No Money back today

It was like money in the bank for the Argonauts. At least that must have been the thought in the front office earlier this week when Argo management made an offer to the Tiger Cat faithful that they could not resist. "Back to Back and you get your money back!" That was the sales job to boost attendance at the rematch of the Labour Day classic between Toronto and Hamilton.

On Monday the Cats surprised the Argos by picking up only their second win of the season at the expense of Pinball Clemons and his double blue roster. So confident were the bean counters at the Rogers Centre that they were ready to send money back down the 401 should Greg Marshall's lads pick up win number three on Saturday afternoon.

As it turned out, the money trucks will remain parked as Damon Allen helped decimate the Tiger Cat secondary making Arlan Bruce III his favourite target as the Argos strolled to a 48-0 victory over a terribly over matched Tiger Cat team.

Saturday's game reminded many of the early season travails of the Cats who seemed to be on different pages of the playbooks and ready to point the finger at each other after every play. Monday Danny Mac did everything right, no interceptions, lots of yardage and a tough defensive squad to keep the Argos at bay. Either the Argos were quick studies and managed to fix all those holes or the Cats were just plain lucky to take a win.

The Argo win solidifies their hold on first place in the East giving them a bit of breathing room over the rejuvenated Montreal Alouettes. For Hamilton it was a sudden stop to some impressive progress of the last couple of weeks, a period of time that saw them start to claw their way out the deep early season hole and ponder the possibility of catching Ottawa for the third and final playoff spot in the East. With Hamilton returning to it's ugly ways and Ottawa starting to implode on itself as well, the Western crossover contenders must be feeling a bit more confident as the season heads towards the drive for November and the playoffs.

With Ottawa giving up 61 points on Friday night and the Cats shedding 48 on Saturday, post season action may be slipping further and further away for both. One thing is certain the next seven days will be very busy for Joe Paopao and Greg Marshall, things are definitely broken in both cities and changes need to be made quickly before an entire season becomes lost.