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Hamilton coaching staff helps local police take down knife-wielding robber

Andrew Bucholtz

Is there anything the Hamilton Tiger-Cats' coaching staff can't pull off this weekend? They received plenty of criticism during their team's five-game losing streak, but managed to snap that with an improbable 51-8 thumping of Edmonton Saturday. What they did for an encore was perhaps even more remarkable, though. According to Daniel Nolan of The Hamilton Spectator, the coaching staff was involved in taking down a knife-wielding robber who was breaking into cars outside their offices Sunday morning. Here are the key details:

The incident happened shortly after 9 a.m. while the coaching staff was meeting at the Cats' Jarvis Street headquarters in downtown Hamilton. The staff were having a post-mortem on the successful game with the Eskimos and talking about Friday's upcoming game with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers in Winnipeg.

"Members of our coaching staff observed an individual breaking into a couple of cars in our parking lot," team spokesperson Scott McNaughton said. "They went out to confront him about this and, apparently, he pulled a weapon. They kind of backed off and he walked off."

He said the staff members started following the man while contacting and speaking to police on a cell phone. Police arrived at the intersection of King Street East and Victoria Avenue South and arrested the man.

That's a frightening situation, so it's good to hear that no one got hurt during the confrontation and that the guy involved was arrested. Still, it puts in mind some rather humorous ideas for superhero movies involving the Hamilton staff. "George Cortez is...The Challenger, able to throw a flag if and only if he sees a replay! Casey Creehan is...The Screamer, able to explode enemies' ear canals with just the power of his voice! Scott Mitchell is...The Relocator, who can pack up a historic franchise and move it to an implausible city with a single threat! Jim Daley is...The Reasonable Man, able to accept criticism from fans and media without flying off the handle! Together, they're The Underachievers, able to turn a strong offseason into a 4-7 record!" Beyond the jokes, though, this was just another implausible and highly-favourable turn of events for the Tiger-Cats. If their team can continue this run of luck and play well beyond this weekend, the superhero analogies may not be as far-fetched, and opposing CFL teams everywhere should beware...