HAMILTON – The goal posts were shaking and the flags were whipping loudly as media members on the sideline battled just to stand in one place as the wind howled on Saturday.
Welcome to Tim Hortons Field, traditionally a wind tunnel – but at a new level the day before the Grey Cup as gusts reached 89 km/h at the Hamilton Airport.
It won’t be as bad on Grey Cup Sunday, but gusts still could reach between 40 and 50 km/h – which could make the wind a key storyline for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers and host Hamilton Tiger-Cats.
“I’m used to it. I like it, as much as it’s a lot of wind,” Ticats kicker Michael Domagala, a native of nearby St. Catharines, Ont., said with a straight face. “It’s our home stadium and if anyone has an advantage with that, it’s us. If it’s windy, it’s windy. Both teams have to kick in it.”
Nobody will give the Ticats the edge in the kicking game – regardless of wind – on what is expected to be a warmer than usual December night (the low is 1 C).
The Bombers employ Sergio Castillo after he returned from the NFL (he played some games for the New York Jets in 2020) midway through this season. The American was a CFL all-star in 2019 with the B.C. Lions and hit seven of nine field goals this year.
Domagala, meanwhile, replaced Taylor Bertolet late in the season and was good on seven of 10 field goals. But last week in the East final, he missed his first extra point and then the Ticats gambled for a two-point conversion on their second touchdown – and missed – despite being tied with the Toronto Argonauts at the time. Domagala did not attempt a field goal at BMO Field.
Still, the Carleton University product says he’s confident.
“A big thing that the coaching staff … makes us do is visualize the plays you’re going to make in the game,” he said. “For me, I wrote down today (to) visualize every situation and every kick even though it might not happen. You have to see it before you get out there.”
Castillo also isn’t worried about the wind.
“Fortunately, I live in Amarillo, Texas. Chicago is not the windy city. It’s Amarillo, Texas,” Castillo said. “It is flat there. A typical day for us is 20, 24 m.p.h. winds. I’ve been accustomed to that since 2009.”
Last week’s cold, windy West final in Winnipeg might have been good preparation. Castillo made all three of his extra points and didn’t attempt a field goal in a win over the Saskatchewan Roughriders.
“I will say last week was the hardest game I’ve had to play in terms of wind,” he said. “I’m kicking the extra point (and) the wind is going left to right (and) a minute later I’m taking the kickoff and it’s going the other way.”
It could be the second high-profile football game in the general area in the past week to be affected by wind.
The wind was the major story in the New England Patriots’ 14-10 win over the Buffalo Bills on Monday night in Orchard Park, N.Y. – just over an hour away from Hamilton.
The Patriots attempted just three passes because of the conditions and big-footed Bills kicker Tyler Bass had a rare miss as his 33-yard attempt drifted right after looking good off his foot.
“I watched the Bills game the other week, it’s similar to here,” Domagala said. “Some of those guys have big legs in the NFL and they were struggling.”
https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMiZmh0dHBzOi8vd3d3LnNwb3J0c25ldC5jYS9jZmwvYXJ0aWNsZS93aW5kLXR1bm5lbC10aW0taG9ydG9ucy1maWVsZC1hbm90aGVyLWdyZXktY3VwLXN0b3J5bGluZS1lbWVyZ2VzL9IBZWh0dHBzOi8vd3d3LnNwb3J0c25ldC5jYS9jZmwvd2luZC10dW5uZWwtdGltLWhvcnRvbnMtZmllbGQtYW5vdGhlci1ncmV5LWN1cC1zdG9yeWxpbmUtZW1lcmdlcy9zbi1hbXAv?oc=5
2021-12-11 22:38:00Z
1208266732
Tidak ada komentar:
Posting Komentar