Picking up the pieces

[Wobbler]

What's next? I don't remember a more disastrous home-opener.

Perhaps Trestman can explain.

[Will]

I'm at a loss, and I got to give a post-mortem on this on Tuesday for an hour.

[Will]

Hopefully the bye aids with this.

[Will]

They got to get back to the heart of the matter. Back to what made them tick last year.

[Argofan_1000]

No one minds if they give their best and lose. This team has no desire, no 2nd effort, no hustle, NO NOTHING!!!!!! Victor Butler where are you? Coaches selected these guys and prepared them. Their fault. Ray is hurt because of the effort on this team tonight.

I want to move away from the on field ratio rules. Players don't want to show any hustle then sit them, find someone else who will. I don't care if they are from Mars. Tonight - Poor tackling, poor pass rush, poor blocking, no hustle, no effort, no preparation. Coaches and GM's fault.

[Joe Barnes]

An old fashioned beat down. A shame because they had a good sized crowd (compacting the crowd into the lower East side does make for a better look) and a good atmosphere. I am reminded of opening night 2016...the crowds failed to show up after that let down - let's hope that doesn't happen again, but it's a similarly empty feeling for me. The team was terrible in all three phases but the D, in particular, was awful. Hopefully they can get things straightened out over the next two weeks and start building forward momentum again. Get Franklin the reps he needs to confidently take over the offense.

And, most importantly, all thoughts and positive vibes to Ricky Ray...

[ArgoRavi]

It is a long season and Popp and Trestman know what they are doing. The bye couldn't have come at a better time. They will get things turned around starting in two weeks. No need to overreact at this point. The Argos were 4-7 at one point last season and won the Grey Cup. There is lots of football ahead.

[Stevoman]

Yes, another blown chance in front of an excited crowd. All I was looking for was a good game and a good fight but this was brutal. Not surprised with being 0-2 but aside from the fourth quarter against the Riders, the Argos offence has been terrible and the lack of production through 7 of 8 quarters is what is even more frustrating than the 2 losses.

[Rich]

The good news is that with the extra week of prep and a new QB behind centre it'll be like starting the season all over again on the 7th. I think Franklin will be the spark that ignites this offence. His mobility will open up a lot of space for his receivers, plus he makes good decisions, doesn't panic and can make every throw on the field. I'm pumped for the James Franklin Era to begin. May it last at least a decade.

His presence behind centre will also remind his teammates that it's not 2017 anymore. These guys looked like they drank too much of their own Grey Cup kool-aid and believed they could just toss their helmets onto the field and win another championship. Knowing that Ricky's not going to pull another miracle out of his hat should be a wake-up call for a lot of these guys.

[Brian45]

Sorry to have missed the opener (sort of haha) but out of curiosity, following the town hall discussion how was the shipyard (happy hour prices? Music? Food?) How was the in game experience? We're there any $5 beers inside BMO as Manning promised?

[BATKINSON001]

Sorry to have missed the opener (sort of haha) but out of curiosity, following the town hall discussion how was the shipyard (happy hour prices? Music? Food?) How was the in game experience? We're there any $5 beers inside BMO as Manning promised?

I cannot comment on the shipyard, but the $5 beer were available at the beer stand that was across from gate 3b where I entered. I got a 12oz cup of bud for $5.

[ArgoZ]

Sorry to have missed the opener (sort of haha) but out of curiosity, following the town hall discussion how was the shipyard (happy hour prices? Music? Food?) How was the in game experience? We're there any $5 beers inside BMO as Manning promised?

Shipyard was OK, maybe the rings were the main attraction this time. No bands, just DJ, but unless it's a good band, sometimes that's a good thing. Food to buy was hamburgers, hot dogs, etc. Select beers and Smirnoff Ice were $5. They had some Alumni. Pinball and Popp spoke. It's a good place to meet up and have some beers.

Closing the deck and putting 17000 in the rest helped out the atmosphere. Even the dreaded East side had a good crowd and I wouldn't be opposed to sitting there if that continued to be the case. Crowd was engaged early, some good defence noise, but that all died out appropriately. $5 beers were at one stand in stadium, I heard, didn't partake.

