BATTLE OF ALBERTA
Esks rookie feels the added intensity
There is nothing like adding fresh blood to an already boiling batch of bad blood.
So when a raw rookie rises to the starting ranks with the Eskimos and it comes time to play against the hated Calgary Stampeders, nothing really needs to be said. Aside, of course, from the words that will no doubt end up being exchanged on the field at Mcmahon Stadium come Saturday (5 p.m., TSN, 630 CHED).
“I don’t know how to explain it, it’s just a little bit different,” firstyear Eskimos outside linebacker Vontae Diggs said ahead of his first Battle of Alberta. “The blood pressure’s up a little bit higher, your testosterone’s going a little bit. The trash talking’s up and it’s just a little bit more physical, so you’ve got to be juiced up.
“It doesn’t matter if you’re not feeling good, when you get across this stripe during practice and definitely come game time, you’ve got a little bit more to it.”
While the 23-year-old phenom, who has 19 tackles, a sack, a forced fumble and two fumble recoveries in his first six Canadian Football League starts, is new to the West Division’s provincial rivalry, heated head-to-heads between teams in close proximity are simply ubiquitous in football.
“See, there’s two schools that I hate and my kids won’t be able to go to, my grandkids won’t be able to go to, as long as I’m alive, no one in my family can go to. One’s a high school, one’s a college: Hinsdale Central High School and Boston College. I can’t stand them, even to this day,” said Diggs, who was born in Downers Grove, Ill. and played college football at Connecticut. “I played my last game against Boston College in Fenway Park, big game, a lot of trash talking in the media. I live for it.
And chances are he will soon add a third rivalry to his list.
“Absolutely,” he said. “As long as I’m on this team, me and Calgary don’t get along.
“I don’t know anyone on Calgary, besides Hergy Mayala, my (Connecticut) teammate. I love him to death, but I hate him today, tomorrow and all the way up until we play.”
Typically, records get tossed out the window when Edmonton and Calgary play each other. But this time, both clubs are tied at 4-2 and within striking distance of first place.
“It don’t really matter what the records are, we’re both going for 1-0,” Diggs said. “If you look at all the stats, we’re pretty much top three in most things, so we’re pretty much neck-and-neck.
“If they had College Gameday for the CFL, this would be the Gameday right here.”
Well, almost here, anyway. While the game can’t come soon enough for an Eskimos fan base that has been stuck on the downside of the rivalry teeter-totter for much of the past decade, there is always the chance an errant word spoken or tweeted in the buildup to kickoff could spark a blaze.
“Oh, don’t worry, it’s coming,” Diggs said. “I talked to my dog, Hergy, it is coming. I believe in rivalries. The first thing I did once I signed my contract was look up who the rival was, so I’m ready.”
Never mind that Saturday’s game is against the defending Grey Cup champions.
“That don’t mean nothing to me,” Diggs shrugged. “That’s last year, this is this year. They could be the defending four-in-a-row champs, that don’t mean nothing to me. I don’t care who you are, if you’re my rival I think of you as my little brother.”
Tough talk from someone on a team that’s only won two of its last nine regular-season games at Mcmahon Stadium, perhaps. Then again, Diggs can’t be blamed for whatever happened in the past.
“They had their number, but this is this year,” he said. “I’m not worried about the last nine, not the last 100 years, not next year. I’m worried about right here, right now. The other guys are that way too, it’s something we talk about, 1-0 every week. That’s it. This week is a little bit different just because it’s the rivals. The Battle of Alberta, ain’t nothing else to say about it. It’s going to be an all-out war.”