Bouncing Back: From National Joke to Grey Cup Champs

[Argo57]

I just watched the last couple of clips that Paul posted to YouTube from the '82 East Final and still get goosebumps hearing the crowd from that day. When the cameras panned the crowd, there were many young people at that game - people who looked like they were in their 20s. Those people are now in middle age and I wonder what happened to so many of them. Where did the Argos lose those fans who were into their team as much as any set of fans could be? Here are the final two clips from that game:

I was at all of those games (17 years old) and they were some of the most enjoyable games I have ever seen!!
I believe those were the last "Golden years" for the Argonauts in the CFL.
A couple of things to consider, I was only one of the very few in my school that actually went to all of the Argo games back then, with the blackout rule back in the day they lost many kids my age (now in their late 40's) who simply stayed home and watched the NFL.
As time has passed the future generational "pipeline" wasn't maintained and we now see the effects.
Watching Paul's game footage from back in those days drive home how far things have fallen off for the Argonauts, very sad actually!!

[Rich]

I just watched the last couple of clips that Paul posted to YouTube from the '82 East Final and still get goosebumps hearing the crowd from that day. When the cameras panned the crowd, there were many young people at that game - people who looked like they were in their 20s. Those people are now in middle age and I wonder what happened to so many of them. Where did the Argos lose those fans who were into their team as much as any set of fans could be?

Aren't you romanticizing this a little? There were 41,000 people at this game, with plenty of empty seats in the endzone. If there were legions of Argo fans in the city at that time those seats would have been full.

How much different was this crowd from the 38,000 who attended the 2007 EF? And in 1981 there were no Raptors or sustained NFL talk to draw fans away like there was in 2007.

[Argocister]

Aren't you romanticizing this a little? There were 41,000 people at this game, with plenty of empty seats in the endzone. If there were legions of Argo fans in the city at that time those seats would have been full.

How much different was this crowd from the 38,000 who attended the 2007 EF? And in 1981 there were no Raptors or sustained NFL talk to draw fans away like there was in 2007.

yes but the population of the GTA is at least twice ..... and im just guessing.

[AngeloV]

Aren't you romanticizing this a little? There were 41,000 people at this game, with plenty of empty seats in the endzone. If there were legions of Argo fans in the city at that time those seats would have been full.

How much different was this crowd from the 38,000 who attended the 2007 EF? And in 1981 there were no Raptors or sustained NFL talk to draw fans away like there was in 2007.

It also rained all day. 41,000 for a rainy November day in an outdoor stadium is pretty good. The entire covered grandstand was full, so you can probably summarize if they had a dome then, it would have been a sellout. For that reason, it's way more impressive than the 38,000 in the 2007 EF. Furthermore, that endzone you speak of...the first row of seats was 20 yards from the end line, (45 from the goal line). Not easy to see too much from there.

[ArgoRavi]

What impressed me most about that crowd is the passion that they displayed. We see it during that famous '82 home game against Edmonton as well. When you watch those two games, you really get the sense about just how much the Argos mattered to Torontonians back then.

[Double Dare]

yes but the population of the GTA is at least twice ..... and im just guessing.

... but the demographics have changed drastically since then.