[ArgoGabe22]

Beer were at multiple stands but at just one type - the mini red Budweiser stands.

[wewantthecup]

Nothing went right they couldn’t even get what time the shipyard opened right, the two different rings and than the game.

[Brian45]

Well it sounds like the ground work for a good fan experience is there. I'm looking forward to going to the shipyard and the beer price at 5 bucks doesn't hurt as a sales pitch. Sometimes small things help people come back again.

[Neely2005]

Nothing went right they couldn’t even get what time the shipyard opened right, the two different rings and than the game.

MLSE has a lot of work to do, they seem very unorganized when it comes to the Argonauts.

[Stevoman]

The good news is that with the extra week of prep and a new QB behind centre it'll be like starting the season all over again on the 7th. I think Franklin will be the spark that ignites this offence. His mobility will open up a lot of space for his receivers, plus he makes good decisions, doesn't panic and can make every throw on the field. I'm pumped for the James Franklin Era to begin. May it last at least a decade.

His presence behind centre will also remind his teammates that it's not 2017 anymore. These guys looked like they drank too much of their own Grey Cup kool-aid and believed they could just toss their helmets onto the field and win another championship. Knowing that Ricky's not going to pull another miracle out of his hat should be a wake-up call for a lot of these guys.

I too am thinking that Franklin will help ignite the offence. I love Ray and don't want to see him leave due to injury but the silver lining is that Franklin gets a turn.

[Shatto]

My take on the Shipyard experience (admit to some bias so will try to be objective and accept others will have a different opinion):

.Food and beer prices fairly reasonable--a family of 5 buying a couple of burgers each with couple of beers and soft drinks for the kids, can expect to pay around about $100. Compared it to tailgating where same menu on BBQ would be about half that amount.

.Hardly any seating available. Standing 2 hours trying to balance food and drink not really a lot of fun, IMO

.No umbrellas allowed (even small ones) Understand need for safety in crowded area but why was there no previous notice to that affect or did I miss it?

.Almost no cover from hot sun or the rain. With tailgating we could create our own cover.

.Some live entertainment would have been appreciated.

We will skip the Shipyard from now on and get to game an hour ahead to take in the warm-up in the comfort of a seat and still pay same $5 for a beer.

[Jumbo]

My take on the Shipyard experience (admit to some bias so will try to be objective and accept others will have a different opinion):

.Food and beer prices fairly reasonable--a family of 5 buying a couple of burgers each with couple of beers and soft drinks for the kids, can expect to pay around about $100. Compared it to tailgating where same menu on BBQ would be about half that amount.

.Hardly any seating available. Standing 2 hours trying to balance food and drink not really a lot of fun, IMO

.No umbrellas allowed (even small ones) Understand need for safety in crowded area but why was there no previous notice to that affect or did I miss it?

.Almost no cover from hot sun or the rain. With tailgating we could create our own cover.

.Some live entertainment would have been appreciated.

We will skip the Shipyard from now on and get to game an hour ahead to take in the warm-up in the comfort of a seat and still pay same $5 for a beer.

All your grievances could be solved by tailgating. Close to 20 vehicles tailgated at the bottom of Exhibition Lot 2, which is the lot directly south of BMO and one lot over from the Shipyard. Due to its success, I would expect more for next game. If you skip The Shipyard for next game why don't you come down 4 hours before the game with your barbecue and tailgate with us. You can keep up with the group on facebook @ (the unofficial) Toronto Argonauts Tailgate meet-up. The administrator of the page will keep the group updated throughout the week, as well as game day, regarding potential changes in location.

[Wobbler]

It seems as though the opener yielded mixed results on the fan service front - with the biggest problem obviously being the terrible performance of the team.

I'm more than a little concerned about the receiving corps. It seems likely that we haven't found an adequate replacement for Posey's production and ability to take heat off SJ Green, and it also looks as though Green has lost a step. He's 33, and his catches/game and yards/catch gradually declined over the course of last year despite an overall terrific performance.

That, plus the OL's inability to open holes for Wilder Jr. they way they did in the second half of 2017, has killed our offense. Maybe the run game is fixable - we have the same personnel and none of them are particularly old - but I don't see a solution for our receiving problems.