Johany Jutras/CFL.ca
Consider this, if you will.
An evening, not so long from now, but one where the heat the humidity and the thunderstorms of summer football are long gone.
The drama could be spectacular. A team that hasn’t won the Grey Cup in 20 years meeting one that hasn’t lifted it in the 28 seasons that have followed its last championship.
One drought ends. The other must continue.
Week 7 on the CFL schedule gives us a chance to think about the possibilities of that kind of drama unfolding on the night of Nov. 24, in Calgary. And to give us at least a taste of the intensity a night like that would bring, should the matchup come to be.
Let’s not get too far ahead of ourselves. Probably the most useless sentence uttered on a regular basis, in sports, is the one that begins “If the season ended today….”
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On Friday night, in Hamilton, the 4-1 Ticats play host to the 5-0 Winnipeg Blue Bombers and if it is much too early to talk about a Grey Cup match-up between these two (it is), that backdrop can still add some flavour to a game that has so much going for it in terms of intrigue.
Old teammates, filled to the brim with respect for each other, facing each other for the first time as head coaches. An established game breaker on the same field as the new, fresh face in that regard. Two quarterbacks, standing one and two on the touchdown passes thrown chart.
And, quite simply, the two best teams in the league, right now, charging full speed towards each other, eager to set the tone for a season in which both believe they are about to end the drought.
“That’s what you want,” Winnipeg linebacker Adam Bighill told reporters after practice this week. “You wanna be tested. You wanna come out and play the best. You wanna know where you’re at.”
These teams will get that, for sure. Two offensive powerhouses. Two chintzy defences – although you’d have to rate Winnipeg’s as clearly more efficient heading in. Two special teams forces that have scorched the opposition with big plays on a fairly regular basis.
Getting an edge? That comes down to execution on one level, but if we are to assume that both these teams will be locked in due to the importance of the event, then preparation will be key and there is where to former teammates go head to head, pitting their impressive football brains against each other for the first time as head coaches.
Back in the day, Hamilton head coach Orlondo Steinauer and Winnipeg head coach Mike O’Shea used to key an impressive Toronto Argonauts’ defence, one that helped surge the team to a Grey Cup in 2004.
They remember, fondly, their playing days together, when O’Shea lined up in front of Steinauer at middle linebacker, Steinauer at free safety. In coach Rich Stubler’s defence, the two were leaned on heavily to not only make plays, but to ensure their teammates were assignment sound.
Steinauer may have been seen as the more thoughtful of the two at the time, O’Shea the more intense. If Steinauer was the graceful scientist, a fluidly smooth defensive back with a knack for deciphering the patterns in front of him quickly, O’Shea was no less intelligent on the field, though that savvy was cloaked by what could be considered an incongruous, blue collar nastiness.
“I’m seeing a Winnipeg team that’s taking on his identity and mindset,” said Steinauer during this week’s media conference call, one in which O’Shea also participated. “Took some timing, but with some better talent and some different buy-in and some more experience, I think that’s the reflection of what you’re seeing in Winnipeg currently.”
O’Shea, likewise, sees the Ticats investing in what Steinauer has to sell, even in these early stages of the season. And he credits Steinauer’s abilities to make other around him better as key.
“I think if you were to dig deeper organizationally, that’s the kind of asset they have in Hamilton is a guy who is tremendously in tune with all people in the building and the organization, which is you know, incredible for any business,” said O’Shea.
They have, it is quite apparent, powerful respect for each other’s mind and personality and who knows? Maybe even a little bit of fear over what the other knows about him and might bring into Friday night’s battle.
If a coaching battle isn’t your thing, you can look to two offences with excellent quarterbacks and myriad weaponry from which to choose; Hamilton’s Jeremiah Masoli and Winnipeg’s Matt Nichols will be front and centre, of course, in determining which side gets the early-season nod as the league’s top unit.
It’s a compelling match-up: Masoli, the back-pedalling, strong-armed scrambler who has probably never been called a “game manager,” versus Nichols, the smooth-bombing pocket passer who has, much to his frustration. He’s added fancier footwork in 2019 and a propensity to pull the ball down and run more often than before.
“They’re playing good team football, man, said Masoli this week. “All three phases. It’s a good challenge and we’re anxious for it.”
If we are robbed of one thing in this game, though, it is the chance to see a running backs’ battle between Winnipeg’s sensational Andrew Harris, and Hamilton’s emergent star, Sean Thomas Erlington. While Harris is fit and ready, Thomas Erlington, unfortunately, remains on the inactive list, after injuring a knee in Week 4.
That doesn’t mean we are left without a Battle Royale. Hamilton’s Brandon Banks and Winnipeg’s Lucky Whitehead might well end up being the main course in this one.
Both are fast, shifty receivers. Both are threats to score from anywhere on the field, and that includes special teams. Banks is the established star, continually insistent that people acknowledge that fact and continually backing up the claim. Whitehead seems certain to challenge that reality, and you can bet there is nothing he’d like more than to out-duel the incumbent right in front of Banks’ home crowd.
“Obviously (with) Lucky, the physical attributes are fairly easy to see,” said O’Shea. “Lucky’s fast. He’s got a good feel in terms of making guys miss, like (Banks) does.
“I think, you know, Lucky is new to this league, so it would take a little bit more time before I would want to compare him to (Banks).”
Fair enough, and typically cautious from O’Shea, known for cool logic in most of his public assessments. But fans don’t have to be so governed and what better way to get tongues wagging than by having both Whitehead and Banks on the same field on the same night, each trying to one-up the other?
We have two teams atop their respective divisions. Two brainy, former teammates, facing each other for the first time as head coaches. An established offensive star versus a would-be usurper.
All of this to consider, as the season’s biggest game (so far) approaches. And sure, we have the previously mentioned possibilities of a night in late November, when two drought-ravaged franchises might find themselves pitted against each other on the edge of the oasis.
But don’t ask O’Shea or Steinauer about that. Someone did, actually, during the conference call. O’Shea barely spoke. Steinauer barely said much more.
“You can tell we are cut from the same cloth,” he said, referencing O’Shea. “I wouldn’t even touch that right now. We are not even close to where we need to be. Fair question but I don’t have a fair answer.”
They may not want to think about November right now. But many already are.
