Toronto's BMO Field undergoes transformation into a hybrid playing surface

[Neely2005]

Toronto's BMO Field undergoes transformation into a hybrid playing surface:

https://www.msn.com/en-ca/sports/new...BVR0ev?ocid=st

[doubleblue]

Toronto's BMO Field undergoes transformation into a hybrid playing surface:

https://www.msn.com/en-ca/sports/new...BVR0ev?ocid=st

I thought maybe this was something about the end zone problem. But it sounds like an improvement for the playing surface.

[ArgoZ]

The endzones will get a Fieldturf redo to better match the grass. Not perfect, but will be much better than the rug that was there.

[jojoheath]

Has this happened yet? The fieldturf endzones that is.

[Foxhound]

The bottom line for me is the size of the endzones. They need to be made to conform to the CFL twenty yard standard.

[CFLfan]

The bottom line for me is the size of the endzones. They need to be made to conform to the CFL twenty yard standard.

Get over it, been discussed to death.
It’s impossible, to get 20 yards

[Neely2005]

Get over it, been discussed to death.
It’s impossible, to get 20 yards

They actually had 20 yard endzones as a test for the first exhibition Argonauts game at BMO Field. The issue was that they didn't leave any buffer after the endzone.

[Ron]

The bottom line for me is the size of the endzones. They need to be made to conform to the CFL twenty yard standard.

Since BMO hasn't had CFL ball for long ... how about you get the end zones changed in Edmonton before you take on Toronto. Go for the older violation first.

[jojoheath]

edmontons end zones have been fixed for a few years now

[bannedforlife]

Rectangular end zones on Edmonton Eskimos’ home turf safer for receivers, defensive backs
CFLPA asked for Commonwealth Stadium field to be modified after Eskimos star Fred Stamps was hurt last year
Norm Cowley, Edmonton Journal June 2, 2014

EDMONTON - The changes to the end zones at Commonwealth Stadium look cosmetic, but were instigated by concern over player safety.

After star receiver Fred Stamps suffered a season-ending hip injury when he fell awkwardly on the concrete track that skirts the field while trying to catch a touchdown pass deep in the end zone in October, the Canadian Football League Players’ Association approached the Edmonton Eskimos.

“They asked if we could do something to modify the field to mitigate the concerns they had with the lack of the corners,” Eskimos president and CEO Len Rhodes said Monday on Day 2 of the CFL team’s training camp at Commonwealth Stadium. “As most people know, those corners haven’t changed since 1978.”



Rhodes approached the City of Edmonton, which owns the facility, and city council provided almost $400,000 worth of funding to make the end zones rectangular, instead of rounded on the corners, with another six feet of FieldTurf outside the boundary lines. The worn-out track was also resurfaced with a new paint colour.

“It’s a significant difference versus what we had up to last year,” Rhodes said. “For the players who are accustomed to having square end zones, they know what to expect, and we feel that’s really going to make a difference for them.



“Functionally, which is the most important one, it’s much more safe for the players.”

Stamps, who led the CFL with 1,259 receiving yards despite missing three games, has skidded on the track several times over the years because he’s always running the deep corner routes, but last season marked only the second time that he fell.

“I fell on the track over there (in the northeast corner) in 2012,” he said. “One of the signs caught my fall.

“I’m glad to see they added more turf. It gives me more room to catch the ball.”

Shamawd Chambers, a third-year receiver out of Wilfrid Laurier University, hurt himself in his first practice as a rookie at Commonwealth Stadium.

“I was attempting to catch a ball,” he recalled. “Literally, because of where the end zones were in my first year, like two steps out of bounds, you were sliding on the track.

“Immediately, I was just running and I slid on the track and I slit open my leg, my side, everything. It was bad.”

“Those cleats slip on that (track) pretty quick,” said veteran slotback Adarius Bowman. “I’m pretty sure it’ll probably prevent not bad injuries, but the little nicks and bruises you get from falling on that stuff.”

Both Chambers and Bowman also like the new end zones, which Chambers called “amazing,” because there’s another five or more yards for receivers to make plays.

“I’m very excited we’ve got that there,” said Bowman. “We can catch that corner ball instead of being on the track when you get your corner ball.”

Bowman said he used to adjust his pass routes so he didn’t risk running out of room in the corner of the end zone.

“The addition will help me a bit more,” he said. “I feel like I will have a lot more time, I probably can burst out of my route a little bit further, but it definitely will make the game a lot safer.”

It’s not just the receivers who like the new end zones. Fourth-year CFL veteran Chris Rwabukamba, who is competing for a job at the safety position, is also excited.

“I definitely feel it’s going to be better for us. Player safety is No. 1,” he said. “We already play a very violent game, so any rule that helps the players and keeps them safe and keeps them playing a longer time, I’m all for it.

