Kyle Myers
Ticats.ca
It is, without a doubt, one of the most storied rivalries in all of professional sports.
Just seventy kilometers separates Toronto from Hamilton – one of the shortest commutes between two competing franchises in North American sports – and the lack of distance has led to a bitter, intense rivalry between the two teams.
“No one really cares for each other,” said a smirking Brandon Isaac. “It’s the same feeling for both ball clubs. I think it’s big for the CFL and it’s going to be a good game on Sunday.”
Isaac is no stranger to the Ticats-Argos rivalry, and has actually experienced it from both side thsi season – he was released by the Argonauts and signed by the Tiger-Cats just a day later back in July. But any past allegiance for the linebacker to the double blue has been nullified. Talking to Isaac after practice on Thursday it was clear that he bleeds black and gold.
“You can see when we play at home how our fans treat them and how they treat us over there, there’s no love lost,” he said.
Peter Dyakowski on the other hand has been a Tiger-Cat from the start, having played his entire professional career in Hamilton since being drafted by the franchise back in 2006.
“This is my seventh year with the ‘Cats and when we go up against (the Argos) we know there’s a little something extra in the game, for us and for our fans. It means a lot when we’re able to win the Labour Day game, but it means even more to win in the playoffs,” said Dyakowski.
Being two rivals in an eight team league like the CFL, it would be fair to assume that playoff matchups between the Argos and Ticats would be relatively frequent, but that’s far from the case. Sunday’s game will be the first Eastern Final between the QEW rivals since 1986, with the teams meeting only four times in the Semi-Finals during that span.
“I think it makes for a great matchup,” said Dyakowski. “You’ve got the biggest market area in the country with two hot teams, it’s definitely good for the league and for the fans.”
The Argonauts announced Wednesday that they would begin selling tickets for the 500-level in the Rogers Centre, making Sunday the highest-attended game for the Argonauts this season. While it would appear that the Argonauts will have a distinct home-field advantage, Isaac has a different theory for why the seats are filling up.
“I think it’s going to be crazy,” he said. “I think we have more of a fan base than Toronto has, they have a lot of other major sports there pulling their fans away. It should be like a home game for us, I think we’ll have more fans there than they do. I just hope we play like it’s a home game.”
