OTTAWA Henry Burris thinks his Ottawa Redblacks have shelled out quite enough, thank you.
And he senses the CFL expansion team will be a tougher opponent for the desperate Hamilton Tiger-Cats on the last day of October, than they were in late July and early September.
And they weren't easy outs then.
"If we can beat the Ticats in this game, it puts them in a rather tough position as far as getting into the playoffs," says the quarterback who threw the Cats right into the Grey Cup game last year.
"And right now, with the fact that we're not in the playoffs, we wouldn't mind spoiling someone else's trick or treating and their U.S. Thanksgiving. That's kind of what's on our mind right now, to do what we can as far as preserving for next year, but also be spoiler as far as in the present."
The Ticats got their first win of the season, 33-23 at McMaster in July, then got their second win at Tim Hortons Field, 16-6 in September. This will be their third game, in three different stadia, with Ottawa this season, and with more on the line than ever. If they don't win, Halloween — at least the ghosts and goblins part — becomes very real for them.
The unofficial autumn holiday should only add to the celebratory atmosphere that will weigh against the Ticats, who have to be all business in this one.
It is Ottawa's final home game of the year and will likely be a sellout, making it a clean sweep at TD Place — every ticket offered, sold — for the third CFL incarnation here.
Besides the levity that is sure to accompany the trick-or-treat motif of the evening, the fan reaction in the intimate TD Place will be far less restrained than it was a week earlier in a close loss to Montreal. That game was played two days after Hamilton's Nathan Cirillo was murdered at the National War Memorial.
A loose team, the adage goes, is a dangerous one and this team is looser than it was against Montreal or, the week before, with Hamilton.
"The tension isn't as high this week," Burris acknowledged. "We were all on alert last week. Our minds were on the game itself, but our minds were also in another place as far as compassion for the people who lost their lives in Montreal and Ottawa. But this week is all football, although in the back of our minds we still feel grief and show our thanks.
"This has been a fun place to play and we just want to end the homestand here on a good note. It's a party atmosphere. Probably one of the best things about it is that when the opposing team has the ball, this place gets loud. You have the Minto Condos on the west side and it just kind of echoes right off that facility and right back on the field and all 25,000 people, they get loud. It takes a few beers to get them going."
So the Ticats will have to have their collective wits about them, especially in the early and late going, which they did not in Toronto last weekend. Zach Collaros is likely going to have to operate on a lot of silent counts, although he said Thursday that they'll use his voice count until it's necessary to switch.
Smilin' Hank will give way for a few series to Dan O'Brien, the third-stringer who was promoted to backup when Thomas DeMarco was hurt. O'Brien didn't get as much exposure as predicted last week.
Burris is OK with that look toward the future, but it's obvious the pivot the Cats jilted wants to play a major role in securing a Friday victory. He says he impressed with the talent and scheming of the Hamilton defence, "a brick wall", and respects their offensive potential.
However. …
"To beat Hamilton would definitely be good," Burris admits. "They squeaked out two victories over us. ... But we feel much better about playing at home and hopefully with their woes on the road, we can continue them.
"I'm playing against guys I know and whenever you're playing against friends you always want to beat them.
"Especially in this case. If I can't go to the playoffs, I don't want them to go to the playoffs. And they know that. They know we're out to play spoiler."
Burris, especially so.
smilton@thespec.com
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