HAMILTON, Ontario—For all practical purposes Bob Young is the owner of the Hamilton Tiger-Cats, but he prefers being called “caretaker.” Hailing from this tight-knit industrial city located an hour southwest of Toronto, the 58-year-old software businessman bought the historic CFL franchise to memorialize his younger brother, a lifelong Ticats fan who died of skin cancer in 2002. Now when players enter the stadium before home games, they pass beneath a sign that proclaims: WIN, MIKE IS WATCHING. It is that kind of environment.
On a breezy, blue-skied afternoon in late May, the second week of Tiger-Cats training camp, Young is observing two-a-days from the sidelines at McMaster University.