June 27, 2015: Edmonton vs. Toronto Argonauts

[Johno27]

Character win for the double blue with the deck stacked against them against a tough Edmonton team. Jim Barker seems to have added the right mix of character and talent in all three phases and they justified his moves today under difficult circumstances. This should give Argo Nation a bit of confidence as they continue to battle on this brutal road trip. Courageous performance from Trevor Harris!

[ArgoRavi]

What happened to all that money in the Fort, it was sad to see the stadium half empty on TV.

I don't think that anyone saw the price of oil dropping like it has when they decided to build that stadium a couple of years ago. I wonder how many people will show up for the Aerosmith concert in a couple of weeks there. I hope we never see another CFL game there though.

[argotom]

I don't think that anyone saw the price of oil dropping like it has when they decided to build that stadium a couple of years ago. I wonder how many people will show up for the Aerosmith concert in a couple of weeks there. I hope we never see another CFL game there though.

It says something about the lack of support as well for the Esks, being the closest team away.
Pathetic.

[argotom]

Argo fan day looked better attended than this game.

The game should have been played in Oshawa, they would have sold out the place.

[ArgoZ]

It says something about the lack of support as well for the Esks, being the closest team away.
Pathetic.

The Esks had decent support, getting people to drive 4hrs North for the pre-season game. At $100 a ticket, it seems people spoke with their wallets this time, very similar to the Bills in Toronto games.

[ArgoRavi]

The Esks had decent support, getting people to drive 4hrs North for the pre-season game. At $100 a ticket, it seems people spoke with their wallets this time, very similar to the Bills in Toronto games.

It is similar and yet different IMO. Toronto is a city with lots of things to do. A regular season professional football game should have been the biggest thing to hit Fort McMurray ever. That they didn't sell it out easily, or even come close, is a bit of a head-scratcher unless there simply aren't enough people living there that can afford the ticket. How much is Aerosmith charging in a couple of weeks?

[Rocket]

The stands look mostly empty. They couldn't put this game in London or anywhere in Ontario, rather than this place?

Unfortunately the Argos are still owned by cheapskate Braley. Braley only took this game there because he was guaranteed a substantial amount of money for him to sit on his butt and let someone else organize and do all the work for him.

[argotom]

It is similar and yet different IMO. Toronto is a city with lots of things to do. A regular season professional football game should have been the biggest thing to hit Fort McMurray ever. That they didn't sell it out easily, or even come close, is a bit of a head-scratcher unless there simply aren't enough people living there that can afford the ticket. How much is Aerosmith charging in a couple of weeks?

I know the internet won't have an accurate up to date count, any idea what the population is in the Fort?

[ArgoRavi]

I know the internet won't have an accurate up to date count, any idea what the population is in the Fort?

I believe it is in the 70k range. For some reason I remember hearing 76k.

[Argo57]

Unfortunately the Argos are still owned by cheapskate Braley. Braley only took this game there because he was guaranteed a substantial amount of money for him to sit on his butt and let someone else organize and do all the work for him.

Yes but the new ownership and stadium situation being resolved almost makes bashing Braley irrelevant, most are looking forward to much better days ahead.

[VANRIDERFAN]

It is similar and yet different IMO. Toronto is a city with lots of things to do. A regular season professional football game should have been the biggest thing to hit Fort McMurray ever. That they didn't sell it out easily, or even come close, is a bit of a head-scratcher unless there simply aren't enough people living there that can afford the ticket. How much is Aerosmith charging in a couple of weeks?

I think the 100 bucks was the deciding factor. Family of 4 thats already 400.00 before anything else. And with the downturn people will be a little more stingy with their money. 50 bucks per for the good seats and less for the poor seats. Better to have a full house.

[ArgoZ]

It is similar and yet different IMO. Toronto is a city with lots of things to do. A regular season professional football game should have been the biggest thing to hit Fort McMurray ever. That they didn't sell it out easily, or even come close, is a bit of a head-scratcher unless there simply aren't enough people living there that can afford the ticket. How much is Aerosmith charging in a couple of weeks?

You make good points, but remember, they had a good crowd for the previous game. The only thing that is different is price. Did everyone blow their budget on the pre-season game? With the uncertainty around the oil business, you can't blame people for being more frugal, when there is a perception of job losses/cuts around town. I know nothing regarding the Aerosmith gig, but it will be interesting to see the result there also.

[doubleblue]

We the people aren't stupid and know when we are being gouged. We are gouged at the Grey Cups, but that's a little different. Even if people there in St. Mac can afford the $100.00 it is still the gouging and it turns people off. Taxes will probably be hiked now to pay for the bath the City took. That's the way that works as we all know.

[jerrym]

With the oil economy in the dumps, it is not surprising that $100 tickets were not selling like hotcakes.

[Deerkeeper]

The stands look mostly empty. They couldn't put this game in London or anywhere in Ontario, rather than this place?

Honestly, if they put this game in London, I don't think it would have sold much better. Would have had a few more Argo fans making the drive, but local interest would be zilch.

[ArgoGabe22]

Where's ArgoTom at to complain about our QB situation? Harris putting on a clinic.

Now waiting for Angelo to chime in telling us how he's been to most of the practices the last 3 seasons and always knew Harris had the ability

[argotom]

Now waiting for Angelo to chime in telling us how he's been to most of the practices the last 3 seasons and always knew Harris had the ability

I have given Harris credit for today's fantastic performance.
Hopefully he can keep this going.

[ArgoZ]

Honestly, if they put this game in London, I don't think it would have sold much better. Would have had a few more Argo fans making the drive, but local interest would be zilch.

Why would you believe so? There is a good football culture there. I have found London to be very Toronto friendly. They have a good stadium. Judging by the crowd today, our pre-season game at Varsity drew better. I can't see London not trumping both crowds, weather not withstanding of course.

[shayman]

It was so hot at the game that a lot of people retreated to watch from shady areas or under the concourse. That didn't help the look of fullness.

Band had a fantastic time. 24 of us on hand. We gotta do this again.

[paulwoods13]

A fantastic performance by what appears to be a very, very solid team. Where to start?

Harris was superb, obviously, and you also have to give credit to Milanovich and Brady. Clearly the offence is incredibly well designed when a guy making his second career start (albeit a four-year veteran of the scheme) can step in that impressively.

Barker has been a good recruiter since he joined the Argos in 2010, but this has potential to be his finest job. Three talented and aggressive new receivers, a bunch of defensive linemen with big motors, and three new DBs who can definitely cover -- even when the Eskimos completed passes there were defenders within inches.

The o-line was mostly excellent -- Campbell appeared to grade out the worst of them to my eyes but I'm confident he will be alright.

Whitaker is obviously an excellent addition, and thank the stars we signed Stala. If Waters is out for a while we should try to go after Hugh O'Neil who I believe was cut last week.

Gabriel was a beast at safety. The LBs were superb: Jones and Greenwood were all over the field and Isaac made a few veteran-savvy plays.

Other than Waters' injury, there was basically NOTHING to complain about. When was the last time we could say that?