“I definitely feel like it’ll help the players, help receivers and DBs, to make plays,” he added.

While the receivers see more room to get open, Rwabukamba takes a different viewpoint.

“I look at it like the longer the ball hangs in the air, it’s my ball, so it gives me a little more time to go get it as well,” he said. “I feel it’ll give DBs more chances to make plays.”

Rwabukamba hasn’t had any bad experiences deep in the end zone at Commonwealth Stadium, but he felt the rounded end zones at Montreal’s Percival Molson Stadium cost him an interception last year “because I was worried with the way the end was.”

[CFLfan]

Since BMO hasn't had CFL ball for long ... how about you get the end zones changed in Edmonton before you take on Toronto. Go for the older violation first.

I think the first stadium to have the reduced end zones was Vancouver, the CFL authorized the shorter end zones back then. Then after that it was the Rogers Centre, the CFL has compromised over the years.
I couldn't care less if end zones are 20 or 18 or 15, it's the play that's between the goal lines that's important.
Even if they went to 10 yards it wouldn't bother me, at least the end zone seats would be closer to the goal line.
Many stadiums are doing away with the end zone seats because they are at lest 25 yards behind the goal line and tough to sell those seats.
I like the idea of the end zone party zones like they have have in other CFL cities.

[bannedforlife]

Shortening the endzone limits the amount of plays you can run the closer you get to the (and into) the redzone. Playbook gets smaller, less options.

[CFLfan]

Shortening the endzone limits the amount of plays you can run the closer you get to the (and into) the redzone. Playbook gets smaller, less options.

No, your run plays, your short passes/screen plays are the same. The passing plays into the end zone are the same, the receivers just run shorter routes.

[bannedforlife]

No, your run plays, your short passes/screen plays are the same. The passing plays into the end zone are the same, the receivers just run shorter routes.

I don't think so, Tim.

[AngeloV]

Shortening the endzone limits the amount of plays you can run the closer you get to the (and into) the redzone. Playbook gets smaller, less options.

We're talking a 2 yard difference. I don't think it's a big deal. It certainly hasn't been brought up by anyone (coaches or players) in the 3 years the team has been at BMO. As long as both teams know what they are dealing with, there is no competitive advantage. But if you want to really go further into it, it would be a good to see the successful 2 point conversion rate in BMO as compared to other stadiums.

[bannedforlife]

I wasn't talking about BMO specifically but if you read the example from Edmonton you can see the difference a few yards makes. Actually, I got the information about shortening the endzone and playbook directly from a CFL coach IIRC. Don't ask me to prove it because I can't remember where I posted it and it was a few years ago. Generally I can back up with proof what I post

[CFLfan]

I was at the Wolfpack game on Saturday at Lamport, my first Rugby game. Nice compact stadium that seats 10k but with temp seats in the east end zone they could get probably get seating up to 15k. Might be a good home for the Argos, except for the "all-bench" seating. The Argos have been averaging less than 15k for the last 3 season and probably the same this season. Crowds of 12k to 15k in a 26k stadium is not good.

[argofan81]

I was at the Wolfpack game on Saturday at Lamport, my first Rugby game. Nice compact stadium that seats 10k but with temp seats in the east end zone they could get probably get seating up to 15k. Might be a good home for the Argos, except for the "all-bench" seating. The Argos have been averaging less than 15k for the last 3 season and probably the same this season. Crowds of 12k to 15k in a 26k stadium is not good.

Why is it bad for the Argos to have 50% capacity but I have seen nothing about the fact that Edmonton had just that (25,263 attendance according to the game tracker in a stadium that holds over 56,000) at their home opener last week? I realize that we need a few more weeks to see if this is consistent for the Eskimos but it irks me that the focus is always on the Argos not being at capacity.

[Argo57]

Why is it bad for the Argos to have 50% capacity but I have seen nothing about the fact that Edmonton had just that (25,263 attendance according to the game tracker in a stadium that holds over 56,000) at their home opener last week? I realize that we need a few more weeks to see if this is consistent for the Eskimos but it irks me that the focus is always on the Argos not being at capacity.

Relocating from a recently renovated BMO Field with great sightlines and covered seating to an outdated dump sounds like a reasonable plan to increase attendance👍

[bannedforlife]

Why is it bad for the Argos to have 50% capacity but I have seen nothing about the fact that Edmonton had just that (25,263 attendance according to the game tracker in a stadium that holds over 56,000) at their home opener last week? I realize that we need a few more weeks to see if this is consistent for the Eskimos but it irks me that the focus is always on the Argos not being at capacity.

It's bad if a person is not really a fan of the CFL and they like to plant FUD and fake news, not that anyone here would do that.