Argos Stadium Update

[ArgoRavi]

The good folks at Wooddbine have said in the past that they were open to a stadium development there. The caveat was - of course - that it be built for NFL. Guess they aren't so good after all.

That is what I have heard over the years as well. One of the obstacles the Argos have to overcome in getting a new stadium is the NFL-envy that still exists among some prominent people and organizations in the city.

[matchuk]

Funny thing....i have noticed during these stadium debates that there are several people who want the jays to fail this year. Don't ask me to quote or who it was because I have lost track but to those individuals I'm just curious as to why you want the jays to fail because their owners are treating the Argos like crap? I'm just looking for your reasons not to start any more bickering bs.

[argotom]

Funny thing....i have noticed during these stadium debates that there are several people who want the jays to fail this year. Don't ask me to quote or who it was because I have lost track but to those individuals I'm just curious as to why you want the jays to fail because their owners are treating the Argos like crap? I'm just looking for your reasons not to start any more bickering bs.

Yes I am one of them.
The answer is ROGERS, period.

[1argoholic]

I just don't care about The Jays, Raptors and TFC. I used to be a huge Jays fan and played baseball as my summer sport while hockey was my winter one. Loved all TO sports. I even hit a few Toronto Blizzard soccer games. Baseball lost me with the strikes and steroids. Rogers hasn't helped in any way. I have no use or interest in basketball or soccer.

Love the Argos, Rock and still watch the Leafs but won't pay to see them live. Love the hard working, love of the game attitude of the CFL and NLL. Just like my field of landscaping. I can't relate to the others making stupid money.

[Mulder]

Yes I am one of them.
The answer is ROGERS, period.

Same Boat. I would love to see them spend all this money on this team and totally flop this season with the same amount of attendance at the past few seasons.

All the "hype" is coming from Rogers owned media....I wonder why.

[bluto]

Same Boat. I would love to see them spend all this money on this team and totally flop this season with the same amount of attendance at the past few seasons.

All the "hype" is coming from Rogers owned media....I wonder why.

to be fair, ESPN and Baseball America aren't Rogers owned.

[matchuk]

Same Boat. I would love to see them spend all this money on this team and totally flop this season with the same amount of attendance at the past few seasons.

All the "hype" is coming from Rogers owned media....I wonder why.

if you are watching any espn at all, they are talking lots about the jays as well, ranking them the 2nd or 3rd best rotation in the majors, also giving them the 5th best odds to win the world series....rogers obviously does not own espn

^^^ This

It's not so much that we want the jays to fail it's just that we expect them to and want to be proven otherwise.

of course the same isnt said about the leafs right? it just seems that quite a few argos fans specifically hate the jays...i dislike rogers as much as the next guy, but dont "blame" the jays for the argos mistreatment....i dont see many argos fans hating the leafs, even though they are overpaid, and dont win championships either...

Yes #1 the Rogers factor far and away is the number 1 reason for most of us to dislike anything affiliated with same.
To include their primary business, cell phones and cable.

but im sure these people that hate the jays still use rogers internet, cell phone and/or home phone services...they decide to hate a sports team based on their affiliation, but will refuse to boycott their services...

[T-Bone]

Funny thing....i have noticed during these stadium debates that there are several people who want the jays to fail this year. Don't ask me to quote or who it was because I have lost track but to those individuals I'm just curious as to why you want the jays to fail because their owners are treating the Argos like crap? I'm just looking for your reasons not to start any more bickering bs.

I've been supporting the Jays for the past 9 years and I'll be honest, I'm getting sick of the hype this year. It's Leafs level hype which is always over the top. I don't want to see them fail but I'm waiting until June rolls around to get excited and we'll see if the hype was warranted. I can sort of understand why some Argos fans react to the Jays the way they do, though I don't agree with it and I doubt the reaction would be the same if the situation were reversed. Credit is due for Rogers for what they have done with the Jays and I'm sure we would all be happy with the same kind of cash infusion and hype for the Argos.

[294life]

I've been supporting the Jays for the past 9 years and I'll be honest, I'm getting sick of the hype this year. It's Leafs level hype which is always over the top. I don't want to see them fail but I'm waiting until June rolls around to get excited and we'll see if the hype was warranted. I can sort of understand why some Argos fans react to the Jays the way they do but I doubt the reaction would be the same if the situation were reversed. Credit is due for Rogers for what they have done with the Jays and I'm sure we would all be happy with the same kind of cash infusion and hype for the Argos.

^^^ This

It's not so much that we want the jays to fail it's just that we expect them to and want to be proven otherwise.

[Will]

^^^ This

It's not so much that we want the jays to fail it's just that we expect them to and want to be proven otherwise.

I disagree. There are plenty of people on this website who would like to see the Jays pack up and leave for the United States, an attitude I've never comprehended. Not saying everyone has to like them, but to wish failure and destruction of the Jays, Raptors and TFC is a little unnecessary IMO.

