Is Canada Day A Must Win?

Now obviously Canada Day is not a “must win” in the obvious sense, but is it a “must win” in the view of fans?

I was just wondering how many people out there think that if we go 0-1 right after the first HOME game are gonna start thinking “Here we go again.” I’ll give it until 0-4 myself until panic sets in for me.

I’m not gonna try and pretend i know everything about the game haha, The coaching staff are hired and there for a reason, lets just relax for a bit and put some confidence in them and see how it goes wednesday :cowboy:

GO CATS GO!!! if we can only beat one team this year, obviously it has to be the hated argos :smiley: :wink:

No.

8) YES !!! It is a must win not only for the fans, but more importantly for the team !!!

Absolutely, not only does it start your season off on the right foot, it would be the first win on the road to the Ballard cup. Tell me, would you be willing to watch the team lose next to Argo fans?

A MUST win? Game 1? You want to win every game but calling it a "must win" implies that if you lose you can kiss the season good bye. MUST-win games come in October when you're fighting for a play off spot. In that light, every game could be that one extra win you need, so you'd like to win every game, but that just doesn't happen.

So, with every team starting at 0-0, no it's not a must win. But if we lose, I think I'll skip this board until after the first win, because it is going to be fuming. So, some fans may think it's a must win, but I think that's over reacting. Even in the '99 Grey Cup year, the team didn't crack .500 until Labour Day and went on to win 7 of their last 9. It's way too early for anyone, even in the sense of starting off on the right note, to be calling it a must win.

Every game is a must win until a team is mathematically eliminated from the playoffs. As Ticat fans know too well over the past years, the losses can pile up much too quickly. Let's hope the reverse is true this year starting with a Canada Day victory over the Argos.

This is a joke right? Did you see how berserk people went after losing a pre-season game? Lose on Canada day, you’ve chopped your attendance for the next game nearly in half. They need to show this season will be better, and a loss on the first game on our turf just won’t cut it. You also don’t want to lose to the Argo’s, because that has double the impact a normal loss would on the fans. 1-0 to start the season is what we need to get this ball rolling and to get a$$e$ in the seats again. It also bring’s us 1 step closer to the Ballard cup, which in some circumstances, is better than a grey cup in Hamilton. Alot of fans would be ok with not making the playoffs, as long as we sweep the argo’s or win on Labour day AND win the Ballard cup.

No, this is a joke right? I’d rather lose every game to the Argos including opening day if the Cats could trade that for a Grey Cup. I don’t WANT to lose on Canada Day and I think the Cats have a good chance. But it is not a must win. If fans stop supporting the team after one loss, oh well…they’ll hop back on the bandwagon after the first win. Calling it a must win, where does that put you if you lose? The fans of this team are like an abused dog who shakes as soon as someone raises their voice. Oh no, fold the season if we lose a game. It’s always feast or famine around here, it’s hilarious.

One thing is for sure, the Ticats can't afford to be worse than 2-2 after the first four games. I fully expect to win the first two home games against the Argos and the Blue Bombers. The season opener is a huge game for the Ticats to get off on the right foot for the 2009 season.

I agree with not_a_bengal06. The only goal that any CFL team should be preoccupied with is the Grey Cup. While a win on July 1st would bring the Cats one step closer to the Grey Cup, the home opener is only 1 game out of 18. Not to say that it is not important, but that is no more important than any of the other 17 regular season games. Many fans in Hamilton are shortsighted. Histrionics over the opening game being a “must-win” is just another example. If the team starts winning with some consistency, the fair-weather fans will come back. If we can start the season 8-1, will it matter whether the loss came in week 1 or week 9? If we start the season 1-8, will it matter whether the win came in week 1 or week 9?

Of course it's NOT must win.

Get real.

k lol, when i say "must win" its obviously not, but i mean to keep fans from starting stupid talk like trade him, trade him, get him, trade so and so, to get him, is it necessary to go 1-0 is what i meant, to prevent that. is it a "must win" to prevent from losing attendance at home games?

That’s already started. Haven’t you been reading the threads? :wink:

I won’t speculate about the attendance part, but I’m not sure there’s anything that will stop the second-guessing. Even if the Cats are winning, people will find something to complain about.

Yet, I bet you’ll be one of the first freaking out on game day should we start losing. Technically we don’t have to win, but we’d be doing alot of harm to the fan base if we do lose game 1. Rumors of a 3-15 season will start up again, fans from other team’s will begin to laugh and make comments about how pathetic the fans are for thinking the Ticats could actually pick up wins, Naysayers all over the city would feed their beliefs that the Ticats suck and are not worth the price of admission to see (My father being one of them and my best friends dad as well as many more then you’d think thoughout the city). I was talking to a few people the other day, and it turns out they went to pre-season game 2 against the Argo’s as did I. They ended up stating how pathetic our team is, and that they decided to leave after we fell 14- nothing and were about to go down 21 nothing. People are taking this team as a joke, even in our city now. That’s not the kind of message you want to get across if you want a good fan base again. Your not going to make it to the grey cup if you’ve got nobody in the stands cheering you on. Win on Canada day, I guarantee you interest for the next game will double. That’s why it’s a must win.

I think its a must keep the fans coming to the games win. :wink:

I would first say that the team needs to believe in their ability to win games and by winning the first game this will allow the players mentality (most important to winning or losing games) to key into a winning spirit. Saying this i will not give up hope in the Teams ability to win in the other games.

Just a reminder though that about 95% of superbowl champions won their opener (home or away). I dont know if the same applies to CFL but i would always say that it is never a bad idea to start off on the best foot.

Also, does anyone know if there has ever been a team that had a perfect season (18-0 and Grey Cup champions)?

If these fans went to the auditions
for actors to play in a Hollywood movie

would they expect every actor there
to give an Academy Award performance?

No! So why do they expect every one of our training camp invitees,
auditioning to make our team, to perform brilliantly on the fied

You and I know, 15_c that exhibition games are played
for both teams to evaluate individual players so that

they can separate the wheat from the chaff.

Our actual team will be on the field on Wednesday.

In a rebuilding season sometimes you have to take the good from a loss and build from it. We will not win every game this season but we will not lose every game either. I personally will not call for the firing of the team unless we get blown away consistently. If we lose game one and win game two against BC I will be alot more excited than if we win against the Argos and lose to the Lions. A must win game one is for impatient fans who can't see the forest through the trees.

The only CFL team to ever have an undefeated season and win the Grey Cup were the 1948 Calgary Stampeders. They went 12-0 in the regular season, but tied Saskatchewan 4-4 in the first game of the two game total-points West final, to finish with a 14-0-1 record and the Grey Cup championship.