By Steve Milton

GUELPH – In a CFL which has been split into three groups, the Ticats have removed themselves from the bottom tier, are solidly in the middle one and have a chance to challenge for an upper berth.

The Cats’ 37-14 victory over the Winnipeg Blue Bombers---homesteaders on the bottom rung along with the Eskimos---should have been much more decisive on the scoreboard but style points don’t count in the standings. The victory does, however, and it’s been a long, difficult fight back to .500 from the injury-riddled 1-4 start to the season.

No matter what players and coaches may profess, all in good faith, about looking only at the game ahead rather than the record, there is a huge difference between .500 and something less, which the Cats would have been had they lost this game. They’d be back down there with Edmonton and Winnipeg and wouldn’t have the organizational chaos to blame.

Now, they’ve already won the season’s series over the Bombers and have a six-point lead on them. They and the Alouettes comprise the CFL’s second tier, with Toronto trying to decide whether they want to drop back from the top group to join them.

The Cats find themselves only a single game out of first place in the anorexic eastern conference and with back-to-back games coming up against the BC Lions, who are in the league’s first tier with the Riders and Stamps, they could make some kind of statement.

“The difference between a team with one win and the teams at the top of the league is surprisingly small in this league,” says Hamilton guard Peter Dyakowski. “But that said, it’s great for us to have a chance to test ourselves. We have a great roster, and we are becoming a great team.”

You have to believe that as a player, and there is strong evidence that the seeds of impressive growth for this team have already been planted, but it’s worth considering the bricks upon which the Cats have built the foundation of their .500 record.

Three of their four wins have come against the Blue Bombers, and the other was against the Esks. For that crowd .500 is only the name of a car race.

The positive side of that is that they are winning the games they should win, except for the rain-besieged loss in Guelph against the Esks. And they could have won that too. Coulda/shoulda won in Toronto too, but that seems like light years ago now. The Argos are still the Grey Cup champs and even with an altered roster, that’s worth a few points in games within your own division.

Another positive side is that the Cats have been retrieving two or three players a week from an extensive injury list and those who’ve returned---Andy Fantuz, Torrey Davis and Tavoy Moore jump out immediately---have made impacts.

Negatively, though, the Cats still have to play the entire CFL upper tier, save Saskatchewan, on the road. And one of their “home” games is in Moncton.

The Bombers are in surrender mode and the Eskimos are armed, loaded and taking dead aim at their own feet. So it’s hard to say exactly what’s Ticat improvement and what’s, well, the opposition.

But as Kent Austin says, you have to play the schedule they put in front of you and the ‘Pegs just keep appearing on it. From his and his staff’s vantage point, they’ll have to factor in the fading hearts of the Bombers when they’re weighing how much, and in what areas, the Cats have improved. And where change, or even fine tuning, has to be made.

But there is no doubt that they have improved and that they are getting to know each other and that they are really getting to appreciate each other. The ecstatic, man-love, way the defence reacted to big plays by their teammates Saturday, it looked like the final hour at Woodstock.

Right down to the tents.