What is the Greatest Ticat game you have ever seen?

Another forgotten great game, and probably the best one ever played in Ivor Wynne Stadium, was the 1981 Labour Day Classic against the dynasty Edmonton Eskimos, which ended in a 34-34 tie. I still can picture defensive back Harold Woods running back a fumble recovery almost 100 yards for a touchdown.

Two games come to mind.

First one is the 1981 Labour Day game against the Eskimos. That was a statement game by the Frank Kush led Tiger-Cats against the powerhouse Eskimos. You had Tom Clements vs Warren Moon and the game ended in a 34-34 tie. Totally epic.

The second game is the 1986 Grey Cup. The underdog Cats came out barnstorming and just gave a beating to Dunigan and the Esks. During the game Grover Covington was asked what they were doing defensively to shut down the Esks and he simply replied that "We want to win the Grey Cup...We just want it." That sums it up perfectly since the previous few years they made it to the Grey Cup with Marler and Brock but were unsuccessful. They were not to be denied in 1986. 8)

For me it was the 1986 Grey Cup game.
Big Ben kissing Harold Ballard on the cheek, as he was holding onto the Cup.
For those that don't remember...we crushed Edmonton, 39 to 15.

Labour Day 2004
Troy Davis ran for 230 yds against the Arblows, including one TD where he leapt over both lines on short yardage and romped 30 yds to the end zone. The game ended tied 30-30
Ticats would have won, but for a questionable PI call on 3rd down in overtime.

This.
Place was electric. Felt like the franchise was going places and not the ham and egg teams of the recent past. City was responding.

Clements got jobbed on an intentional grounding call iirc?

Let me put my mightypope hat on…

1996 Ticats at Argos. Dunigan vs Flutie at Skydome. Game finished 38-35 Ticats in an absolute shootout. My dad took me to the game because it wasn’t on TV (which was a joke).
Dunigan threw 5 Tds and almost 400 yards. Osbaldiston bobbled a punt snap late in the game and took off for a 1st down which set up the game winning TD to Earl Winfield. Argos had a late chance at a very long FG that fell short.
That might have been the greatest Ticat team that never was… and the greatest game not on tv. Dunigan had Mac Cody, Grant and Phillips from The Birmingham Barracudas.

Pope…correct me where I’m wrong!

Let's see....

I was present for the 2nd game of the '86 playoffs against The Argonauts at Exhibition Stadium...I remember 13 buses leaving the Centre Mall...

I was present at Ivor Wynne stadium for the '92 Eastern Semi Final against Ottawa...If I remember correctly, we had to overcome a 15 point lead with 8 minutes to go in the 4th quarter. Don Macpherson coming off the bench and Ozzie kicking the game winning FG in the snow....

I was present at Ivor Wynne Stadium in '98 where we gave up a huge lead only to have Ozzy boot a 54 yarder with no time left to win it...The place went nuts!!!!

Toss up...I can't pick one...

I agree with Teddy Fay and Palmer . There have been many great games but the 1961 TiCat/Argo game in Hamilton could never be duplicated !

Pat Lynch (the old guy)

1989 Grey Cup (The Catch).
1998 EDF.
LDC (can't remember the year) vs the blew "super" team - Flutie, Ismael, etc. Lee knight ran all over the blew team defence. We clobbered them...

Runner up (non-Ticat) 1996 GC EDM vs blew team. Second-best game I ever attended, after the 1989 GC...

Obvious pick for me, but have a slightly different take on the question....

If it had been a 'no-yards' flag instead of an 'illegal block' flag on the last play of the 2015 Grey Cup.... would anyone say anything other than that game?

Is that the most exciting game ever at that point?

  1. 2015 EDF Banks return TD, crazy game. loved every second of it.

  2. 2004 Labour Day. Troy Davis running all over the argos, (fairly certain that was ABIII's first game for the blew team as well) was so disappointed in the tie at the time... still such an exciting game.

  3. 1998 East Final.
    Ozzie's Kick.
    Was sitting on the opposite 5 yard line, had my walkman on 900CHML, so I knew it was good, ever so slightly before the rest of my section. Crisp air, surrounded by family, honestly don't remember the first 3 quarters anymore.

