2011 CFL thread

[JC]

Grey Cup isn't that big a deal in Toronto (which is one of biggest challenges facing the CFL). I can't remember the last Grey Cup party I was at. The take-out pizza and wing joints don't take out big ads in the paper and I suspect if you ventured into a number of bars downtown on Sunday they'd be showing whatever NFL games were on. The only new ad I saw (many times) was TSN flogging its upcoming coverage of the World Juniors.

Even if the Argos somehow miraculously get to the Grey Cup next year at home I would think there might be a spike in interest but that would end the next day.

Yeah but Toronto really isn't part of Canada anyways.

 

[Double J]

Grey Cup isn't that big a deal in Toronto (which is one of biggest challenges facing the CFL). I can't remember the last Grey Cup party I was at. The take-out pizza and wing joints don't take out big ads in the paper and I suspect if you ventured into a number of bars downtown on Sunday they'd be showing whatever NFL games were on. The only new ad I saw (many times) was TSN flogging its upcoming coverage of the World Juniors.

Even if the Argos somehow miraculously get to the Grey Cup next year at home I would think there might be a spike in interest but that would end the next day.

Yeah but Toronto really isn't part of Canada anyways.

****, it's not even part of Ontario.

 

[JR]

Grey Cup isn't that big a deal in Toronto (which is one of biggest challenges facing the CFL). I can't remember the last Grey Cup party I was at. The take-out pizza and wing joints don't take out big ads in the paper and I suspect if you ventured into a number of bars downtown on Sunday they'd be showing whatever NFL games were on. The only new ad I saw (many times) was TSN flogging its upcoming coverage of the World Juniors.

Even if the Argos somehow miraculously get to the Grey Cup next year at home I would think there might be a spike in interest but that would end the next day.

It's a big deal in Mimico. It was on all the screens at The Goose. :)

The challenge facing the CFL is that next year's game in Toronto is the 100th Grey Cup and you gotta know that they will be throwing a ****load of money to make sure it's a big event here.

The problem in Toronto is that the Argos have sucked big time for a number of years and you also know that Commish Cohan will be putting pressure on owner Braley to improve his team for 2012.

That said, the Argos just signed QB Steven Jyles to a two year contract worth $75,000 up front and $250,000 each season.

Jesus, if this guy is worth that, ER should get a job next season for at least $150K. But then, it's the CFL

 

[Double J]

The problem in Toronto is that the Argos have sucked big time for a number of years and you also know that Commish Cohan will be putting pressure on owner Braley to improve his team for 2012.

Pffft. Which team? ::)

 

[JR]

The problem in Toronto is that the Argos have sucked big time for a number of years and you also know that Commish Cohan will be putting pressure on owner Braley to improve his team for 2012.

Pffft. Which team? ::)

Hahaha. Well, one won the Grey Cup, so you figure. ;)

Yeah, only in the CFL can one guy own two teams in an eight team league. Kinda sounds like the NHL in the 50's.

As someone said, despite all the pomp and ceremony in the Grey Cup last weekend, the league is still basically a Mom & Pop operation.

Did you read where before game time they discovered the yard marking chains were broken and they had to get a set from a local high school? There was a police escort involved.

 

[Double J]

That's pretty wild. Only in the CFL!

As for the NHL in the '50s, it's almost impossible to fathom how one family owned or controlled four of the six teams, and all four teams south of the border. Norris Hockey League, indeed.

I once read that St. Louis got a team in the 1967 expansion simply because the Norris family owned the St. Louis Arena and wanted a tenant for it. Nobody from St. Louis applied for an expansion franchise, but the city got one anyway, and then they found owners for it later. Such was Jim and Bruce Norris' power. This while Buffalo and especially Vancouver were jumping up and down, waving their arms, begging to be noticed and to be awarded expansion teams, yet were completely ignored.

 

[Beef03]

As someone said, despite all the pomp and ceremony in the Grey Cup last weekend, the league is still basically a Mom & Pop operation.

Did you read where before game time they discovered the yard marking chains were broken and they had to get a set from a local high school? There was a police escort involved.

I think I wrote about that in the fight thread. Total gong show. Only in the CFL. They can't get out of their own way sometimes. Word in the press box was that the had a police escort taking a search party to a local high school to get their yard markers.

