Judy Garland famously said in her role as Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz that theres no place like home. The Toronto Argonauts would likely take issue with that sentiment. On Friday night, the Argos lost a close one to the Calgary Stampeders at the Rogers Centre by a final score of 23-20. The loss extended the Argos franchise record home losing streak to ten consecutive games.

Calgary hasnt done well in Toronto in recent years, having lost eight of their last ten heading into this contest. For that reason, Henry Burris was happy with the victory despite the Argos recent struggles on their own field:

“Rogers Centre has never been a fun place for us to play. We’ve had some tough games here against some hard-hitting Argos teams. This team has been through a lot and with the belief we have in one another, we were able to fight back and respond when it really counted.”

Toronto could have tied the game as time ran out with a long field goal, but Argos coach Bart Andrus kept the offense on the field for a last ditch effort to score a touchdown rather than go for the tie.

Placekicker Justin Medlock has only missed one field goal attempt all year, and Andrus is already hearing some criticism of this decision:

“I’ll take the heat on the call to not kick the field goal. The distance bothered me. That was my worry. The 57-yarder against Winnipeg came with the roof open. I just wasn’t comfortable with it.”

Medlock all but second guessed his coach, saying he wanted to take a shot at the tie:

“I definitely thought I could’ve made it but never got the chance. Maybe I should’ve run on to the field. I hit the crossbar in practice from 60 yards out.”

After the contest, Stamps coach/GM John Hufnagel indicated his pleasure with his teams effort:

“If it was going to be a close game I wanted our defence on the field at the end to protect the lead and that’s what happened. I think it’s really a big step for this football team. I’m very pleased with the defence, I’m very pleased with the offence in the second half when they had to answer points . . . we got the momentum back each and every time.”

Next up for the Stampeders is a home and home series with their provincial rivals, the Edmonton Eskimos. Calgary will host Edmonton on Labour Day, and the teams will rematch in Edmonton four days later. Toronto and Hamilton will go at it in their traditional Labour Day tilt, with the first game of the set at Hamilton and the rematch back at the Rogers Centre in Toronto.

Ross Everett is a experienced freelance writer who covers travel, casino gambling and sports handicapping. He is a staff handicapper for Anatta Sports where he is responsible for providing daily free sports picks. In his spare time he enjoys fine dining, fencing and scuba diving. He lives in Southern Nevada with four dogs and a pet coyote.