The Ti-Cats Report

Dave Roddick, aka Big Dave, weighs in on Hamilton's victory over Edmonton.

The Long Drought is Over 


On Friday, July 14, with 8:12 remaining in the game and the Calgary Stampeders leading 14-10, Corey Holmes carried the ball across the goal line from 15 yards out. The play was a major factor in Hamilton’s first win of the season; though no one could have guessed that it would be sixty-four days - 255 minutes and 23 seconds of official playing time - before another Tiger-cat player reached the goal line at Ivor Wynne.

During that time, they were shut out by Winnipeg, humiliated by Saskatchewan, and bested twice by the Argonauts. Four home games. Four losses. Combined score: 140-16. And not a single touchdown scored by the black and gold.

All the energy that the fans should have burned celebrating scores in those games went unexpended. Sure, we tried to use up that energy by rejoicing for first downs, field goals, and even conceded safety touches, but it was never the same. We simply left the stadium feeling unsatisfied, with all that energy accumulating in our collective gut.

Then, just 7:11 into Friday’s game against the Edmonton Eskimos, DaVon Fowlkes caught a Sean Fleming punt at around Hamilton’s 23-yard line. The fans settled in their seats, expecting more of the same tedium to which they had become accustomed. Exceptional punt returns have become a rare thing in the 2006 CFL, and have been even more rare among Tiger-cat players. There is no way, we all thought, that the Tiger-cats’ touchdown drought would end on this play.

Suddenly, as if Moses had stretched his staff over the Eskimo cover team, a pathway large enough to drive a freight train through - sideways - opened up in front of Fowlkes. His blazing speed didn’t even seem to be a factor, as for a moment it appeared that he was the only man on the field. Long before he reached the end zone, it was clearly inevitable, and the stadium erupted.

It’s difficult to explain the kind of emotion that poured from the 25,000 fans to anyone who has never been in that situation. I was in the stands when Paul Osbaldiston kicked a 54-yard field goal on the final play of the 1998 Eastern Final, which sent the Tiger-cats to the Grey Cup. I was in the stands when Hamilton defeated the Saskatchewan Roughriders in overtime for their first and only win of the 2003 season. That moment on Saturday night was comparable to those moments, as one which I will never forget.

The team was buoyed by that play. They built a substantial lead, and held on for the win. But I don’t think any of that mattered to the people in the stands. Throughout the remainder of the game, you could look around at the faces of the crowd and see people smiling, laughing, and genuinely enjoying themselves again. Even as the Eskimos were charging down the field for what would have been the game-winning touchdown, we did not lose faith, nor did we lose the smiles on our faces.

It doesn’t matter that the Tiger-cats still hold the worst record in the CFL. It doesn’t matter that they need a miracle to have any hope of making the playoffs, or even that they will be expected to lose their remaining four games. The long drought is over. That may not be much, but with the way this season has gone, we’ll take anything we can get.