was taken over by a star-studded new ownership group (Bruce McNall, Wayne Gretzky and John Candy), they signed projected No. 1 NFL pick Raghib “Rocket” Ismail to the biggest deal in North American football at the time and the Argos were a championship-calibre team.
Rocket blows a gasket
While 1991 was a dream season, 1992 was more like a nightmare. During a 31-0 blowout loss to the Stampeders in September, Ismail was ejected for stomping on the head of an opposing player during a wild scrum on the sidelines. It was the low point in what was otherwise a successful, albeit brief, stint in the CFL for Ismail.
1997 East Division Final
The Argos were on a quest to repeat as Grey Cup champs after winning it all in ’96 but they nearly didn’t make it past the Montreal Alouettes in the East Final. Doug Flutie and Michael “Pinball” Clemons helped lead the team to victory with a handful of clutch plays in the fourth quarter and the two connected on the game-winning touchdown with less than a minute to remaining in the game.
Kerwin Bell’s epic celebration
Of all the great things to happen in the history of the Rogers Centre — Joe Carter’s World Series walk-off homer, The Ultimate Warrior beating Hulk Hogan at WrestleMania VI, Donovan Bailey beating Michael Johnson in a race between the two fastest men on the planet — this touchdown celebration from Bell in 2000 is far and away the best.
Pinball’s final game
The most popular Argos player ever laced up his cleats for the final time on Sept. 15, 2000 before joining the Argos coaching staff. The team highlighted the 31-yard line on the Rogers Centre turf to honour the Argos legend in his final game.
Fan wins $1 million at halftime
On Oct. 17, 2005, Brian Diesbourg’s life changed. The 25-year-old Belle River, Ont., native had the chance to win a variety of prizes and cool $1 million during a halftime contest where he had to make field goals from 20, 30, 40 and 50 yards. Diesbourg, a former soccer player, missed from 20, 30, 40 and failed to get the three corresponding prize packages, but he still had a shot at the money if he made a 50-yarder. Against the odds, Diesbourg did it. The look on his face when the ball went through the uprights was priceless. The place went crazy and Argos players celebrated with Diesbourg on the field.
CO2 breaks Pinball’s record
On Nov. 1, 2012, Chad Owens broke Clemons’ record of 3,840 all-purpose yards in a single season against the Ticats in the regular season finale. The game was stopped and Owens was honoured by Clemons, the Argos and then-CFL commissioner Mark Cohon. It’s fitting it was Owens who broke the record Clemons set in 1997 because the two are so close.
Owens told reporters after the game: “If anything [Pinball] was probably my biggest fan and a lot of times when we do talk it’s not about football. It’s about life, it’s about family and those are the characteristics I try to take from him.”
Later that month at the 100th Grey Cup, Owens wore a vintage No. 31 Clemons Argos jersey during warmup. When Pinball saw Owens’ gesture, he began to tear up on the sidelines – another great Argos moment that took place at Rogers Centre.
100th Grey Cup win
It was a milestone season for the CFL and a storybook finish for the Argos in 2012. Toronto was the host city for the CFL’s championship game and despite going 9-9 in the regular season they advanced to the Grey Cup. Quarterback Ricky Ray and running back Chad Kackert led the Argos to a 35-22 win over the Stampeders in front of the home crowd.