Historical Look At Labour Day

STEVE DANIEL
CFL.ca

TORONTO — The CFL schedule has always featured the importance of local rivalries during the regular season and playoffs, and (for the most part) a country-wide single-game Grey Cup final to determine the ultimate league champion. In fact, the Canadian Football League’s two-division, East-West setup has been in place since the formation of the CFL in January 1958 (1995 being the single exception).

That tradition goes back much further however as the old IRFU or Big Four dates to 1907, while the first fully organized western league (WIFU) season was held in 1936. All four Labour Day Classic teams can date their histories to the early or middle part of the Twentieth Century having played each other seemingly countless times, and the rivalries at their best on the holiday weekends.

Labour Day football means a lot to the CFL and to Canadians in general with support at its peak during this time. Along with the RONA Canada Day Kickoff games the traditions of the game are well preserved after more than a century of play and the excitement generated by the Scotiabank Labour Day Weekend slate.

Deep Fan Support

Canadian football fans have always turned out in greater numbers for the four Labour Day Weekend games at summer’s end. Across CFL history our average attendance has grown to just under 25,000 with the most recent decade coming in at a shade over 27,000 per game.

The attractiveness and tradition of those contests has tended to drive attendance up some 4-5% and 2009 was no exception. The four games over the holiday weekend drew 129,166 fans for an average of 32,292 or about 13% over the average in all games (28,464). In fact, last year’s 32,292 average attendance figure was the highest Labour Day Weekend draw for the CFL since 1978 when Montreal’s Olympic Stadium hosted a crowd in excess of 60,000.

Labour Day Weekend games feature our most intense rivalries and are played out nowadays at McMahon Stadium in Calgary, Ivor Wynne Stadium in Hamilton, Mosaic Stadium in Regina and alternating between Vancouver and Montreal. This is the fifth straight year that the eight teams have lined up against each other in this way.

CFL LABOUR DAY CLASSIC RIVALRIES   
       
TORONTO ARGONAUTS (5-3) at HAMILTON TIGER-CATS (4-4)   
   
Since 1948 in the era of Post-War Canadian football, Hamilton and Toronto have continued a rivalry that has had some intense moments. Traditionally one of their annual meetings is played in Hamilton on Labour Day and in 2010 this meeting will be renewed for the fifteenth consecutive season. Since 1987 the clubs have met to end the summer holidays in all but two seasons (1987 and 1995) with the Tiger-Cats winning 12 of those 21 contests. The Argos have captured eight games with the one tie coming after overtime in 2004.

The first post-war meetings came in 1948-49 as the Wildcats dropped both games to Toronto at Civic Stadium. The birth of the Tiger-Cats in 1950 saw the trend reverse as they won 16 of the next 20 matchups to 1980 when the rivalry was set aside by CFL schedule makers. That rivalry was renewed in 1987 and as noted above has been virtually continuous since then. Overall, Hamilton leads the Labour Day Classic with 28 wins to Toronto’s 14 with one tie. The series has drawn 866,684 fans in the 33 games played since 1958 and Argos have experienced the most recent success winning three of the last four holiday games.

An added feature to this year’s Labour Day game at Ivor Wynne is that the two teams are separated by just a single game in the standings. That tight playoff position battle makes this year’s Classic a true four-pointer with the clubs engaging for the second time in as many CFL weeks, and not again until their final game of the season series on October 15th at Rogers Centre in Toronto.

Kevin Glenn has been the most consistent QB in the CFL this year not named Calvillo and he will be matched by the Argos Cleo Lemon. Lemon ranked ninth among CFL QBs in pass efficiency in the first four games, but his rating of 99.9 in games #5-8 has him right tehre with Glenn and the other league leaders. The more important statistic for Lemon is the five Toronto wins, two more than all of last season. Much of the credit for the resurgence of these two teams goes to Ticats receiver Arland Bruce III (of the record-breaking 16 catches) and Argos running back Cory Boyd (the CFL’s leading rusher).

      
EDMONTON ESKIMOS (2-6) at CALGARY STAMPEDERS (7-1)   
   
Perhaps the most compelling rivalry based on its long continuity is the annual Labour Day Classic contest at McMahon Stadium. The Eskimos have met the Stampeders in Calgary every year on Labour Day since 1969 with the exception of only 1981. That was an especially odd schedule quirk as the four traditional holiday combatants “crossed over” with the Esks heading to Hamilton and the Argonauts dropping in on the Stamps. The two Alberta rivals have met 49 times on Labour Day since 1949 (when Edmonton re-entered Canadian football). Calgary won that first meeting 20-6 at Clarke Stadium which hosted the game until 1953. The rivalry sprang up again in 1959 in Calgary lasting through 1963 before being set aside once more.

