GAME THREAD - Week 2: BC Lions @ Toronto Argonauts

[ArgoGabe22]

Does Ricky break 506?

[Argo57]

Does Ricky break 506?

If he doesn't it proves age is catching up to him!

[Neely2005]

If he doesn't it proves age is catching up to him!

He's washed up, should have cut him for Collaros or Harris.
;-)

[jerrym]

Saw a stat from Derek Taylor that Jennings was under pressure on 51% of pass snaps. This could be a factor on Friday.

The loss of six-time All Star OL Jovan Olafioye and his replacement by a rookie OL David Foucault playing his first game helped contribute to the problem, although Foucault should get better with time.

[jerrym]

Argos will be tested on the ground as the Lions had one of the better running games last year.

I agree. Former Argo Jeremiah Johnson looked very good against Edmonton, breaking tackles and gaining 92 yards on 14 carries. Wally has decided to make him their primary RB, rather splitting time as he did last year with Anthony Allen.

[argosfan]

I hope more fans show up this time, but I am not holding my breath either

----
Anyways rant:

Personally, I think the reason why I think the Argos are struggling is because a) BMO Field is not their stadium, its so restricted b) not enough marketing! c) there target market is not attracting a younger audience (millennials) d) their "losing

This is what I suggest:

1) Team up with the Toronto Wolfpack and build a new stadium for rugby/football that seats about 20-25k. Money will be the biggest obstacle, and location as well! In this case there can be more games on better days/times
2) I read that the marketing budget was cut heavily. I do not see ANY promotion at all on my social media feeds (except for random ads). Posting about players, their stories on Twitter and Facebook will market the game/team to tech savvy millennials.
3) If the team continues to do well, the audience will be back.

[1971GreyCup]

If Ricky Ray in 2017 is paid a base salary, plus incentives suggest he might do very well this year compensation wise!

[Rich]

I hope more fans show up this time, but I am not holding my breath either

----
Anyways rant:

Personally, I think the reason why I think the Argos are struggling is because a) BMO Field is not their stadium, its so restricted b) not enough marketing! c) there target market is not attracting a younger audience (millennials) d) their "losing

This is what I suggest:

1) Team up with the Toronto Wolfpack and build a new stadium for rugby/football that seats about 20-25k. Money will be the biggest obstacle, and location as well! In this case there can be more games on better days/times
2) I read that the marketing budget was cut heavily. I do not see ANY promotion at all on my social media feeds (except for random ads). Posting about players, their stories on Twitter and Facebook will market the game/team to tech savvy millennials.
3) If the team continues to do well, the audience will be back.

While we can appreciate the attempts at diplomacy, only a TFC troll would suggest the Argos move out of BMO Field because it is "not their stadium". Let me tell you something, my friend, the Argonauts have been playing at Exhibition Place for many more years than TFC has. BMO Field is an excellent football field, it is where the Argonauts belong, it is their home and it will be for many years to come. There's nothing restricting about it, other than maybe being too small to meet the future demand for Argonauts tickets after a couple of seasons of football excellence.

[Rich]

He's washed up, should have cut him for Collaros or Harris.
;-)

I must confess, I stomped my foot like a petulant little girl about this for a couple of years, but i have to admit I was wrong. I would not have predicted that Ray would look as good as he did in his first game of 2017. He threw some really outstanding passes, 500 yards is really incredible. Collaros and/or Harris may yet have great seasons after Ray has finally hung em up, but right now I'm glad we stuck with Ricky, and i can't believe i'm saying that.

[Wobbler]

Well said, Rich. "Believers" or not, I think we're all a bit surprised by Ray's terrific performance.

[paulwoods13]

I'm not. Surprised it was 500 yards, sure, but I fully expected him to perform at a very high level under Trestman.

[mchesher03]

Can we squabble about attendance on another thread?

Interesting note re: Jennings being under pressure on 51% of his throws in game 1 and another poster noting BC’s d-line is average. I’d agree the Ti-Cats d-line is quite good, so although Ricky may get more time, their DB’s will be better in coverage than what Hamilton threw at us.However, given our plethora of receiving talent – I think they’ll be fine.

