Hamilton Tiger-Cats: 'Poised to Make Some Noise

Last November, the Hamilton Tiger-Cats were watching at home as the Calgary Stampeders hoisted the Grey Cup and were crowned champions of the Canadian Football League.
Boasting a regular season record of 3-15 that was unflattering to say the least, the lacklustre Ti-Cats were done like dinner well before the playoffs had even begun.
In 2009 however, Hamilton is hopeful that things will be different.
"I think the biggest thing is improvement - we need to improve what we have on the field," said Danny McManus, the team's Southeast Regional Scout. "For me, being in the scouting department, the biggest thing is to see the calibre of play on the field a lot better than it was last year. We were competitive last year, we were in a lot of football games, but we couldn't win the games. I think right now we've got to get over that hump to know that we can go out there and win each and every game [...] We were young, so hopefully that experience we gained last year will help us this year and get us those wins."
Team President Scott Mitchell shares McManus' sentiments and feels confident that 2009 will be better for the Tiger-Cats.
"I think it's going to be a great year for us, I really do," said Mitchell. "Our G.M. Bob O'Billovich is doing a great job - he uses the term 'we're poised to make some noise' - so I think we're going to have a real good year this year."
With the popularity of the CFL on the rise, it would certainly be an ideal time for the Hamilton Tiger-Cats to step up and make an impact.
"I've been around this league my whole life and I don't think the league's ever been stronger than it is right now," said Mitchell. "The TV ratings are up substantially [and] it is the 'A' summer sports property in Canada - TSN's ratings reflect that. We average about 400,000 people a game, which is double what a non-NHL team does on some local broadcast. It's a fairly viable product for TV, the numbers are up across the board, the demographics are up across the board in terms of attracting a younger audience, which is great, and I think for something like the third, fourth, [or] fifth straight year we averaged 28,000 fans a game last year as a league.
"The CFL has really become an intensive 12-month-a-year operation. Most teams are operating on a $13-15 million budget, so it's a good-sized business."
While not quite on the same level as the 30-team National Football League, Mitchell and McManus both believe that its uniqueness is what makes Canada's football league so special.
"It's a lot different than the NFL," said McManus, whose CFL playing career spanned 17 seasons from 1990 to 2006. "There's a lot of guys playing in the NFL right now that could not play in the CFL. Not to take anything away from them, it's just [that] it's a different game.
"We measure a lot of guys by what they have inside their chest as far as heart to play the game [.] I think the NFL really gets caught up on standards as far as 'you have to be this height to play this position'. In the CFL we want the best players out there on the field."
"For us, it's all about affordability and accessibility and a great product," said Mitchell. "You can buy great season seats at CFL games for three, four, five-hundred dollars and that gives you a season's worth of entertainment; you're not going to get that in any other league. I think everybody who's around the league knows that the level of play is outstanding. I think for what you get for affordability and accessibility that makes the league totally unique."
"We can be a very big player in professional football," said McManus, who in 1999 was both the league's Most Outstanding Player and Grey Cup MVP. "We're eventually going to get to that point and we just have to take little steps to get there and do it the right way. The biggest thing is that it's a fun league; everyone who plays it enjoys playing it."
With the team preparing to open their season with a pre-season tilt June 17 against the Blue Bombers in Winnipeg, the city of Hamilton is gearing themselves up for a brand-new season of football. The Ti-Cats will officially open their season at home on Canada Day versus the rival Toronto Argonauts.
"I think [for] Hamilton and the Niagara Region, as far as sports go, it's probably a good time to tell a pretty good story in the sports business," said Mitchell. "I have great expectations for us this year and I think it's going to be a very good year.