Cortez: a Labour Day memory
Tiger-Cats Head Coach George Cortez took a moment when opening his Sunday press conference to consider the importance of rivalry games the likes of which he is preparing to play tomorrow.
Cortez has a long memory of fierce rivalries and can trace a nemesis back to his coaching origins in his native Texas. But he also has experience with the Labour Day grudge matches played in the CFL, having spent 11 seasons with the Calgary Stampeders.
The coach shared a memory of the bitter rivalry he took part in between the Stampeders and their provincial counterparts the Eskimos.
“All of us that are involved in athletics, and many people in business have a big rival, someone that for lack of a better word, hate,” said Cortez. “I coached at [the University of California], and if you wore red around there people made you change clothes, because Stanford wore red. Rivalries are important.
“It made me think about other Labour Day rivalries up here. When I was in Calgary in ’92, we had a pretty fair year and we won the Grey Cup. You’re feeling pretty good about yourself in the off-season. That’s one thing about winning the last game: your off-season feels pretty good.”
“I was invited to speak at an event in the spring. It was the Southern Alberta Crew Members Association. It was guys from World War II who jumped out of planes over Europe because they were being shot down and lived to tell about it.”
“It was not the warmest crowd I’ve ever spoken to, but when I got to talking about how my Dad flew in B-17s they decided I wasn’t a completely bad guy I guess. I was taking questions at the end of the event, and one gentleman got up and said,
‘Coach, I just want to congratulate you guys for having a great season and winning the Grey Cup. But you lost to Edmonton on Labour Day.’
“He was right. We did.”
“That’s a sign of how important the rivalries are to the fans and how important they should be to the players and the coaches too. I’ve always remembered that. Sometimes you think you’re doing pretty good, but you lost to someone down the line that was important to the people. And the game tomorrow is important to a lot of people.”
Cortez: still searching for consistency on defence
The quest for defensive consistency has been a frequent theme for the Ticats in recent weeks.
Cortez confirmed on Sunday that it remains so as his team looks toward tomorrow’s Labour Day Classic.
“In the last three games, there have been stretches where our defence has played very well,” stated the coach. “We’ve had two halves that, if you put them together, would be about the best game that you could play.”
“For whatever reason, we haven’t finished the deal, and that’s one of the things that we’ve talked about.”
Cortez: we can’t simply target a receiver
There can be little doubt that Chris Williams – at least from a statistical standpoint – is the Tiger-Cats’ number one pass catcher at the moment.
But as talented as the sophomore receiver is and as eager as the Ticats are to get the ball into his hands, Cortez cautioned that offence is never that simple.
“He’s extraordinarily quick and he’s hard to cover,” said the coach of his young star. “We like to get him the ball, there’s no doubt about that.
“But the other team many times determines where the ball goes. You’re not just saying, ‘we’re going to throw the ball to Chris Williams, or to Andy Fantuz’. We’re working off of what coverage we’re playing, and sometimes even when you want to get it to a guy, they can make it hard.”
Burris: Labour Day is “more than just another game”
Ticat quarterback Henry Burris admitted on Sunday that the Labour Day Classic can never be classified as a simple midseason game. There’s a buzz surrounding the age-old rivalry that cannot be dismissed.
“This is definitely much more than just another game,” conceded Burris. “There’s a lot riding on this beside the obvious. It’s the last Labour Day Classic at Ivor Wynne Stadium, so it’s definitely a very important game for not only us on the field but the fans in the stands and the tradition of this organization.”
The historical implications are many, but the game also comes at a crucial time for a Ticat team looking to halt a three-game losing skid and reassert itself in the East Division.
“We need to come out here and get back on track,” said Burris. “Toronto’s a game up on us and we need to make our move right now.”
“As we’ve seen in the past couple of years, the team that truly makes the run to the Grey Cup starts their run around now. It’s time for us to get on board.”
Burris: offence needs to finish drives
Burris emphasized on Sunday that his offensive unit must polish off scoring drives more effectively if it is to have success tomorrow night.
“We’ve moved the ball effectively as an offence in every game, but we’ve got to finish off drives,” said the quarterback.
“That’s the bottom line. If we finish off drives, it puts more pressure on the opposition’s quarterback and playcalling, because they have to try to keep up with us.”
Burris: we must adapt to Toronto’s man-to-man defence
Burris reflected on the peaks and valleys that his offence experienced in their first encounter with the Argonauts in Week 3.
He suggested that it was Toronto’s shift to a man-to-man approach on defence that stalled his efforts to move the ball in the second half of that victory at Ivor Wynne.
The Black and Gold will need to adapt to that aggressive defending to notch another victory tomorrow night.
“When we didn’t have our success, it was in the second half,” said Burris of the Week 3 tilt. “They really got up in our faces and played some bump-and-run, aggressive man-to-man. They tied in a bunch of different stunts and blitzes up front and really got a lot of pressure on me.”
“They did a really good job of mixing things up, so that’s something that we’ve got to be ready for.”
“Whenever they’re making their adjustments and playing that man-to-man defence that gave us problems last time, we have to be ready adjust – whether it involves me using my feet as well – to get the chains moving.”
Burris: Chris Williams’ leadership is underappreciated
Chris Williams’ strengths as a receiver and returner have been on constant display this season.
But Burris remarked on Sunday that the sophomore pass catcher’s role as an on-field mentor is an underrated aspect of his presence.
“As he’s out there playing, he’s preaching to guys where they need to be and how they can make plays themselves,” said Burris of Williams.
“While he’s that playmaker himself, he does so much to get other guys open. He demands so much attention and respect that even if he’s running a secondary route to clear out for somebody else, he’s going to get attention as well.”
“He’s humble. If other guys are making a lot of plays and he only gets two balls in that game, so be it as long as the team wins.”
