Friday’s game between the Hamilton Tiger-Cats and Toronto Argonauts is the true epitome of a trap game.
Sports fans have heard this term time and time again, but for those of you who are scratching your head and wondering what a trap game is, I’m here to help.
In its simplest form, a trap game is when a team that is expected to beat a lesser team overlooks that opponent.
When the Ticats and Argos square off at BMO Field in Toronto, there are a number of factors we can point to that makes this a trap game.
Hamilton is by far the superior team in the win column, pitting their seven victories against Toronto’s lowly three wins through 14 games.
The Tiger-Cats are also coming off their final bye week of the regular season (they’re 1-1 after a bye this year), Hamilton has won their previous two games against Toronto this season (42-28 and 36-25), and the boatmen have already been eliminated from playoff contention and really have nothing to play for.
But the biggest reason why Friday’s tilt falls in the trap game category is because after the Ticats play the Argonauts, Hamilton will face East Division-leading Ottawa in a crucial home-and-home series that will decide which team finishes in first place and earns an opening-round playoff bye.
If Hamilton overlooks Toronto and falls to the Argos, they run the risk of losing any chance of winning the East.
Given what’s at stake, and that the Argos are Hamilton’s arch-rivals, the Ticats shouldn’t — I say, shouldn’t — fall into the trap.
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