The “intentional grounding call” game occurred two seasons prior in 1979, in Clements second game as a starter for the Tiger-Cats. Funny thing, we were getting screwed by the CFL officials even way back then!!!

Nothing to correct there Crash…just an addition. Slotback Ted Long also came from Birmingham along with Matt Dunigan, Mac Cody, Marcus Grant and Jason Phillips.Who knows what would have happened that year had Dunigan’s career not ended only six games into the season?

Thanks, pope
There was something controversial in that game, maybe it was a non call

'98 EF vs Montreal.
Montreal scored the touch down with a few seconds left to take lead. Everyone was deflated in the stadium.
Next thing you know McManus is lining up -cooly makes a couple of passes and gets us to field goal range and Ozzie runs on the field.
We all stood up and when he made it - (my mother and I) were jumping for joy like I've never done before or since.
Easily the most exciting sporting event I attended live.

I remember the looks on the faces of the Montreal Fans boarding their buses to go home.

The controversy in that game occurred near the end of the first half. Hamilton is leading 17-10 with 20 seconds left on the clock. Clements hits Rufus “Baby” Crawford who takes it to the Eskimos 9-yard line. With 13 seconds left in the half, and the clock running, Clements frantically calls a time-out, a request which was ignored by the officials and the clock runs out to end the half. Meanwhile, a young Jake Ireland is watching the game on TV and says to himself, “So that is how you screw the Tiger-Cats”. :slight_smile:

Thank you, mighty one.

Being a younger fan, most of my most memorable games are more recent.
98 East Final, I remember listening to it on my walkman on my way to my highschool part time job. I'll never forget listening to the call when Ozzy hit that field goal to win it!

More recently, I had to Google this, but the 2009 East Semi-Final back at Ivor Wynne against BC in the cross over. I remember the energy in the crowd, a full house or close to it. I think it was our first home play-off game in years which helps explain the buzz. I dont remember all the details, but I think it was a late Ticat come back to put the game into overtime, Ivor Wynne went nuts and was loud only like a Hamilton sports crowd could be. The Cats lost in overtime, but I'll never forget that Ivor Wynne atmosphere, at its absolute best!

The last one is the....I think 2013 East Final @ Skydome vs. Argos. The game that would put Hamilton back into the Grey Cup game for the first time in 14 years! I remember taking the 10:30am GO train from Burlington and the train being packed, standing room only, with black and gold. An hour long train ride packed in with 10 cars full of rowdy die-hards! We were invading Toronto and they didn't know what was about to hit'em!

It seemed like all the Ticat fans were on one side of the stadium, that was the loudest I had heard skydome in years. It seemed it took Hamilton to remind Toronto how you're supposed to act at a sports event. The Blue Jays playoff crowds that followed a few years later seemed to have taken their cue from us 8).

The Ticat fans got louder and louder as we were defending that late lead and Ricky Ray tried to orchestrate a final drive come back. The defense held and we got to witness the Ticats win the East!

Here's hoping the next memorable game isn't to far off!

resident historian.

Greatest thread all season.

Mine are similar to some others

1983 East Final. I was listening on the radio. I have since watched the game on Youtube.
1986 East Final game 2. Again, I had to listen on the radio.
1986 Championship. I was 13 years old and started to cry when the hoisted the cup.
1998 East Final. I was in section 22 and it was the most exciting finish I had ever been a part of. I have watched the YouTube clip 30 times.
2004 LDC. I remember Davis ended up throwing up in the huddle in the 4th quarter but continued to play and ran for over 200 yards.
2009 East Semi-Final. When we tied it up the place went nuts.
2011 East Semi Final vs. Montreal. Great upset!
2013 East Final. I wish I was at that game, you could see and hear all the black and gold in the stands. I went to 3 games that year in Guelph including the one with all the rain.

That EE game. Frank Kush era. Wasnt there also a brutal intentional grounding play in that game. There was a group who always had a sign up in Sec 7 of IWS that said CFL refs suck. Man i miss that sign.