New Stadium Locations

[rdavies]

When talking about soccer and football in the same post I always like to write Amercian football as some still picture soccer when someone says "Football".

Canadian football would be the proper term, as opposed to Australian or American football.

[matchuk]

The only GO line that services the Exhibition GO Station is the Lakeshore West line. The other lines all go into Union Station. Also it doesn't run every 30 minutes, especially on weekends. Yes it's surrounded by Small, Expensive parking lots that disappear during the CNE and the Indy race.

the go train along lakeshore DOES run every thirty minutes/7 days a week as of this summer past

[shayman]

the go train along lakeshore DOES run every thirty minutes/7 days a week as of this summer past

And of course most of the Lakeshore East trains continue on through Union and become Lakeshore West trains. You have every-30-minute service to Exhibition GO station all the way from Hamilton to Oshawa.

BMO may have its faults, but lack of GO access is not one of them.

[bluto]

maybe i'm crazy, but i think that the deal is all but done at this point.

(we all have gone through this same discussion enough times that i hope that it is anyway...)

i dreamt of a IGF Stadium type home for the Argos being built in a Toronto area with easy highway access and tons of room for parking (like Downsview Park)... but at this time money, politics and circumstances are all pointing in one direction.

imo, all discussion and explorations of building a facility from scratch somewhere in the 905 area was designed to elicit a particular response from an entity that would very much not like for that to happen... and it appears to have been a successful gambit since the Pres and CEO of that company has been making publicly quoted statements about a possible future with the Argos...

i think it's done and that it'll be official in the off-season (after the Argos become back to back champs of course)

EDIT: so anyway, i didn't vote because i wanted a big, shiny new stadium but i think we're getting a lightly used, newly expanded and dolled-up stadium.

[ArgoZ]

Canadian football would be the proper term, as opposed to Australian or American football.

The world refers to the system of downs and forward pass game, as American football, to differentiate from football (soccer). Canadians are North Americans, so it is proper. As much as we would like to take credit for inventing the game, the version we play today is made up from mostly American rules.

[Argo57]

I don't think Braley is in any hurry to divest the Argos, it's not like he's hard up for cash. If age had anything to do with it he could sell the Lions much easier than the Argos.

I think he's looking for the best long term solution for the Argos and certainly isn't posturing. If there is any apprehension I would think it is a reluctance to build a new stadium when you're not 100% sure if the Argos can make a real resurgence in the market. That's why it would have to be part of a larger development deal to have some part of the development assured to make money

I think he just said he wants to sell the Argo franchise by his 75th birthday, which leaves less than 3 years.
The planning, financing of a large development project will take a lot of time and cash, thus in my opinion the easiest and most feasible option probably is MLSE and a renovated BMO Field.

[Neely2005]

the go train along lakeshore DOES run every thirty minutes/7 days a week as of this summer past

And of course most of the Lakeshore East trains continue on through Union and become Lakeshore West trains. You have every-30-minute service to Exhibition GO station all the way from Hamilton to Oshawa.

BMO may have its faults, but lack of GO access is not one of them.

Then I guess I'm reading the schedule on the GO Transit website wrong because from what I can see it doesn't show 30 Minute Train service 7 days a week.

I'll take your word that the Lakeshore East trains go to BMO Field too but even still that means only 2 GO Train lines go to Exhibition Stadium and only the Lakeshore West line always goes directly there. Realistically anyone coming from 905 North (Vaughan, Richmond Hill, Markham, Aurora, Newmarket etc.) isn't going to be able to get to BMO Field via transit and anyone in the 416 is going to have a very difficult time getting there on TTC due to the limited streetcar access to BMO Field.

[argolio]

Subway extension into Richmond Hill:

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/...ticle15113241/

This has been in the planning for years. Hopefully they get the shovels in the ground soon as this extension made more sense than the Vaughan extension which is already under way.

Hudak can say anything right now, but it's anyone's guess what the PCs will actually do about transit if they win the next election. The last PC government certainly didn't live up to the transit legacy set by Bill Davis and John Robards.

Even if they were to start this tomorrow, you're talking at least five years until it's finished. And it's extremely doubtful a new stadium would be anywhere near Yonge Street in York Region. Any extra land along the proposed subway route is zoned for high density projects.

[Tau Ceti]

Even if they were to start this tomorrow, you're talking at least five years until it's finished. And it's extremely doubtful a new stadium would be anywhere near Yonge Street in York Region. Any extra land along the proposed subway route is zoned for high density projects.

Agreed there's no way Richmond Hill works on the timeline needed for the Argos. I do think that Vaughan Metropolitan Centre is in the cards though: https://www.vaughan.ca/business/vaug...s/default.aspx. Here's the map: https://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=U...011e2e39c222a6

[shayman]

Then I guess I'm reading the schedule on the GO Transit website wrong because from what I can see it doesn't show 30 Minute Train service 7 days a week.

Train schedules are notoriously hard to read - but here is this Saturday's schedule.

http://www.gotransit.com/timetables/...est&parentid=1

(Aargh, link might not work. Go to gotransit.com , click Schedules, look for 15-18 Lakeshore West)

Eastbound trains arrive at Exhibition at 08:00, 09:00, 10:00, 11:00, 11:30, 12:00, 12:30 (... every half hour continues ...) 22:00, 22:30, 23:00, 00:01.

This is pretty nice, it's a recent addition. A few months ago it was hourly most of the day, now it's half-hourly most of the day.

