NO HOLDS BARRED
Expect a wild one in Esks-Stamps rematch: Jones
It was once said by a participant in the Calgary-Edmonton Labour Day doubleheader that it was like Muhammad Ali fighting Joe Frazier on the Monday and then holding the rematch on Friday.
Another comparison by a combatant in the annual back-toback demolition derby suggested that it was like being involved in two major automobile accidents on the same week.
When the depth charts for Saturday’s replay of the 23-20 Calgary Stampeders Labour Day win came out Friday morning, the butcher’s bill was high, especially for the visitors.
Not only did Calgary lose the league’s second most productive pass receiver Kamar Jorden for the year and maybe his career, but All- Star cornerback Ciante Evans, starting running back Don Jackson, starting centre Ucambre Williams and special teams players Charlie Power and Michael Kashak.
The Eskimos, of course, lost star receiver Derel Walker until likely the last game of the regular season. He was placed on the sixgame injured list.
Stampeders head coach Dave Dickenson also suggests there will be a lot of guys in the Labour Day rematch sucking for wind.
“I think a lot of it is going to be mental. I think both teams are going to be on fumes a bit, fightin’.”
Edmonton head coach Jason Maas said he wouldn’t suggest the same with the Eskimos.
“If that’s the way they feel, we don’t feel the same. I think our guys are ready to go,” Maas countered at his pre-game press gathering Friday.
“Our guys have had a great week of practice and preparation and I think our guys are ready to get after it.”
The Eskimos will almost certainly be playing before the largest crowd of the season in the CFL and return to the days when 40,000-plus attended this game.
As of 3 p.m. Friday, 34,838 tickets (including 2,331 ‘Kids Get In Free’ tickets) had been moved and a tent had been erected outside Gate 9 to dispense free ticket to kids aged 17 and under prior to game time.
What would it have reached if the Eskimos had won their first game in seven seasons on Labour Day, who knows?
Crowds of 50,000-plus used to be expected but when you have only won FOUR of the last TWENTY-FIVE games played between the two teams during this week, well the numbers tell the tale — 41,327, 57,444, 57,843, 54,324, 51,180, 49,434, 40,729, 43,913, 50,856, 52,458, 53,248, 48,279, 61,491, 62,444, 50,366, 42,654, 47,965, 42,329, 35,349, 45,672, 39,363, 33,654, 40,852, 38,906, 35,278 to 34,312 last year.
Those are capacity-plus crowds in most cities in the league but all those Labour Day week losses to Calgary have clearly taken their toll.
With a ‘Kids Get In Free’ promotion combined with commissioner Randy Ambrosie’s ‘Family Day’ concept for a game in each city with Family Channel attractions galore and a 40th anniversary of Commonwealth Stadium celebration featuring a laser light show, fireworks and post-game party on the field, it’s going to be an event.
Despite their disappointing 6-5 season the Eskimos are going to get a crowd. And with kids involved, there’s going to be noise.
Back when Maas was playing, the Eskimos were winning in Calgary on Labour Day — his greatest game as a quarterback was probably in Calgary in the Labour Day Classic — and they came home to 50,000-plus.
Maas, for one, doesn’t think this game should need SpongeBob SquarePants and ‘Kids Get In Free’ or complimentary Commonwealth Stadium 40th anniversary key chains on the way out to draw a crowd.
He was happy to find his team “pissed off ” in their post game dressing room in Calgary and has worked hard to keep them “pissed off ” all the way to the 5 p.m. kickoff.
“I can tell you this much. I can remember the reason this place was sold out,” he said of one of those 60,000-plus crowds.
“That was because of a fight that was on Labour Day,” he said of the brawl that included Ed Hervey getting thrown out for swinging his helmet in 2003 in a Labour Day loss in Calgary.
“We didn’t win that fight. And we didn’t win that game. But we came back with our stadium sold out and we shut them out.” The final score was 38-0. “The was the most electrifying I’ve ever seen this stadium since I’ve been here, and I’ve been here 18 years.
“It was something to behold. It was something that I’ve never felt before. And I think it had a lot to do with the animosity between both teams and we had just done what we did on Labour Day.
“We let our emotions out that night and I think all of Edmonton did. So I’m all for it. Let’s fill this thing up. Let’s see what it’s like to have that atmosphere back because there was nothing quite like Commonwealth Stadium filled up.”