I finally got to see my footballing hero, Warren Moon’s dedication at the Canadian Football Hall Of Fame. Unlike most North American boys, I didn’t grow up watching football but I played, soccer, cricket and rugby. Only after moving to Canada some 20+ years ago did I fall madly in love with football. I’m first and foremost an NFL fan, but nothing beats heading out on a warm summer’s evening to watch two CFL teams do battle. The chants, the fans, the smell of spilled beer in the stands and food sizzling away on the grill during the tailgating gives the entire experience a sort of electric feeling.  Don’t forget the bone crunching hits and creative plays on the field.

Downtown Hamilton is notorious for not having adequate parking spots, so I went expecting to have to search for parking. But since the Canadian Football Hall Of fame is situated adjacent to the City Hall, there’s a a wide selection of paid parking (about $2/hr) just off Jackson Street going west. I was greeted by the curator of the Hall of Fame, Meghan Sturgeon who was very welcoming and kind enough to give me a personal tour. I was always under the impression that the hall catered solely to the Canadian Football League and the players and coaches that went through it’s ranks. Meghan explained to me that this was not the case and that the Hall was open to all forms of football history and memorabilia from coast to coast (Canada) and this was even more clear as we continued with the tour and I saw pieces from the Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS) and Canadian Junior Football League (CJFL).

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The tour itself lasted about 30 minutes, but if you’re doing this on your own and really want to take in every little bit of football history, I’d suggest you reserve about 40 minutes of your time. The highlight on this tour for me was the Hall of Fame, with all the busts of former football greats. And as I mentioned above, it gave me the opportunity to see the one dedicated to Warren Moon who to this day remains one of my favourite  CFL players. It’s a neat game to see if you can identify the players who have been inducted or at least see if you know the names of these past heroes.

To be quite honest, if you’re not a fan of football you won’t find the Hall of Fame that interesting. However the true fan of the game will have an excellent time being surrounded by so much history and boyhood memories.

The Canadian Football Hall of Fame and Museum.

58 Jackson Street West
Hamilton, Ontario
L8P 1L4

Pricing:

Adult                          $7.00
Student                      $3.50
Senior                        $3.50
Family                        $16.00 (limit 2 adults 2 children)
Children under 5 are      Free

Present a CFL, CIS or CJFL game ticket and receive $3.00 off an Adult & $1.00 off Senior and Youth admission (one ticket per discount)

The Canadian Football Hall of Fame was awarded to Hamilton in February 1962 after a successful presentation by Mayor Lloyd D. Jackson. The Parks Board made available a large, old residence near the stadium where the soon to be gathered football treasures could be temporarily housed. Ivan Miller, retired sports editor of The Spectator, was named the first curator.

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The Hockey Hall of Fame is located in the heart of downtown Toronto at the corner of Yonge & Front Sts. in Brookfield Place (formerly BCE Place) lower concourse level, a short walk from many Toronto attractions, including Air Canada Centre, CN Tower, Rogers Centre and Eaton Centre. The actual address is:

Brookfield Place
30 Yonge Street
Toronto, Ontario
Canada M5E 1X8

The Hall of Fame was well organized and filled with hundreds of thousands of of displays, artifacts, memorabilia, videos, NHL Zone, Upper Deck Collector’s Corner, Canadiens Dressing Room, Esso Theatre, Stanley Cup Dynasties,, Hartland Molson Theatre, Global Game Encounter, Panasonic Hometown Hockey, Verizon Great Hall & NHL TrophiesVirtual Tour – Verizon Great Hall, NHLPA Be A Player Zone, TSN/RDS Broadcast Zone, 2K Sports NHL2K Zone.

Basically there’s something for people of all ages, from interactive games for kids to getting the opportunity to do the commentary on actual NHL game action, not to mention special sections on the greatest players and teams of all time. Fans can easily spend half a day marveling at the impressive collection of items and reading the historical footnotes.

How can you be a true hockey fan and not visit the shrine of hockey? The price was about $15 for the day pass (see prices below). The main gallery has videos and electronic games where you can participate in simulated playoff action. There are halls and halls of pictures and plaques commemorating every great player and event in the games long history. Then there’s the holy grail of hockey, the Stanley cup. As you browse through all the displays etc, you’ll notice that every pro team has a small nook where its best players and achievements are catalogued.

Then there’s a rink where you can imagine yourself as part of one of the winning teams (closest I’ll ever get to being in a real hockey game). You can easily spend a couple hrs if you really want to cover everything  adequately. When it is busy (like on the weekends), you may have to wait in line to see some of the sections or try some of the electronics. We went the same day there was an NHL game between the Toronto Maple Leafs and The Washington Capitals, so with Ovechkin in town, this place was packed as well.

Contact :
Info line…………..(416) 360-7765
Switchboard……..(416) 360-7735

Rates :

General      $15.00
Youth (4yrs-13yrs)     $10.00
Senior (65yrs+)     $12.00
Children 3 & under     Free

Hours of operation (check for extended March Break and Summer hours)
Monday-Saturday …9:30am to 6:00pm
Sunday…………… 10:00am to 6:00pm

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