Also interesting that the 4 d-lineman are more or less playing every snap. If their conditioning is adequate in doing that, play on.Given the ticats time of possession must have been abysmal on Sunday, it likely wasn’t a problem.If another squad is able to make sustained drives on them, it might become one.Anyhow I trust in the coaching staff.

Any word on Cassius Vaughn? I saw him on the bench with crutches in the 2^nd half, not ideal.Also thought Owusu-Ansah went down in the 4^th quarter although I think it might have been cramping / not as serious.You guys on this site usually have insights into these things – I’m just curious.

[Neely2005]

While we can appreciate the attempts at diplomacy, only a TFC troll would suggest the Argos move out of BMO Field because it is "not their stadium". Let me tell you something, my friend, the Argonauts have been playing at Exhibition Place for many more years than TFC has. BMO Field is an excellent football field, it is where the Argonauts belong, it is their home and it will be for many years to come. There's nothing restricting about it, other than maybe being too small to meet the future demand for Argonauts tickets after a couple of seasons of football excellence.

Plus BMO Field is owned by the City of Toronto and was built with public money.

[Neely2005]

I'm not. Surprised it was 500 yards, sure, but I fully expected him to perform at a very high level under Trestman.

As did I. He was excellent last year when healthy.

[Will]

Can we squabble about attendance on another thread?

Interesting note re: Jennings being under pressure on 51% of his throws in game 1 and another poster noting BC’s d-line is average. I’d agree the Ti-Cats d-line is quite good, so although Ricky may get more time, their DB’s will be better in coverage than what Hamilton threw at us.However, given our plethora of receiving talent – I think they’ll be fine.

Also interesting that the 4 d-lineman are more or less playing every snap. If their conditioning is adequate in doing that, play on.Given the ticats time of possession must have been abysmal on Sunday, it likely wasn’t a problem.If another squad is able to make sustained drives on them, it might become one.Anyhow I trust in the coaching staff.

Any word on Cassius Vaughn? I saw him on the bench with crutches in the 2^nd half, not ideal.Also thought Owusu-Ansah went down in the 4^th quarter although I think it might have been cramping / not as serious.You guys on this site usually have insights into these things – I’m just curious.

It was Josh Mitchell who got hurt in the 1st half. I don't know about Vaughn having gotten hurt. He got that INT with about 7 minutes left.

[mchesher03]

my bad I mixed up some guys - you're right re: Josh Mitchell (not Vaughn)

[Jayahre]

Plus BMO Field is owned by the City of Toronto and was built with public money.

But mostly MLSE money and the expansion and roof was all MLSE too.
Great location, a train station, lots of parking, plenty of bars/restaurants within walking distance.
I don't expect one game will bring out more fans than Sunday, there will be 3k to 5k less Ticat fans there.

Jennings threw a lot of bad balls Saturday night but his receivers did a great job of catching them, their dbs let Reilly make some easy completions too.
I expect they will come out running with Johnson.

[AngeloV]

I expect they will come out running with Johnson.

I'm good with that. I expect this Argo D to be hard to run against. This ain't Stubler's passive D anymore.

[Neely2005]

But mostly MLSE money and the expansion and roof was all MLSE too.
Great location, a train station, lots of parking, plenty of bars/restaurants within walking distance.
I don't expect one game will bring out more fans than Sunday, there will be 3k to 5k less Ticat fans there.

Jennings threw a lot of bad balls Saturday night but his receivers did a great job of catching them, their dbs let Reilly make some easy completions too.
I expect they will come out running with Johnson.

The original build was Completely paid for with Local, Provincial and Federal tax dollars. Yes MLSE paid for most of the roof renovation but there was some taxpayer money used for that too. Regardless BMO Field is still 100% owned by the City of Toronto. They also own the Land that it's built on.

[matchuk]

Got an email from Groupon this morning. They are selling tickets this Friday starting at $15. There are over 1000 views on the page. Hopefully that transpires to some more fans in the house this weekend.