[1argoholic]

Many of us grew up watching the Argos and Leafs. A winter sports king and a summer sports king in Toronto. All of a sudden the Jays came along which was fine but then the World Class City BS started to flow. Then the Argos started to be treated like crap. Simplified but this is how it all started. Now you've got a seriously fractured pro sport scene in Toronto. I don't think there is many if any cities like it. Most cities fans hope well for every of that cities teams. You have hate directed at certain fans from other fans. I may have got into TFC if it wasn't for many of their fans views of the Argonauts.

If the Jays, Raptors and TFC went away I wouldn't shed a tear. I don't hope for that as a big vibrant city like TO needs entertainment but I really personally wouldn't care.

[Ron]

I disagree. There are plenty of people on this website who would like to see the Jays pack up and leave for the United States, an attitude I've never comprehended. Not saying everyone has to like them, but to wish failure and destruction of the Jays, Raptors and TFC is a little unnecessary IMO.

and yet these same people get really upset when other fans (the majority in this city) could care less about the Argos and wouldn't care if they folded.

[AngeloV]

of course the same isnt said about the leafs right? it just seems that quite a few argos fans specifically hate the jays...i dislike rogers as much as the next guy, but dont "blame" the jays for the argos mistreatment....i dont see many argos fans hating the leafs, even though they are overpaid, and dont win championships either...

That's because the Argos never had attendance issues when it was just them and the Leafs in this city. Bring on MLB and the NBA, and you have all the people in this city forgetting that we are Canadian and demanding the NFL to cap off their 4 "major" sports teams fixes.

[1argoholic]

Shame so many in the GTA are lame followers. I say plenty of bad things about this area but I always get good comments on my Argo merch from other CFL fans.

[1argoholic]

I agree with AngeloV. I'd say it's a combination for me. Plus the horrible way Rogers has treated the Argos.

[argotom]

I agree with AngeloV. I'd say it's a combination for me. Plus the horrible way Rogers has treated the Argos.

Yes #1 the Rogers factor far and away is the number 1 reason for most of us to dislike anything affiliated with same.
To include their primary business, cell phones and cable.

[argofandave]

The success of the Jays is the number one reason people lost interest in the Argos. Basically, with most of the CFL and MLB seasons overlapping, people that used to go to Argo games started to go to Jay games instead. This started in 1985 when the Jays had a great season and went on to the post season for the first time and the Argos had a lousy season and missed the playoffs. When SkyDome opened in 1989, that is when I realized how much a successful Jays team hurts the Argos and I've hated the Jays ever since. It was the success of the Jays which turned the city into the "if it's not major league, it's not worth supporting mentality."

[ArgoRavi]

The success of the Jays is the number one reason people lost interest in the Argos. Basically, with most of the CFL and MLB seasons overlapping, people that used to go to Argo games started to go to Jay games instead. This started in 1985 when the Jays had a great season and went on to the post season for the first time and the Argos had a lousy season and missed the playoffs. When SkyDome opened in 1989, that is when I realized how much a successful Jays team hurts the Argos and I've hated the Jays ever since. It was the success of the Jays which turned the city into the "if it's not major league, it's not worth supporting mentality."

It is nice to see that I wasn't alone in my thinking back in the mid to late 1980s. I was actually a Jays fan until the end of the 1985 season and was disappointed when they blew their 3-1 ALCS lead to KC that year. By 1987, however, I was anything but depressed when they had their epic collapse during the final week of that season. By 1997-98 it got to the point where I wasn't feeling quite as negative about them but with the likes of Paul Godfrey and the Rogers folks involved with that franchise over the last decade or so it has been very easy to dislike that team again.

There is little question in my mind that there is a relationship between the rise of the Jays from 1983-88 and the decline of the Argos during those same years. Yes, the Argos and the CFL did not help themselves much during that time but I truly believe that the Argos simply lost a lot of casual fans to the Jays during that period. Many in the media during that time even said how facing Hamilton and Saskatchewan just wasn't as sexy as facing "world-class" cities such as New York and Chicago.

Another thing that ticked me off is that the Argos weren't even the ones who got to close Exhibition Stadium as was originally supposed to be the case. And, of course, the Jays and not the Argos got to open SkyDome in June of 1989. What particularly saddens me is that the SkyDome was pretty much born on Grey Cup Sunday of 1982 when the Argos lost in a rain-soaked Exhibition Stadium but the Argos have been second-class citizens, at best, in that stadium since it opened.

[argolio]

I was actually a Jays fan until the end of the 1985 season and was disappointed when they blew their 3-1 ALCS lead to KC that year. By 1987, however, I was anything but depressed when they had their epic collapse during the final week of that season.

Wow Ravi, I could have written that almost word for word.

[argotom]

but im sure these people that hate the jays still use rogers internet, cell phone and/or home phone services...they decide to hate a sports team based on their affiliation, but will refuse to boycott their services...

Not true, I cancelled Rogers cell phone and cable TV years back for this reason and also for the same reason The Toronto Star.
I encourage more Argo and CFL fans to do the same.