ARGONAUTS.CA STAFF
Jim Barker wants nothing more than for his team to forget about last week’s impressive win over the Montreal Alouettes. A tactic used primarily for teams that come up on the losing end of a particular game, the Argonauts head coach wants to make certain that his team focuses on nothing else but the upcoming battle with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats on Friday and that includes not only last week’s victory, but also the upcoming bye week.
“We are focused on the Hamilton Tiger-Cats Friday night, period,” said Barker when asked about how his team performed last week and how crucial the home-and-home series is with the ‘Cats. “It’s about being better this week than we were last week.”
Barker and his squad are taking on a Tiger-Cats team whose biggest threat is arguably the league’s best player right now in former Argos SB Arland Bruce lll. Bruce enters Friday with a league-leading 45 catches for 744 yards and five majors and when asked about how one prepares to defend such a player, Barker responded by saying, “You don’t. You try and tackle well because you are not going to stop him – he is as good as there is.”
Bruce has seen both sides of the Argos/Ticats rivalry and although Barker has witnessed his fare share in his first two stints with the Argos, this will be the first time in 11 years that he will be directly involved.
“I have a healthy respect for them (Hamilton),” Barker said with a smile. “(Ivor Wynne) is a very difficult place to play, so fortunately they are coming to our place this time and that is why this game has been so important.”
The place that Barker refers to is Rogers Centre which has been a tough place for visiting opponents to play in 2010. Including pre-season, the Argos are undefeated at home this year boasting a 4-0 record. Perhaps in their favour is a Ticats team that is 1-3 on the road this year.
Kickoff is at 7:30 p.m. at Rogers Centre as the Argos close out Football Week in Toronto on Rivalry Night. For tickets, please call 416-341-ARGO (2746) or click here to purchase online.
Roster Notes: LB Raymond Fontaine comes back on the roster while LB Kyle Jones returns to the PR…WR Jeremaine Copeland and OL Cedric Gagne-Marcoux have both been added to the injured list while DB Michael Grant and WR Jeffery Webb return to the lineup.