Attachment 623
He was the greatest owner we ever had. Can only imagine what might have been had he lived. RIP John.
He really loved the Argonauts and the CFL. We'll probably never have another owner like him.
As far as the football team is concerned, nothing too different than what transpired. Candy started filming movies again and was rumored to sell the Argonauts once he had finished those commitments. He was likely going to bail on the team like his previous mates, it just took him longer as he truly loved the team.Quote:
Originally Posted by Scooter McCray
He was an actor. That is how he earned the living which allowed him to be part owner in the team. Without the other owners it made it more difficult but he was the true face of the franchise. He loved the team it's players and the fans because he was a fan. He would have done whatever he could have to stay on of transition if need be to someone who could care for the team. I will not speculate on anything else because that tarnishes his memory.Quote:
Originally Posted by ArgoZ
I remember reading that he was trying to raise money to buy the Argonauts and become the sole owner when he died.Quote:
Originally Posted by ArgoZ
He was reportedly trying to put together a group to buy the team from McNall and Gretzky at the time of his passing. The documentary talks about how he felt heartbroken when McNall decided to sell. Candy had taken a more active role running the team in 1993 and was the person who decided to fire Dennis Meyer as head coach and replace him with Bob O'Billovich. He also hired Ron Barbaro as President.Quote:
Originally Posted by ArgoZ
Uncle Buck was a GREAT man. We sat a row above him in Ottawa in 91 and I would get a chant of Uncle Buck going every little while and he'd stand, smile and wave every time. I was coming off of Lake Simcoe in my truck after icefishing with my buddy when we heard of his passing. I shed a tear for sure.
I recommend everyone watch this - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i4HzYF67B6UQuote:
Originally Posted by ArgoRavi
Ravi, you've mentioned this before, that you felt that the sale of the Argos by McNall and his heart attack were all at around at the same time thus linking the two together. It can't be confirmed but the documentary sure makes it seem that the sale of the Argos upset Candy so much that it may have been a cause of his death.
A really warm and caring man, gone far too soon, the emotion shown by Campbell, Harding, Pruenster and Brazley many years later says it all.
Ironically one of the still shots late in this documentary show Candy sitting in the stands with none other than Davis Braley sitting behind him, a sad reminder of what once was (and could have been), and what currently is....really sad actually.
What I recall, John Candy grew up in Pickering and played OL on his high school football team and dreamted of playing for the Argos. A knee injury cut his dream short. While he became an international successful celebrity, his preference may have been just to line up with the Argos. Explains why he loved ownership.
From everything that I've read and heard, Candy was searching for investors so that he could keep the team and the Argos were sold AFTER he passed away. Candy died March 4th and the team was sold May 5th.
Hey - i was at an Argos vs. Ottawa game back around that time and saw Candy in the North Side stands about a section over from where I was - wonder if it was the same game? I wanted to yell out hey Mr. Messenger or Gill Fisher or one of his other great SCTV character names to try to get his attention but I was a bit far away.Quote:
Originally Posted by 1argoholic
What an all-time great comedian and also a great Argo fan !
Perhaps officially but if you watch the documentary from 17:30, you'll see how he heard that McNall was looking for a buyer and it affected him greatly. While in Mexico for filming he got a phone call about the sale and died soon after.Quote:
Originally Posted by SnowRogue
Then commisioner Larry Smiths' recollection was that Candy called him from Mexico to inform him that he reluctantly was putting the team up for sale. Regardless what version actually happened and even if Candy lived, the team would have been sold, likely to TSN, and the Argos history would have panned out the same.Quote:
Originally Posted by ArgoGabe22
Yeah, I've seen the doc a bunch of times, I actually have a copy downloaded on my pc, I'm just going by the official reports. Candy died before the team was officially sold to TSN. From my understanding Candy was looking for investors and couldn't come up with enough money before the TSN offer, but had Candy lived things might have been different.Quote:
Originally Posted by ArgoGabe22
We'll never know for sure.Quote:
Originally Posted by ArgoZ
Born north of Toronto in Newmarket, but grew up in East York. He played football in high school at Neil McNeil located on Vic Park near Queen near the Beach, pretty much the eastern boundary of what was then the City of Toronto and Scarborough between the beach and bluffs.Quote:
Originally Posted by 1971GreyCup
Yeah, sorry, no Durham Region connection.Quote:
Originally Posted by Gill The Thrill