The battle of Ontario continues when the Toronto Argos enter Ivor Wynne Stadium to take on the Hamilton Ti-Cats in what will be a renewed and heated rivalry on Saturday night!!! The hostile atmosphere inside the enemy territory known as Ivor Wynne Stadium not only gets the fans going, but for both teams, they welcome all the tension, boo’s, & cheers…
The hatred for each team runs far beyond deeper than just the fans, take Ti-Cats #67 Guard Peter Dyaowski for instance who is a five year veteran of the rival: “I hate them tremendously. Start at the top, the city of Toronto, their players, their fans. When we beat them, everybody in Hamilton feels a alot happier the next day.
All the neighbors on my street are always fired up. There’s definitely a different tone in the stands when the Argos are in town. The players feel it too.
Playing them so many times, you end up hating them. Everyone in Hamilton hates the Argos.”
Henry Burris who is a new comer to this heated rivalry says: “I learned from the first day that I signed the contract here that you have to automatically hate the guys in blue. It doesn’t take long to learn. You start to feel that passion from the fans here in this beautiful city. It kind of rubs off on you. Just being here for 2 1/1 months I’m definitely feeling the passion that it takes to beat the boys in blue.”
Then there is Kevin Eiben Ti-Cats linebacker who was it the Double Blue for 11 years before signing with the Argos enemy the Black & Gold: “I love playing this game and now that I’m on the other side I get the chance to actually have fans who are supporting me and not getting booed as I run out onto the field,” Ebien said. “It’s a huge rivalry, man. I’m surprised nobody gets kicked out of the game. There’s usually a brawl. There’s usually a fight. We don’t like one and that’s just the way it’s been for 90 or a hunderd years.”
And what make this rival a even bigger one might be the fact that Argos have a huge job on their hands to contain Chevon Walker. From the Argos point of view, nobody will have bigger target on his back @ Ivor Wynne Stadium than the Ti-Cats electrifying rookie tailback Walker who has scored three TD’s in two games with 322 combined rushing and passing yards, including an 89 yard romp in the Ti-cats 43-16 loss to Saskatshewan and a 95-yard pass and run in their 39-36 loss to B.C. How do the Agros stop Walker?
Two of the Argos best rookies-defensive end Summers and linbacker Ball are ready to make Walker’s life miserable on the feild tonight. “How do I stop him? We jsut have to get him before he gets going,” Ball said. “Everyone in Canada knows he’s a bit of a runner and he can really fly.” What if you don’t get to him before he gets going? “There are no ifs or buts about it, we have to stop him before he gets going, ” says Ball. “He’s a very a big threat. Whether it’s the great, late Walter Payton or anybody, we have a job to do. When the coach says ‘Stop the run,’ we stop the run. When he says, ‘Stop the pass,’ we stop the pass. It doesn’t matter if it is Godzilla back there, we have to stop him. That’s all there is to it.”
“He’s a very talented running back. He’s the guy who makes their offence go. If we can contain him, we’ll have a pretty good chance of winning the ball game,” said Summers, whose sack sent Calgary QB Drew Tate to the sidelines (dislocated shoulder) last Saturday. “I definitely will get a shot at him (Walker). He’s very quick and fast and has good vision. But, when he comes my way, I’m going to lay the hat on him.”
Consistency is the key for the offence as they strive for success against the Argos, as the Ticats and Argos renew their age-old rivalry for yet another season.
-Laura Shea
GO CATS GO!!!!