 

[Huggy]

Real grass at the Rogers Centre could spell the end of the Argos' stay there as the new configuration would not allow for a football field.

No idea where the Boatmen would go. Varsity Stadium would be a great option, but high costs kept the renos there a few years ago to only 5,000 seats and BMO Field would also be perfect but is apparently a no go, again, due to the high costs of a reno for football.

http://www.thestar.com/article/1128253--perkins-argos-turfed-if-toronto-blue-jays-put-grass-in-rogers-centre

http://www.thestar.com/sports/football/cfl/argos/article/1128259--toronto-argonauts-may-soon-be-homeless

 

[Stitch]

How much would it take to renovate BMO Field for football?

 

[Huggy]

No idea but I had read that when BMO Field was built concrete was poured and permanent seats erected in what would be the end zones and even though the 20,000+-seat capacity is perfect for the Argos, apparently ripping out seats at each end and redoing those areas is too pricey for the City of Toronto, especially given the political climate in the city these days.

 

[Beef03]

Real grass at the Rogers Centre could spell the end of the Argos' stay there as the new configuration would not allow for a football field.

No idea where the Botamen would go. Varsity Stadium would be a great option, but high costs kept the renos there a few years ago to only 5,000 seats and BMO Field would also be perfect but is apparently a no go, again, due to the high costs of a reno for football.

http://www.thestar.com/article/1128253--perkins-argos-turfed-if-toronto-blue-jays-put-grass-in-rogers-centre

http://www.thestar.com/sports/football/cfl/argos/article/1128259--toronto-argonauts-may-soon-be-homeless

Could they be going to Ottawa?
Are there any other CFL capable stadiums or larger University stadiums that can be renod or at least have temporary seats put in the GTO or just beyond? What about the Lions temporary stadium? What's the future for that? Is there a plot of land somewhere that it could be erected on the cheap in the GTO?

 

[Stitch]

No idea but I had read that when BMO Field was built concrete was poured and permanent seats erected in what would be the end zones and even though the 20,000+-seat capacity is perfect for the Argos, apparently ripping out seats at each end and redoing those areas is too pricey for the City of Toronto, especially given the political climate in the city these days.

I'm surprised rugby matches have been held there. A friend of mine used to be the PR guy for Rugby Canada and he mentioned the permanent stands as a reason why rugby couldn't be played there. I'm guessing the field was shorter than an average rugby pitch.

 

[Huggy]

Real grass at the Rogers Centre could spell the end of the Argos' stay there as the new configuration would not allow for a football field.

No idea where the Botamen would go. Varsity Stadium would be a great option, but high costs kept the renos there a few years ago to only 5,000 seats and BMO Field would also be perfect but is apparently a no go, again, due to the high costs of a reno for football.

http://www.thestar.com/article/1128253--perkins-argos-turfed-if-toronto-blue-jays-put-grass-in-rogers-centre

http://www.thestar.com/sports/football/cfl/argos/article/1128259--toronto-argonauts-may-soon-be-homeless

Could they be going to Ottawa?
Are there any other CFL capable stadiums or larger University stadiums that can be renod or at least have temporary seats put in the GTO or just beyond? What about the Lions temporary stadium? What's the future for that? Is there a plot of land somewhere that it could be erected on the cheap in the GTO?

No cheap land in Toronto and no decent-sized university venues around here. Closest would probably be western in London, a good 90 minutes or so away.

Again, Varsity would have been perfect, would have been the Argo equivalent of Molson Stadium in Montreal. Argos would have packed the place every night.

No stadium in Ottawa anytime soon, the Lansdowne project still has a number of hurdles to clear before anything happens there from what I have heard.

 

[Beef03]

Real grass at the Rogers Centre could spell the end of the Argos' stay there as the new configuration would not allow for a football field.

No idea where the Botamen would go. Varsity Stadium would be a great option, but high costs kept the renos there a few years ago to only 5,000 seats and BMO Field would also be perfect but is apparently a no go, again, due to the high costs of a reno for football.

http://www.thestar.com/article/1128253--perkins-argos-turfed-if-toronto-blue-jays-put-grass-in-rogers-centre

http://www.thestar.com/sports/football/cfl/argos/article/1128259--toronto-argonauts-may-soon-be-homeless

Could they be going to Ottawa?
Are there any other CFL capable stadiums or larger University stadiums that can be renod or at least have temporary seats put in the GTO or just beyond? What about the Lions temporary stadium? What's the future for that? Is there a plot of land somewhere that it could be erected on the cheap in the GTO?

