BEST OF THE WEST
Stamps, Esks in showdown
Within its context, this has echoes of Manila for Ali-Frazier, the 1987 NBA finals for Bird and Magic, Affirmed and Alydar out of the gate at Belmont Park in ‘78.
The third instalment of a compelling trilogy.
“This is what it’s all about, man, to play games like this,” cooed predatory rush end Charleston Hughes. “It’s one of those games we need to win.
“When you’re put to the test, you’ve gotta own up. “We won one. They won one. “This is the rubber match.” One game separates the 11-3 Calgary Stampeders and 10-4 Edmonton Eskimos in the West Division standings. Calgary ground out a batten-down-the-hatches 16-7 decision on Labour Day, the Eskimos ended a 12-win run of southern dominance via a 27-16 rematch conquest five days later.
So amid all the rejoicing over hockey’s annual return and the widespread epidemic that is Blue Jays Fever, this is a fairly important game of grid they’re preparing to engage in Saturday at McMahon Stadium, kickoff at 5 p.m.
The ramifications simply could not be any clearer:
A Stampeder victory translates into a two-game advantage with three to play — so consider the first-place case closed. An Eskimo win and, technically, the green-and-gold have their noses in front on the head-to-head tiebreak and therefore in control of the bye and subsequent division final home-field advantage for a trip to Winnipeg in November.
“We’re not going to get caught up in how big people are making this out to be, in all the media hoopla,” emphasized defensive lineman Junior Turner. “You don’t want to get drawn into that. You easily can.
“I can promise you we’re not sitting in our clubhouse worrying about what it means if this happens or if that happens.
“All we’re worried about is what happens at 5 p.m.”
For public consumption, anyway, the Stamps were pretty much all playing coy on the eve of renewed hostilities, underplaying the significance of the event, adopting a strictly-business, just-another-day-at-the-office demeanour.
“Every single game is important, man,” parried quarterback Bo Levi Mitchell. “Obviously this one right now has a lot of importance, for the division, for the league, for first place, second place, third place, as we get closer to the finish.
“But it’s another chance to get another leg up on another opponent. That’s what we’ve got to do.
“Bragging rights? Maybe for the province. But this is not the NFL, it’s not 32 teams. It’s nine teams. So you’re kinda rivals with everybody. Right now it’s just another opponent sitting in front of us.
“You’re never going to find me getting more pumped for any game, except the Grey Cup. Everything else is going to be the exact same intensity.
“I’m going to attack every single game as it’s the most important game of my life. It was a normal week, man. Huff always prepares us for everything. With (Eskimo boss Chris) Jones, you never know what you’re going to see.
“Guys feel good about the game plan. We feel confident. We know we’re playing a good football team. But we feel like we’re going to come out hot and show who the better team is.”
While not guaranteeing anything, Saturdays’ Showdown for the Summit at McMahon could go a long ways in that quest.
So go on, buy into the justanother-day-at-the-office party line they all seem to be selling. Yeah. Right. As if.