Hopefully with the Tiger-Cats healthy again and hitting their stride we can contain BC and pul out a win in Vancouver? The Tiger-Cats have an equal record so far of home and away wins, so this could be a good test for this team on how well they are prepared to play a good team in the CFL, even what the critics say about their offense??
E. Davis, Hage, Charbonneau-Campeau and Bucknor are added to the 46.
Breaux, Mutobola and Walker are all on the Injured List and Filer is back on the PR.
Giguere is still one of the 46, so we'd now have to expect him to be the non-import Reserve with Marshall, Dile and Bussey, again, being the imports.
This back to back game between Hamilton and BC might have to a tradition in the CFL, "The Clash of the Cats" like the "Banjo Bowl" between Regina and Winnipeg or the Bagel Bowl between Montreal and Winnipeg, or the just plain Argo's Suck Bowl between the Ti-Cats and Argo's, maybe the last place teams should play in the "Toilet Bowl" whatever it is, it should be fun to watch!
Lots of news coming out of BC on how bad their offense played in Montreal and how they are only 5-3 at this point and in third in spot in the West where as last year they lead the West Division at this stage? High expectations on BC to deliver a Win tonight, they are the team to beat according to the experts even though Hamilton is just a Win behind them but the experts consider BC a far better team than Hamilton and the underdogs will have a true test tonight!
Some interesting numbers -- on QBs, attendance, and penalties -- from Regina's Rod Pedersen writing about HAM @ BC:
This game marks BC quarterback Travis Lulay's 52nd career start while Ticats pivot Henry Burris is making is 177th. Hank is after his 95th career win in this one.
An alarming stat for the BC Lions: they are averaging 26,984 fans per game in 2013 while in 1986 they drew an average of 46,526 fans per game.
The attendance average in the CFL this season is 26,666 which constitutes a 5.4% drop-off from last year. However the CFL suits are quick to point out that the small stadium in Guelph (where Hamilton is playing its home games) accounts for the deficit. If you take the Guelph games out, attendance is actually up 1.4% this season.
Unnecessary Roughness and Roughing The Passer penalties are up 28% this season and, so far this season, there's a penalty called on one out of every nine plays.
Friday night Football......everywhere but B.C......For whatever reason,apparently the game will be blacked out locally.
Seems a little odd that with it being the opening game of Labour Day weekend,and also the Friday Night Game of the week,that the league and TSN would allow it to be not shown to the locals.I realize that the team owners have a say in if their home games get televised or blacked-out.Is the attendance that bad in B.C. that their worried about a small turnout ?.......or is Braley just being a stick in the mud when it comes to placing his "OTHER" team's home games on T.V.
Blacked out games were what almost destroyed the league in the 80's.....seems kind of odd in this day and age that the league would allow this.....especially when it's been proven that not showing home games does nothing to improve your live gate.I mean really,only the most rabid of fan will listen to a blacked-out game on local radio,while the majority of people will just find something else to do with their time,out of sight out of mind.I remember going to Cat games in the eighties when the blackouts were in effect and having anywhere from 13,000 to 16,000 in attendance.Back then if you got 18,000 in attendance it was considered a big crowd.
The TSN feed is blacked-out in the lower mainland, but only the SD, not the HD feed. This means if you paid for a big-screen HD TV and got the HD cable package, you can watch at home. I'm going over to a buddy's tonight to watch the game (I don't have cable at all). Personally, I think not televising the games locally on SD is a foolish strategy, because you're only denying your product to those in the lowest socio-economic bracket (ie, those without HD TV). This is not the way to promote your product, especially when the future of brand relies ever more heavily on TV contracts.
Unfortunately, the late Bob Ackles was a big proponent of blacking out games, and this philosophy has been held as gospel ever since he returned more than a decade ago. The team is getting better at dealing with blackouts: they announced before the season started which games would be on TV and which wouldn't, but overall they're still clinging to 1980's era thinking.
The core of the Lions season ticket base lives in Vancouver proper (someone with the Lions spoke about this publicly a year or two ago). These people want Friday & Saturday night games that start at 7 o'clock, so this is more or less the dominant schedule. Unfortunately, if you're anywhere in the 'burbs it's pretty difficult to make a 7pm kickoff, especially on a weekday. There are 1.1 million more people in metro Vancouver than there was in 1986, so you'd think there would be a greater pool of fans, but I think it has had the opposite effect, as the suburbs expand further away from the stadium. When I was a kid in the 80's several of my friend's parents had season tickets; those kids have now grown up and are raising their own families, but a further 10-20km deeper into the suburbs. The 1986 trip to the stadium from my home took about 30 minutes, today it takes at least an hour. Anyway....I could go on and on, but I realize I'm probably boring you. In a nutshell, it will take me less time to get from downtown Hamilton to Guelph next week than it will to get from Port Coquitlam to Vancouver (33km) on an average gameday.
In terms of attendance tonight, eastern teams are traditionally a lesser draw at the box office than western teams at BC Place. I actually looked at the numbers over the entire BC Place era (ie, 1983 on) and I would expect tonight will be the lowest attendance of the season for the Leos. Unfortunately for you lot it's raining here so the roof will be closed, and the crowd noise will rattle around.
Sorry about the problems there in attendance with the Lions etc. Also sorry that they most likely will on the losing side of the ledger tonight as well.
High expectations aside, I surely hope to see Hank and the guys take this one all the way to the final whistle - would LOVE to see them defeat the Lions in their own house. Go Ti-Cats, Go!
Thanx for the response James......Still think it's archaic and backwards thinking,maybe TSN and Braley are just saving ya all the trouble and humiliation of watching our CATS lay down a major league BEAT DOWN on yer team tonight. :lol: :rockin: Feel sorry for anybody that misses this game,in the last 4 years it's been one of the BEST and ENTERTAINING games of the season !!!!!! :thup: :cowboy:
The Lions don't have attendance issues....their numbers always increase in the fall, when the weather changes (last year is an example....their last 4 games avg. about 35,000). People in Vancouver don't want to sit inside when the sun is shining.....and, no ...the hole in the roof does not make it outside anymore than opening a window in your house...!
:thup: