August 8, 2015: Saskatchewan Roughriders vs. Toronto Argonauts

[paulwoods13]

I was away from my seat at halftime so I missed that.

I'm curious how extensive (if at all) the Argos video archives go back?

I doubt they have much video (or anything else) pre-dating the Braley era, and almost certainly nothing pre-C and S. The team under several different ownerships since 1980 has repeatedly purged and/or thrown away its own history. They came to me asking for video footage of 1991 games back in 2011 when they honoured the 1991 team. I am fairly certain that at least one clip they ran on the videoboard on Saturday (of Pinball returning a kick in 1989) was pulled off a video I posted on YouTube.

Speaking of which, as part of my endless archiving, I have recently digitized some cool stuff from 1996, including a package on O'Shea that is astonishing and hilarious. I plan to get that one, at least, posted soon.

[Will]

Disappointing to hear that the Argos threw away a lot of stuff. Fortunately, YouTube and other related sites provides the opportunity for fans to post whatever games they have in their collections.

How would everyone evaluate Yurichuk's performance on Saturday? Greenwood might be out long-term.

[Wobbler]

While watching the game, I thought that Yuri was part of our problem against the run. At least once or twice he reminded me of Emry, who had a habit of guessing (incorrectly) which gap to fill instead of reacting.

I could just be biased based on the limited number of running plays were replayed and analyzed on TV. He had at least one *bad* whiffed tackle (like Isaac), though.

[shayman]

I doubt they have much video (or anything else) pre-dating the Braley era, and almost certainly nothing pre-C and S.

When we were getting the band going, we wanted to snoop around and see what had been done before - but the word I got was that a ton of stuff was thrown away upon moving from Exhibition Stadium to Skydome in 1989. Which is a real shame.

[paulwoods13]

When we were getting the band going, we wanted to snoop around and see what had been done before - but the word I got was that a ton of stuff was thrown away upon moving from Exhibition Stadium to Skydome in 1989. Which is a real shame.

It's tragic, really -- this is an institution almost as old as Canada and there is essentially no historical archive. If there was ever funding and impetus to create an Argonaut Hall of Fame, they'd have to start from scratch, basically.

While watching the game, I thought that Yuri was part of our problem against the run. At least once or twice he reminded me of Emry, who had a habit of guessing (incorrectly) which gap to fill instead of reacting.

I could just be biased based on the limited number of running plays were replayed and analyzed on TV. He had at least one *bad* whiffed tackle (like Isaac), though.

I was underwhelmed by Yuri but I'm prepared to cut him some slack for now. I'm very worried about Greenwood -- concussions that don't respond well early can sometimes become long-term recoveries. If and when Gabriel gets healthy I'd like to see how Rolle would do in Greenwood's spot. He seems like a playmaker.

[Gill The Thrill]

Although the win was ugly, I have to salute Barker once again for his recruiting job. The 4 talented rookie receivers (Hazelton, Elliott, Gurley and Spencer) are just one example of how he keeps coming up with top talent. In general, i think Milanovich is doing a great job as well. However, he has to sit some players down for a game to create some discipline on penalties or it will cost the team dearly in the playoffs, if not earlier.

Tori Gurley caught 4 passes but he also had the bobbles on Saturday. He dropped at least one on a bobble and that one that he got credit for on the replay challenge should not have had to go through that replay delay, had he held on to it when the pass initially arrived. He's got some tools, primarily being size and showed in the Winnipeg Pre-season game that he can set himself apart as a pro, however you can see some imperfections against solid tight coverage which may explain why he bounced around the NFL, primarily in and out of practice rosters for several years.

Hazelton appears to be the most consistent leading the team in receiving yds, and Dionte Spencer is the youngest of the crop who at 5'8 is similar to Chad Owens. He's a guy who can stick around here for awhile provided he stays healthy. At his size, NFL teams won't be so quick to give him a real chance in much the same way a great player like Weston Dressler was not given a real look. (I know he was invited to a camp, but he was only thrown to once in 2 pre-season games)

On Defence, Vince Agnew looked slow in the secondary. He was outrun badly in that long reception in the last play of the 1st quarter. Had Owuso-Ansah, as mentioned in another post, not helped out by running down the Saskatchewan receiver and making the tackle, he would've scored the 6. I believe the Riders only got a FG as they did not punch it in from the red zone.

Euclid Cummings is a good pass rusher, but he's got to stop taking penalties. Was tired hearing his name and number. I know one was the ridiculous touching of the QB a split second after releasing the football, but he's got to be more disciplined. Discipline and maintaining discipline is what keeps coaches their job, and why Cory Chamblin may not be coaching after the bye and probably not coaching the Riders after this year. Milanovich has shown that he can keep team disciplined, but the players have to be committed. The Ticats look committed to that and it's made a huge difference in their early season record compared to last season.

[paulwoods13]

On Defence, Vince Agnew looked slow in the secondary.

I have not noticed Agnew do anything particularly good; IMO he's a big drop down from Gabriel. As long as we continue to play an import at safety, I wonder about putting Underwood back in (if he is healthy) at HB and moving Hawkins to safety. Hawkins strikes me as a guy with the instincts to play the deep middle.

[Will]

The prognosis on Gabriel was 4 to 6 weeks, and there was hope he might be ready for the home opener. I hope it isn't a case of his recovery going slower than expected. Also, I'm curious to know what the timeline is on the King of the Wild Frontier.

[Wobbler]

Hmm. You can't be talking about King, who was a healthy scratch, and none of our injured players have names resembling Davey Crockett. I'm stumped!

[Will]

Hmm. You can't be talking about King, who was a healthy scratch, and none of our injured players have names resembling Davey Crockett. I'm stumped!

T-Bone nicknamed Swayze Waters the King of the Wild Frontier. I think his name just goes easily with the song.

[Stevoman]

I doubt they have much video (or anything else) pre-dating the Braley era, and almost certainly nothing pre-C and S. The team under several different ownerships since 1980 has repeatedly purged and/or thrown away its own history. They came to me asking for video footage of 1991 games back in 2011 when they honoured the 1991 team. I am fairly certain that at least one clip they ran on the videoboard on Saturday (of Pinball returning a kick in 1989) was pulled off a video I posted on YouTube.

Speaking of which, as part of my endless archiving, I have recently digitized some cool stuff from 1996, including a package on O'Shea that is astonishing and hilarious. I plan to get that one, at least, posted soon.

That is very disappointing that they had to come to you to find footage, especially for 1991 as there was so much publicity that season. Regardless of ownership, it is the teams history (that you now own), how could you not want to preserve and celebrate it? With such a long history, this team really could do so much. Their own youtube channel should be filled with video highlights from great teams and games from the past.
Thanks again Paul, always appreciate seeing whatever Argo highlights you end up posting.

[AngeloV]

I have not noticed Agnew do anything particularly good; IMO he's a big drop down from Gabriel. As long as we continue to play an import at safety, I wonder about putting Underwood back in (if he is healthy) at HB and moving Hawkins to safety. Hawkins strikes me as a guy with the instincts to play the deep middle.

I think they really miss Underwood back there. He has great reach which makes it difficult to throw over him.

[Wobbler]

T-Bone nicknamed Swayze Waters the King of the Wild Frontier. I think his name just goes easily with the song.

Ah! Yeah, the song totally works. But a man named Swayze Waters does not need a nickname!

Pfeffer has been a pretty good kicker, but he's nowhere near the punter Waters is. It would be great to get an update on him and some of our other 40 injured guys, like Steele. Whittaker seems to have cooled off after his fast start.

[T-Bone]

Just got the following e-mail from the team:

To our valued fans,

Many of you joined us this past Saturday for our 2015 Home Opener as we hosted the Saskatchewan Roughriders at Rogers Centre. Once inside the stadium, we were all treated to a thrilling ending with plenty of big plays and excitement.

What happened on Saturday night with regard to lineups and wait times to enter the stadium was not acceptable. We believe it was unfair to you, our fans, who have waited so long to see your team play in Toronto. Rogers Centre officials have since informed us that the average wait time at Gate 11 was approximately 20 minutes and even longer at Gate 5. We have heard from many of you, who experienced it first-hand, that wait times were significantly longer - more than an hour.

Entering the stadium proved to be very challenging. We were notified in advance that Rogers Centre staff would be implementing security measures consistent with those of Major League Baseball. These measures were put in place to ensure the safety of everyone in attendance. We did our best to communicate the new measures through a variety of methods. In spite of efforts to communicate the potential delays, there were a number of other circumstances that played into the challenges when the gates eventually opened.

Since the game, we have met with Rogers Centre staff to ensure this will not happen again. Some of the issues that have been highlighted by Rogers Centre officials, and contributed to the delays included a 6 minute postponement in opening the gates, bag inspections and searches designed to keep fans safe were much too long, gates were under-staffed by the stadium, there weren’t enough experienced security staff available to assist and many of those on-site were still in training. While we have been assured that there will not be a repeat of these events, we will continue to encourage fans to plan ahead and arrive to the gates early so you don’t miss a minute of the game.

Thank you for joining us on Saturday. The safety of our fans is a priority and provisions are already in place to ensure your experience while entering the stadium is safe, swift and pleasant. Our next two home games are against very competitive East Division opponents (Sunday, August 23 vs Ottawa and Friday, September 11 vs Hamilton) and we look forward to seeing you at Rogers Centre to help provide a true home field advantage for our team.


Sincerely,

Chris Rudge
Executive Chairman & CEO
Toronto Argonauts Football Club

[doubleblue]

Just got the following e-mail from the team:

Well, we all know that 20,000 Argo (BeLL/TSN) fans are more dangerous than 50,000 Blue Jay (Rogers) fans.

[PullTogether73]

Got an e-mail from Chris Rudge today apologizing for the long lines to get into Rogers Centre on Saturday night.
It also mentions that they have discussed the issue with RC management so the admittance process goes smoother at future games.

[paulwoods13]

Good on Rudge for doing this. He's playing out the string before Copeland takes over, but at least he's not mailing it in.

[AngeloV]

Good on Rudge for doing this. He's playing out the string before Copeland takes over, but at least he's not mailing it in.

Cue the Rocket response.

[Argo57]

Good on Rudge and the organization for addressing this situation, pretty sad that these searches need to happen in the first place!!

[Rocket]

Good on Rudge for doing this. He's playing out the string before Copeland takes over, but at least he's not mailing it in.

Good on rudge? Are you kidding me this guy has been the most useless employee the Argos have ever had in there history. Braley/rudge era have disrespected and insulted the small fan base like no other. Now numnuts rudge comes out and actually does something for a change and you sound like you want to step up a parade for this useless loser. We even had Jim barker take time off his busy schedule last year to write to the fans before numnuts rudge ever did anything. This is the friggin gm of the team addressing the fans before numnuts the so called CEO of the Argos!