SPORTS Game day
Angry Ticats ready for raging Alouettes
The Hamilton Tiger-Cats are coming off a bad loss to a division last rival, starting two rookies on their offensive line and a star receiver describes the mood around the team as “a little bit angry.”
Yet they look like the picture of peace and tranquility compared to the Montreal Alouettes.
The team from La Belle Province has spent the week embroiled in controversy, then capped it on Thursday when quarterback Rakeem Cato stormed out of an interview with Montreal Gazette beat reporter Herb Zurkowsky after the team’s walk-through at Tim Hortons Field on Thursday.
Cato was involved in a practice confrontation with Alouette receivers Kenny Stafford and Duron Carter this week and became upset by a question Zurkowsky asked about the situation. He walked away, proclaiming loudly “I’m never talking to you again.”
He was eventually was escorted from the field by offensive co-ordinator Anthony Calvillo.
Zurkowsky reportedly asked Cato if he felt “bullied” by his teammates.
Cato’s emotional state may be partially explainable. During an earlier media session, Cato said that a close friend had been shot to death in Miami this week.
“Everything is going out to him. I was just talking to him 48 hours ago, saying how we were going to play basketball in the off-season,” Cato said. “These are things I’m going through, personally. The thing with Kenny and D.C., that’s secondary. That ain’t nothing.”
For his part, Carter said he had not spoken to his quarterback about the altercation on Tuesday and, in fact, the two do not appear to be on speaking terms at all beyond football necessities.
“No, I haven’t said anything to him. I don’t got nothing to say,” said, Carter who was labelled a “cancer” by a TSN commentator recently.
“I guess it’s a perception thing and I don’t care how people perceive me.”
With a 3-8 record and rumours swirling about the fate of head coach and general manager Jim Popp the Alouettes are on a bye next week, prime time to make a change — Montreal needs a win this week to have any hope of staying in the East Division playoff race.
That makes them a desperate, dangerous opponent, and the Ticats haven’t exactly taken care of business in similar situations this season. They provided a winless, vulnerable Winnipeg Blue Bombers squad a much-needed victory in Week 3, then followed up a convincing Labour Day win with a stinker of a loss in Toronto.
That’s put the team in a foul mood says receiver Luke Tasker, actually looking forward to playing their third game in an absurd 11 days. There wasn’t the usual revelry after the team’s walkthrough on Thursday and even linebacker Simoni Lawrence was uncharacteristically subdued.
“It wasn’t the usual hype. Simoni just said ‘don’t mess around, don’t goof off, let’s just go out there and win,” Tasker said. “We missed an opportunity last week to really stake a claim in the East and now we’re in a fight for it.”
The difference is that the Ticats appear united in their fight, while Alouettes are fighting with each other (and reporters). Whether that makes Montreal easy targets — and whether Hamilton can take advantage — remains to be seen.