Bombers’ Thanksgiving forecast: small crowd, big game

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This article was published 11/10/2009 (5840 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

HAMILTON – Rain, gravy stains, a so-so crowd and a monster late season CFL game are all part of the forecast for Thanksgiving Monday here in Steeltown.

The Hamilton Tiger-Cats (6-7) will host the Winnipeg Blue Bombers (5-8) in an East Division tussle with playoff implications on the harvest table right alongside the cranberry sauce.

"We think they’re already in the playoff picture. They’ve got enough wins. But if we can win this game it solidifies our position with four games to go. Four points ahead of them with four games to go, that’s a good spot," said Ti-Cats coach Marcel Bellefeuille, following a quick workout at the decrepid but soulful Ivor Wynne Stadium on the edge of downtown Hamilton. "Winnipeg is much improved in a number of areas since we last saw them. The biggest is that they have some flow on offence. (Michael) Bishop doesn’t look like he just dropped in. He looks like it’s his team."

Gametime is 3:30 p.m. (CJOB, TSN) and the local weather reports are calling for rain which has the Ti-Cats expecing a crowd of just over 20,000, well below capacity of 29,600.

A Winnipeg victory would leave both teams with 6-8 marks and four games left on the schedule. The season series would also be tied making a regular season finale between the teams a critical matchup.

"Don’t forget that Edmonton is trying to nudge its way in between us and Hamilton," said Bombers coach Mike Kelly, wearing a black pinstripe suit in the lobby of the team’s Hamilton hotel. "It’s not a death sentence if we lose but it would put us in a difficult position and we’d like to win and avoid all that stuff and not have to worry about those things."

Second place in the East earns a playoff berth and a home playoff game. Third place is vulnerable to a crossover from the West but only if the fourth place team from the other division has a better record. For instance, if Winnipeg ends the season at 8-10 and the fourth place club from the West has an identical mark, the Bombers would qualify for the post-season and play in the East semifinal. The crossover club must beat them outright in record to bounce a team from it’s own divisional playdowns.

Tiger-Cats linebacker Otis Floyd believes the key to this game is the work of both club’s dirty dozen.

"The defence that makes the fewest mistakes, that team wins," said Floyd. "They’ve got a good defence and so do we. That’s the game. For us, we want to go out and rattle (Michael) Bishop early. If you let him get comfortable he can hurt you. But if you get to him early, he’ll throw you a couple of picks."

The Bombers arrived in Hamilton early Sunday afternoon only to find their team bus had gone astray and many of the players’ rooms, including coach Mike Kelly, were not ready.

"You guys have been around lots of football teams where players would arrive to this kind of situation and they’d be using all kinds of words you can’t say on TV," commented Kelly. "Our guys are all smiling and taking it in stride. That’s the disposition of this football team and that’s why I like being around them so much."

gary.lawless@freepress.mb.ca