The outlook isn’t brilliant for the Calgary fans these days

The sporting teams are dying out or running far away.

And then the 88’s went belly-up, and as the Flames go to follow suit

A sickly silence fell where sporting fans of Calgary used to root.

The bandwagon bunch jumped off in despair. The rest

Attended local sport events with much exuberance and zest.

They paid through the nose for tickets, and took little joy from that.

But at least it was still a good deal to see the Cannons at the bat.

But lack of talent held the Cannons back, as did their ever-changing parent teams

And the former made the fans groan and the latter brought out screams

So despite the freebie give-aways, in the stands few true fans sat,

For these troubles kept common fans from going to see the Cannons at the bat.

But A-Rod came to play in ‘94, as Tartabull did before him

And the Marinners, who stayed a while, sent us talent in the interim.

And when the dust had lifted, and Calgary saw their improved team,

You’d think that every seat’d be filled with fans to shout and scream.

But less than 5,000 folks would show up to watch the fun,

And the echo of the cheering rattled empty seats in the sun.

It knocked upon the backstops low, and up to the rafters tall

Where dents and knocks gave evidence of prior foul balls.

But no fans sat high above the field to catch the souvenirs,

And owners thoughts of profits turned to cash-strapped baseball tears.

And the Cannons tried to get butts to fill the seats where no one sat

Yet no newcomer was seen to sit and watch the Cannons at the bat.

And now Russ Parker’s pitch for fans come hurtling through the air

And the fans of Calgary stood a-listening, but didn’t seem to care.

The media watched Parker’s appeal , they wrote and we all read

"I’ll go another day," fans said. "Strike one," Parker said.

From the stands unfilled with people, not a single peep was heard

Silent as the long-dead screams of a well-cooked Christmas bird

No shouts of "Save the Cannons!" Indeed, nobody was hooked

On the little Triple A team whose goose we knew was cooked.

With the patience of a saint and deep pockets of a sucker,

The Cannons owner would not give up, yes, that was our Russ Parker.

He turned to city hall and asked for a new park with which to woo

The fans. City hall said no, and Russ Parker said "Strike two."

Again, no one raised a fuss, if any noticed at all

That Calgary was dangerously close to having no baseball.

At last Russ Parker speaks again, but no one waits with baited breath

Do any care if the Cannons can again avoid their death?

Oh, almost no where left in Canada is there a place for minor baseball teams

The fans go watch televised MLB, where salaries are extreme

And for those teams, prosperity, in their cities that actually care;

But there’s none of that in Calgary-- The Cannons are going elsewhere.