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November 16, 2017

Love and Football

Tony Fitz and Melanie Hughes at a game on Sept. 16, 2017 (Photo by Eric Boldt)

It’s a lifelong commitment.

To each other – and to the Stampeders.

Passionate fans Tony Fitz and Melanie Hughes both had season tickets growing up and when they began dating a decade ago, football became a focal point in their relationship.

“(We) then got season tickets together, we’ve had them for our entire relationship,” Tony said. “It’s been front and centre to our relationship.”

During the 2017 regular season, the couple missed only one home game.

And for a pretty good reason — they got engaged.

But they still weren’t about to miss watching the tilt.

“Trust me, I thought about proposing at a Stamps game,” admitted Tony. “But it was pretty cool doing it in front of some Aztec pyramids.

“The only bad thing about the vacation was that we missed the home game against Toronto this year.

“The day after we got engaged, we were sitting there in a hotel room watching the game on our phone.”

Spending their weekends together at McMahon Stadium or watching the team play on TV, Stampeders football has been something that has brought the couple closer together.

“We didn’t meet at a game, but it’s how I became a bigger fan,” said Melanie. “It definitely makes our relationship more fun.”

Over the years, the two have developed a game-day routine that includes dressing up, along with lots of music, food and fun at the pre-game tailgates.

“We don’t really plan them out in advance, but we put on a playlist and start to piece together our costume depending on the weather,” said Tony of their game day apparel. “We’ll get the face paint going and what not, it changes based on the weather and whoever we are playing.”

“We always like to meet up with the CFL Horsemen, as well,” said Melanie.

“It’s a big tailgate and we like to get there an hour before the game if we can,” explained Tony. “We definitely enjoy the whole tailgate culture every game.”

Photo by Angela Burger

Once the game starts, they head to Section C and join all of their friends.

Channeling their inner Christopher Walken from SNL, they need more cowbell.

“We turned our section into Section Cowbell,” said Melanie. “Section C, Section Cowbell. Everybody around us brings cowbells now.”

As they get set to watch another Western Final from their perch, a couple moments stand out for them and those memories will last a lifetime.

“I grew up on the Stampeders and my dad used to take me to games as a kid, all through the ’90s,” said Tony. “I remember freezing my butt off at the Western Final where [Doug] Flutie had his bootleg against Edmonton. I remember that as a kid and I’ve always been a big-time Stamps fan.”

“It was another Western Final against Saskatchewan — we’re in Section C, Row 3 — when Drew Tate came in and threw that touchdown to get us to the (division) final in 2012, that was right in front of us. That was a pretty good one to win the Western Semi-Final on a pretty ridiculous comeback.”

The super fans are obviously amped for Sunday’s Battle of Alberta playoff tilt.

“I wouldn’t miss it for the world,” said Tony.

“It’s just kind of a year-round addiction.”