The permanent renewal in 1969 has created a highlight game each year in the West and Edmonton has won 28 of the total of 49 meetings since 1949. Calgary has 20 wins with the one tie coming in 1978. Since 1959 the game has drawn a stunning 1,341,011 fans to the 44 games since then for an average of 30,478 per game. Last year, 40,729 fans packed into McMahon Stadium to witness a solid Stampeders team win by a score of 32-8.

The western edition of the annual Labour Day Classic has been further enhanced by the creation of the unique short-week double-header format used since 1989. The Eskimos and the Stampeders have met back-to-back in each of the last 21 seasons in a virtual saw-off, Edmonton picking up 22 wins to 20 for Calgary. Since 1993 the teams have played each other for the second time on just four days rest to set up the second half of the season. Of the 21 double-headers 12 of them have wound up being split as the loser of the first game has bounced right back to win the second affair.

The game will feature the #10 and #11 all-time leading passers in CFL history in Henry Burris and Ricky Ray. Burris needs just two yards to surpass Dieter Brock’s total of 34,830 and enter the league’s top ten, while Ricky Ray is 653 yards back of Brock but carries the league’s second best career pass efficiency mark at 96.8 (Dave Dickenson posted a 110.4 rating and will be on hand as well calling Calgary plays).
       
CFL LABOUR DAY WEEKEND RIVALRIES   
   
WINNIPEG BLUE BOMBERS (2-6) at SASKATCHEWAN ROUGHRIDERS (5-3)  
   
No less compelling is the long history forged between the Saskatchewan Roughriders and the Winnipeg Blue Bombers. The two clubs have met 221 times in regular season play since the formation of the old W.I.F.U. in 1936, more head-to-game games than any other pair of CFL rivals, and like the Labour Day Classic combatants will engage in a double-header of their own over the next two weeks. The Blue Bombers can claim the upper hand in the 74-year old series having won 126 times while losing 91. Of those games, 46 have been played out over the Labour Day Weekend in Regina (well, all but one of them in 1952) since 1949. Winnipeg has claimed 18 wins on the road to the Roughriders 28 wins at Mosaic Stadium (Taylor Field). The Riders have won the last five Labour Day Weekend clashes with the Bombers last picking up a win in 2004. In the 46 games since 1952, the total attendance has exceeded 1.1 million prairie football fans.

Perhaps the more intriguing part of the Bomber and Riders CFL tradition has emerged in just the last decade. The second half of the double header has become known as the Banjo Bowl, with the rematch in Manitoba. The game has drawn a a lot of attention since now-retired kicker Troy Westwood’s remarks fueled the rivalry even more. This will be the seventh anniversary Banjo Bowl in 2010 but more importantly the double-header represents a chance for the Bombers to gain some ground on the two eastern Labour Day Classic teams.

Headlining the game will be a pair of star rushers, Wes Cates of the Roughriders and Fred Reid of the Blue Bombers. The two are separated by a single yard in this season’s rushing race and on pace for just under 1,400 by season’s end. The top 18 receivers in the CFL in 2010 contain six players from these two teams led by Terrence Edwards who is second with 725 yards on 38 receptions.
      < br />BC LIONS (1-7) at MONTRÉAL ALOUETTES (6-2)
   
The final matchup of Labour Day Weekend is in fact usually the first to be played and is an interesting appetizer to the remaining heated rivalries of Sunday and Monday. Falling outside the long history of the other traditional pairs, the Alouettes and the Lions have staged 10 previous games over the holiday period. Since 2006, the teams have alternated between B.C. Place and Percival Molson Stadium in setting the table for the others. The series is split evenly at five wins apiece and the game has generally been a high-scoring affair. Last season the Lions won at home 19-12 and have captured three of the last four games. This season however, a 1-7 start and a trip to Montreal where the Alouettes maintain their 13-game winning streak will be a tall order.

The game will feature the #6 and #7 all-time leading receivers in Canadian Football League history with Geroy Simon and Ben Cahoon separated by just 87 yards. Simon has caught 808 passes for 13,052 yards while Cahoon is just 21 receptions behind all-time leader Terry Vaughn at 985 for 12,965 yards in a career spent entirely with the Als. His long-time QB Anthony Calvillo seems doubtful for the game so Chris Leak will have to provide Cahoon with the yardage this weekend.