Courtesy Hamilton Spectator:

Like the lightning bolt that struck near Ron Joyce Stadium the day before, it was loud, violently spectacular but short-lived.

When Tiger-Cat rookie fullback Mike Giffen attempted to chop veteran rush end Nautyn McKay-Loescher with a low block during yesterday morning’s practice, the latter blew up. As the saying goes, “real good.”

With a spew of profanities clearly unsuitable for a family newspaper, McKay-Loescher took a few swings at the wayward rookie before attempting to punt Giffen’s head off his shoulders.

It wasn’t the first scrap at Cat-land — there has been at least one, possibly two others — but this will likely prove to be the most memorable.

Hamilton head coach Charlie Taaffe said the occasional training camp dust-up has to be expected.

“I think Mike Giffen made a rookie mistake. He is trying to impress and he went a little bit low. And obviously the veteran is trying to take care of himself. Things escalated. That’s part of it. It’s no big deal as long as it doesn’t escalate from here,” Taaffe said.

What the players must understand is that if a Cat player is involved in a fight in a game, it’s the team that is punished if the participant is ejected.

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