10 observations from Sept. 1/1997 game against Hamilton Tiger-Cats

[Will]

1. Robert Drummond is the type of dual threat that we all wanted James Wilder Jr to become;
2. That '97 Argo defence really didn't put up "glitzy" stats but they were just flat out dominant;
3. It's a treat to watch Doug Flutie improvise on the field;
4. Have the Argos ever had a first-year player make as big an impact than Derrell Mitchell;
5. Marcello Simmons recovers a fumble for a TD and Adrion Smith gets a punt block TD, Argos are up 43-3 halfway through third quarter and even Don Matthews calls off the hounds;
6. Ticat crowds were not always at the capacity they are now;
7. The CFL was without a commissioner as of Labour Day 1997
8. Rob Waldrop was a beast!
9. You can see the flashes from Anthony Calvillo at this point, but it was never going to work out for him in Hamilton was it?
10. Terry Greer is the Tiger-Cats receivers coach in this game and it's just wrong.

Basically, the Tiger-Cats played a strong first quarter getting an opening drive FG and then stopping the Argos on a few drives. They led 3-0 after a quarter, but Doug Flutie went to work in the second quarter with touchdowns to Derrell Mitchell (two) and Pinball to put the score 22-3 at halftime. Pinball gets another TD on the opening drive of the 3rd quarter before the aforementioned touchdowns by Simmons and Smith. Matthews takes Flutie out a few drives later and puts in Andre Ware who doesn't get much going offensively as Mike Vanderjagt adds a FG in the 4th to make it 46-3.

Anthony Calvillo is replaced by Rickey Foggie who really can't get anything going for Hamilton either and the Argos win the Labour Day Classic 46-3.

[OV Argo]

Re #4; Mookie was awesome in 97; but 20 years earlier, Argo rookie Paul Bennett was a CFL all-star DB AND a leading punt returner in the league; IMO - bigger impact because of the dual nature of his work.

[AngeloV]

Re #4; Mookie was awesome in 97; but 20 years earlier, Argo rookie Paul Bennett was a CFL all-star DB AND a leading punt returner in the league; IMO - bigger impact because of the dual nature of his work.

How big an impact could he have had considering the team finished 6-10?

[OV Argo]

How big an impact could he have had considering the team finished 6-10?


I guess you could judge this topic mostly by looking at the team's record. Individual players can have big impacts on average to lousy teams though. Mookie had a great season with Doug Flutie feeding him the ball; Bennett was a 2 way star - all-star calibre DB AND returner.

[Stevoman]

The 97 Argonauts are the best team I've seen in my lifetime.

[Will]

How big an impact could he have had considering the team finished 6-10?

To be fair though, wasn't the primary problem with those 70's Argos teams the lack of offence?

[paulwoods13]

I guess you could judge this topic mostly by looking at the team's record. Individual players can have big impacts on average to lousy teams though. Mookie had a great season with Doug Flutie feeding him the ball; Bennett was a 2 way star - all-star calibre DB AND returner.

Bennett had the benefit of playing on what I still believe was the best defence the Argos have ever had. Of course, he was part of the reason the defence was so good (although IMO less crucial to its success than Ray Nettles and maybe a couple of other key players). Lamar Leachman was a superb co-ordinator, and the Argos were stacked at every position. The fact Bennett also made a big impact on punt returns is evidence of one of the best seasons any Argo rookie ever had. Mitchell was obviously superb as well, with the benefit of being thrown to by the greatest QB in history at the absolute peak of his powers. Very tough to pick a "best" out of two such different situations.

[jerrym]

After fifty years my fondest Argo memories, are still the 96-97 teams.

[Will]

Does anyone recall if Saskatchewan and Winnipeg had regional blackouts as late as 1997?