By: Justin Boone
Send your questions for any member of the Tiger-Cats organization to blackandgold@ticats.ca. On to this weeks e-mails.
Q: I imagine the train trip back from Montreal was a tough one. Is the team keeping their spirits high?
-Thomas,
Burlington
While the guys take losses tough, each week they refocus and get back to work. The intensity remains high but there are plenty of jokes and smiling faces. Tony Miles and Earnest Jackson entered the Ryan Glasper club of players who aren’t quarterbacks but can effortlessly hit the crossbar dead-on from 40-yards out. George Hudson was reading a promotion for Ticats TV and stumbling over his line when one young fan said, “Maybe you’re putting too much pressure on yourself.” Hudson couldn’t help but laugh, and before he could respond the young fan piped up again, “And what better way to relieve pressure than to sign an autograph for me.” An amused Hudson obliged and then finished the spot on the next take. All in all spirits are good, but the players are still hungry for a winning record.
Q: You would think that just by sheer luck this team would have won more games in the last 4 years. Now we might have to sit through another brutal season. Maybe this team is cursed or we have the worst luck ever. How can this team keep losing?
-Brian
Hamilton
Sports are cyclical (Or at least that’s what I keep telling myself). If you were going by karma then maybe with all the success Hamilton has had over the years, it’s their turn to hand the reigns over to teams like Saskatchewan, who won their first Grey Cup since 1989 and only their third championship ever. That being said, you have to think the East shall rise again, with a specific nudge in the back to the Tiger-Cats. These aren’t the Chicago Cubs, and there is no curse (if you have proof of some sort of witchcraft please e-mail me). This season isn’t even at the half way mark and with the aforementioned weakness of the clubs in the East, there is still plenty of hope for this team. Mind you that begins with wins against Toronto, Winnipeg and then Toronto again.
Q: Can we not catch a break? You see teams like the Riders getting every possible bounce while we seem to be climbing uphill every step of the way. What gives? I think I’m just frustrated, but really, do the Football Gods not see our players and us fans pouring our heart into this team?
-Angelo L,
Hamilton
As you can see there were a lot of e-mails like of this nature this week, and I couldn’t avoid giving them their rightful time on here. Fans are disheartened, disappointed and some are downright angry. The players, coaches and staff feel the same way. No one is happy with a 1-5 start. This team is better than one win in six games, and they plan to prove it in the remaining 12 games. That’s right, 12. We are only a third of the way through 2008, so hope is not lost. The rivalry with Toronto, and the Tabbies success against them early in the year gives them a shot to get the season back on track. We might be climbing uphill every step of the way, but (cheesy quote alert in 3,2,1…) “There is no elevator to success. You have to take the stairs one step at a time.” No worries though, I don’t give the pre-game speeches.
Q: I have been a Tiger-Cats fan from the time the Tigers and the Hamilton Wildcats merged and became The Tiger-Cats (just a few years ago). We’ve always had tough hard-hitting teams similar to the Steelers in Pittsburgh, who have not changed their uniforms in years. While we have created some of the worst designs in the league.(we are not ballet dancers we are footballers). Lets get back to those traditional gold pants with the black stripe and helmets and sweaters that look like the ones we had when we really did “Eat ’em raw.” What do you think?
-Richard Cleland
Richard, I think you’re going to love it next year, when the league has retro week and each club wears their throwback jerseys. I can’t say which old jerseys the Tabbies are going to wear, but if it’s the one they’re talking about, I’ll be pleased. Sticking with one solid uniform is a great idea in theory, and it could work for a team like Hamilton, but in most markets I think fans are craving the latest and greatest in new merchandise. It seems like every team has come up with a third/alternate jersey and I really like the Ticats current Gold ones, so I’m all for it. At least until we take the red in the Tiger’s tongue and make a full red jersey. You never know.