No cheap land in Toronto and no decent-sized university venues around here. Closest would probably be western in London, a good 90 minutes or so away.

Again, Varsity would have been perfect, would have been the Argo equivalent of Molson Stadium in Montreal. Argos would have packed the place every night.

No stadium in Ottawa anytime soon, the Lansdowne project still has a number of hurdles to clear before anything happens there from what I have heard.

Now this may show my lack of knowledge of the GTO, but for a temporary site if they could get their hands on the setup that the Lions had (apparently their owners know each other or something), would leasing a parcel of land on the outskirts of say Markham off the 407 be an option (I'm really just looking at Google maps for green space, insert other city (Vaughn, Missasauga, Brampton, etc.)/major road if you like)? I know in the middle of BF nowhere, but for a temporary site, it would also get the team out of the downtown core where maybe the attitude towards the CFL I think may be a little more receptive, give the people out in the Burbs a team to rally around.

 

[Huggy]

All good suggestions, Beef, but trying to get anything done in one of the big 'burbs like Brampton (where I live) or Missy will involve not only an awful lot of money but tons of bureaucratic red tape which is what the Pan Am Games people have run in to here and elsewhere.

No idea where the Argos fan base - such as it is - comes from, but you nailed it, I don't think much of it comes from downtown. Years ago there was talk of building the SkyDome on a parcel of land at Woodbine Racetrack out near the airport (and about 15 minutes from me) and Downsview is always thrown in the mix. The Argos future may indeed lie outside the City of Toronto.

 

[JR]

No idea but I had read that when BMO Field was built concrete was poured and permanent seats erected in what would be the end zones and even though the 20,000+-seat capacity is perfect for the Argos, apparently ripping out seats at each end and redoing those areas is too pricey for the City of Toronto, especially given the political climate in the city these days.

If MLSE buys the Toronto Argonauts then something will happen. Otherwise, the closest the Argos will get to BMO field is the Brazen Head pub in Liberty Village.

 

[Huggy]

No idea but I had read that when BMO Field was built concrete was poured and permanent seats erected in what would be the end zones and even though the 20,000+-seat capacity is perfect for the Argos, apparently ripping out seats at each end and redoing those areas is too pricey for the City of Toronto, especially given the political climate in the city these days.

If MLSE buys the Toronto Argonauts then something will happen. Otherwise, the closest the Argos will get to BMO field is the Brazen Head pub in Liberty Village.

I agree with this.

 

[JR]

No idea but I had read that when BMO Field was built concrete was poured and permanent seats erected in what would be the end zones and even though the 20,000+-seat capacity is perfect for the Argos, apparently ripping out seats at each end and redoing those areas is too pricey for the City of Toronto, especially given the political climate in the city these days.

If MLSE buys the Toronto Argonauts then something will happen. Otherwise, the closest the Argos will get to BMO field is the Brazen Head pub in Liberty Village.

I agree with this.

Maybe they could play in Ivor Wynne Stadium in The Hammer. Wouldn't that be fun? :)

 

[Iron_chet]

What is the game day atmosphere like at Ivor Wynne? Does it depend on how the team is doing or is it usually a pretty good time?

A buddy of mine and I are looking at doing an Eastern CFL road trip and it seems like Hamilton might be more fun than TO but also need to have after football activities relatively close.

 

[JR]

What is the game day atmosphere like at Ivor Wynne? Does it depend on how the team is doing or is it usually a pretty good time?

A buddy of mine and I are looking at doing an Eastern CFL road trip and it seems like Hamilton might be more fun than TO but also need to have after football activities relatively close.

Games at Ivor Wynne are pretty good, especially if it's the Argos. Argos games at the Rogers Centre are slightly more exciting than a funeral.

However, if after game activities are important, avoid going to Hamilton.

Any bar that I know in that area of The Hammer would require you have a heavily armed bodyguard whereas you have dozens and dozens of great bars within walking distance of the Rogers Centre.