Note that the Lakeshore ones are the only GO lines that are double-tracked all the way and thus equipped for two-way seven-day service so you'll really only see rush-hour mostly-one-way weekday-only service on all the other lines. Even if there is a GO station on another line near some other potential stadium location (e.g. Downsview), it probably won't help anybody get to a weekend game without massive upgrades to the track.

and anyone in the 416 is going to have a very difficult time getting there on TTC due to the limited streetcar access to BMO Field.

TTC to Union , transfer to GO to Exhibition. It's doable and with half-hourly service it's not totally outlandish. Some day we'll have integrated fares across all these systems and perhaps you'll be able to transfer without paying another $4.85 for the GO part to make it more desirable .

[Neely2005]

Agreed there's no way Richmond Hill works on the timeline needed for the Argos. I do think that Vaughan Metropolitan Centre is in the cards though: https://www.vaughan.ca/business/vaug...s/default.aspx. Here's the map: https://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=U...011e2e39c222a6

I think that Richmond Hill can work being that it's North but Central. You have the 407, 404, Highway 7 and great Viva & YRT Bus service on Yonge Street that goes right into Finch Station and later hopefully into the Richmond Hill Subway Station at Yonge & 7 or Yonge & 16th.

That location in Vaughan may work even better as you have the 400, 407 & Highway 7 plus the Subway will be running to 400 & 7 in a couple of years.

TTC to Union , transfer to GO to Exhibition. It's doable and with half-hourly service it's not totally outlandish. Some day we'll have integrated fares across all these systems and perhaps you'll be able to transfer without paying another $4.85 for the GO part to make it more desirable .

So you're looking at around $15 Round Trip Per Person in TTC (to Union) and GO (to Exhibition Station) Fares. At that point you're better off driving and paying for parking IMO.

[paulwoods13]

So you're looking at around $15 Round Trip Per Person in TTC (to Union) and GO (to Exhibition Station) Fares. At that point you're better off driving and paying for parking IMO.

I pay more than $15 round trip now by GO alone. And most of the time I'd rather do that than fight traffic.

[ArgoGabe22]

From today

On other matters, Leiweke said:

-- The chances of an NFL team coming to Toronto in the next decade are "pretty good."
-- Given 17 of 19 Toronto FC games were played in rain at BMO Field this season, "we've got to put an end to that, it's time to put a roof on BMO Field."
-- At the requests of the city of Toronto, which owns BMO Field, MLSE is looking at whether the venue can be changed to accommodate the CFL. "The Argos are part of a conversation, not a decision that's been made."

[ArgoFan1]

ArgoZ- no no no. we don't play Canadian Football by rules we took from the Americans. Our game is older than theirs. They modified the original rules to make their game the slow, boring game it is.

[ArgoZ]

ArgoZ- no no no. we don't play Canadian Football by rules we took from the Americans. Our game is older than theirs. They modified the original rules to make their game the slow, boring game it is.

As we have discussed before, the history of football is really interesting and how both games evolved on their own. True, the CDN game is older. The introduction of downs came from the Americans. From the shores of Lake Erie, the forward pass was introduced about 10 years before we started using it. We played rugby and the Americans slowly changed it, making up football as it is today, with us inheriting a lot of their rules.

[ArgoRavi]

The chances of an NFL team coming to Toronto in the next decade are "pretty good" according to Leiweke? Paul Godfrey said the same thing twenty-five years ago.

[ArgoZ]

The chances of an NFL team coming to Toronto in the next decade are "pretty good" according to Leiweke? Paul Godfrey said the same thing twenty-five years ago.

Year after year there is some talking head predicting the NFL's arrival. Eventually, they grow old, retire, maybe pass away, and someone new takes their place, all while the NFL is still not here.

[argolio]

As we have discussed before, the history of football is really interesting and how both games evolved on their own. True, the CDN game is older. The introduction of downs came from the Americans. From the shores of Lake Erie, the forward pass was introduced about 10 years before we started using it. We played rugby and the Americans slowly changed it, making up football as it is today, with us inheriting a lot of their rules.

McGill introduced a version of downs when they took their game to Harvard in 1874. McGill also introduced running with the ball and tackling. Before that the American game was mostly kicking the ball back and forth.

Walter Camp, a legend in American football, refined that in the next decade and was the key figure who standardized the rules of the game in the U.S.

[argos1873]

The world refers to the system of downs and forward pass game, as American football, to differentiate from football (soccer). Canadians are North Americans, so it is proper. As much as we would like to take credit for inventing the game, the version we play today is made up from mostly American rules.

Its true that most of the world may refer to football played in North America as American football, but the proper way to refer generically to both games is Gridiron football.

As we have discussed before, the history of football is really interesting and how both games evolved on their own. True, the CDN game is older. The introduction of downs came from the Americans. From the shores of Lake Erie, the forward pass was introduced about 10 years before we started using it. We played rugby and the Americans slowly changed it, making up football as it is today, with us inheriting a lot of their rules.

Exactly. Canadians invented a form of Rugby, the Americans took it and quite rapidly changed it, and with the introduction of import players, coaches and executives, the Canadians changed their game to closely resemble the American one, which continues to this day. So to say they are playing our game is correct. But so is saying we are playing theirs.

[ArgoZ]

McGill introduced a version of downs when they took their game to Harvard in 1874. McGill also introduced running with the ball and tackling. Before that the American game was mostly kicking the ball back and forth.

Walter Camp, a legend in American football, refined that in the next decade and was the key figure who standardized the rules of the game in the U.S.

Ok to be more specific, it was not the "downs for distance" we see today. The "downs" back then were like Rugby "stops". The Americans originally introduced 3 downs for 5 yards. The Canadians really copied or adopted many American rules. Today's modern game is more American than Canadian. It rarely resembles the Canadian "Rugby game" we introduced them too.