McMahon streak on the line
Stamps, Dinos, Colts all unbeaten
The remarkable streak is on the line this weekend. Three times. Calgary’s football powerhouses this year have combined for a perfect 16-0 record at McMahon Stadium. Now all three tenants — junior, university, professional — will take turns at trying to extend the winning spree.
Up first are the big brothers, the Stampeders of the Canadian Football League, who, with a win Friday over the Toronto Argonauts, would end the regular season with a spiffy 9-0 home record.
Next are the Dinos, forever factors in Canadian Interuniversity Sport, who wrap up the home portion of their conference slate Saturday against the Saskatchewan Huskies.
Capping the festivities are the Colts, pacesetters for much of the Prairie Football Conference campaign. Sunday’s scenario is serious business — beat the Edmonton Huskies in the opening bracket of the playoffs. Or else.
To this point, though, it’s been pure domination at McMahon Stadium — times three.
“It’s contagious, baby,” says Joshua Bell, safety of the Stamps. “A little mystical, huh?”
Of the many ways to describe the concrete edifice at the side of Crowchild Trail, mystical is probably not a list-topper. Then again … “That field, I feel like I can do anything on it — it’s like a grand stage,” says Duncan Little, one of the Colts’ quarterbacks. “Calgary has become a great football city. Everybody’s trying to top the other person, right? Everybody in the Colts is trying to top what the Dinos have done. And everybody in the Dinos is trying to top what the Stamps have done. It’s just competitive.”
McMahon Stadium, 56 years old, is not a threatening venue. Altitude, sure, concerns some rivals.
But there are no distinct advantages.
“I don’t think there’s anything different about this field,” says Robbie Woodson, defensive back of the Dinos. “We’re a good home team. The Stamps and the Colts, we’re all good home teams. The challenge (for visitors) is playing us at home. I don’t think it hasn’t anything to do with the field.”
No doubt, it is the home side which causes trouble.
Not that this is a new development.
The Dinos have long punished trespassers. Lopsidedness in their realm is stunning — since 2008, they are 50-4, including six table-runs of 4-0. (A win Saturday makes it seven.)
“Every year, the motto is — ‘We don’t lose at home.’ Simply put,” says Jakub Jakoubek, linebacker of the Dinos.
“We have a reputation for being excellent, especially being excellent at home. (Opponents) know that coming in. It’s a factor.”
The Stamps, as part of their record-breaking season (on many fronts), are aiming for an unblemished home stand.
Since 2006, they boast an own park record of 76-19-3.
And the Colts? Well, they just want to get in on the action — to the extent that they’ve adopted red get-ups, not just trim, but tops and bottoms, for this year’s dates at McMahon.
“We feel now we’re part of Calgary — we’re that Calgary red,” says Colts coach Matt (Snoop) Blokker. “For us, red means urgency.”
The question now: can the local sides sweep the weekend’s tripleheader?
Nothing is guaranteed, especially now that their odds have been duly jinxed. (Apologies.)
Recent weeks, however, have shown that these teams are hardly operating in whammy-proof bubbles.
The Stamps, at home, lost defensive captain Deron Mayo, and the Dinos, at home, lost starting quarterback Jimmy Underdahl. The Colts, meanwhile, have dropped their last two contests.
Their upcoming fate boils down to football — and football alone.
Because for all the rah-rah malarkey — “Protect our house,” and its variations — nothing works unless the hosts can play. And that’s been established. “Definitely, we all pay attention to each other, being from the same city,” says Jakoubek, who’s been shot through the pigskin pipeline — from Cowboys minor program to Bowness High School to the Colts to the Dinos to practising, occasionally, with the Stamps.
“Growing up, we put a lot of emphasis on football, whether it’s minor football or high school or the next level. We’re all trying to be excellent.”
Which renders McMahon Stadium’s influence irrelevant.
The inhabitants make it intimidating.
“It’s the home park of three great-calibre teams,” says Colts receiver Dylan Schrot.
“Any time you can see greatness that’s close to home, you feed off that. You want to keep Calgary football in the highest of ranks. You don’t want to be that team that’s letting everybody down.
“Just seeing everybody else ball out, it inspires you to do the same.”
As Anthony Parker — currently of the Stamps, formerly of the Dinos — sums it up: “It’s a winning culture.”
Worth mentioning, too, is that St. Francis High School is ranked No. 1 in Canada.
Expectations, it would seem, fly high in these parts.
“Yeah, you’ve got to do it, you’ve got to have supreme dominance,” says Bell.
“Now we need to get the Flames on the same thing. If we get the Flames going, we’ve got it all rolling.”