Steeltown ready to roar for their Tiger-cats
Hard-working fans showering Tiger-cats with love after record-breaking campaign
To be a Tiger-cat in Hamilton, even on a day when they’re digging out from a 17-centimetre deep dump of snow on the week of the East Division final, is a beautiful thing.
“It’s amazing. It’s hard to even move anywhere right now,” said seven-year veteran linebacker Simoni Lawrence.
“When I go out to eat, I have people jumping all over me. It’s crazy. It’s a great football town, especially when you’re giving them what you’re supposed to give them.
“They’ve always been great fans, ever since I’ve been here. But this year is just at another level. I’m talking about not having to pay for a drink or pay for food. It’s crazy,” said Lawrence.
Receiver Brandon Banks, also a seven-year member of the Tiger-cats, is probably the most recognizable player on the team.
“It’s overwhelming to go out in the community right now. Everywhere I go, they speak to me and encourage me. Man, everywhere I go, somebody recognizes me.
“They’re definitely embracing me, so I’m definitely trying to give back to them by getting a Grey Cup for them.
“I was in a grocery store the other day and somebody was yelling ‘Brandon!’
“They’ve been calling me ‘Speedy B’ for so long here that I almost forgot my first name was Brandon. It was weird. Nobody calls me by my first name here.
“The city and the fans definitely deserve the type of season that we put together for them. They definitely deserve a Grey Cup. It’s been a while.”
The Ticats have enjoyed the most successful season in their history.
And that’s a lot of history.
It’s the 150th season in the combined history of the Tigercats and predecessors the Tigers and Wildcats. They’ve been holding sesquicentennial celebrations throughout the campaign.
Hamilton ended the regular season with a 15-3 record, including going a perfect 9-0 at home, the first time the team has done that since the league went to an 18-game schedule.
Offensive lineman Mike Filer is the longest serving Tiger-cat after eight seasons.
“It’s been awesome. From top down in this organization, there have been the components of a winning football team. Guys have bought in. And everybody has become like one. Obviously this city has been long deserving of a successful team,” he said.
The Tiger-cats have announced the crossover East final against the Edmonton Eskimos is sold out and encouraged their fans to make it a blackout by all wearing black on Sunday.
A four-point favourite to win the game, Hamilton is a 7-to-4 favourite to win the Grey Cup, compared to 5-to-2 odds for Saskatchewan, Winnipeg at 13-to-4 and Edmonton at 15-to4, according to Betonline.ag.
The city seems to be oblivious to the fact that only three of the last seven teams to go 9-0 at home made it to the Grey Cup. Calgary teams in 2017, 1994 and 1993 and Edmonton in 1989 all lost.
Toronto teams in 1991 and 1997 and Montreal won not only the division final, but also the Grey Cup.
“It’s been special because we’ve had years where we’ve really struggled,” said Ticats receiver Luke Tasker, a seven-year veteran with the club.
“We started the season 0-8 two years ago. I mean, it really has been special. We have a championship mentality here and it’s been like that since Day 1. It’s been a very special team to be part of.
“I think it’s been most special for the fans. I’m glad we’ve been able to give them those home wins this year. I think it’s been really enjoyable for the fans.”
“It’s been great to be a Tigercat in Hamilton so far this year,” said six-year veteran Ted Laurent. “But we’re not done yet. We’re not finished. We’re not satisfied.
“We’re not flashy. We’re not pretty. We just go about our business of getting it done. That’s what this city is all about. Hard steeltown workers.”
Rookie coach Orlondo Steinhauer said Hamilton is a great place to be hanging your helmet these days.
“The community is buzzed. People have got gear that I haven’t seen. It’s a little tainted. I mean, light yellow. Dark grey is black. But that’s OK. They’re feeling it. You can see they’re feeling it as they go through the Tim Hortons lines.
“But this isn’t just here and now. They’ve been feeling it since Labour Day, or sometime around then. We just wanted to give everybody in the city something that, when they drive home in the car, they can say ‘That football team is out there playing hard.’ It’s the Steeltown mentality and they enjoy it. There is a buzz around town and I’m ultra proud of our guys and what they’ve done in the community, going to hospitals and being part of the school programs. This city deserves this.”