Toronto has about at least 5 times the demographic of Ottawa to draw fans from; and the Senators are huge here, plus there is a minor baseball team playing at a nice ballpark here; and there is a pro soccer team that plays at Lansdowne to compete for fans. Again - 5 x the demographic to draw from and they can barely get 15K fans, yet Ottawa has no problem filling Lansdowne for CFL games ?
Ottawa has a smart ownership group who understand CFL football.
BUT - Ottawa just does not (IMO) face the same degree of wannabeness that has been foisted on the GTA for decades - led by the snickering "world class" dweebs in the media and all their sheep/lemming like followers who got told the CFL was 2nd rate and not worth any attention. This factor is HUGE IMO and cannot be under-stated. Impossible to over-come? - maybe, but maybe not ?
Do you really think the same people are making those choices? I know I wouldn't be at a TFC or Raptors game. I've been offered Leafs and Raptors tickets and couldn't be bothered. Plus the Leafs and Raps are irrelevant because they don't share the same season with CFL. That leaves the Jays and TFC and in my case only the Jays would be competition and with 81 home games you can see them anytime.
And although I might not agree with the way OV Argo states things sometime, I often agree with the sentiment. Argo fans are very reluctant to put on the gloves and swing back at others who are fighting dirty. That has not helped them from getting kicked around from many angles.
People, especially families, may only choose to spend money on one or a few events per year. Doesn’t necessarily have to share same season as the Argos. For me, it’s always been the Argos. I won’t pour money into other the teams. Plus there’s a lot of other non-sporting events that take place too.
Actually in many cases I do.
I have been an Argo fan for 40 years and have had season seats for the majority of them, I also wear Argonaut gear to “fly the flag” so to speak and talk up the team and CFL to anyone that will listen.
Truth is over the last 35 or so years various Argonaut ownership groups have been the masters of their own demise in this market and it will be a slow climb out of it.
As for your assertion that Argofans are reluctant to put on the gloves and swing back I would argue that purchasing tickets and attending games is the only way to fight back as a fan, it’s the organizations job to get their shit together to start filling the seats (which seems to be starting to happen).
With all this said I’d love to hear your detailed plan in “putting on the gloves and swinging back at others that are fighting dirty”?
Toronto Argonauts
18 Time World Champions
And that's just what I mean, people who think they are too far above it to bother getting into the fray or are naively clueless. Anything that is worth saving is worth fighting for.
When you go online to the CFL sites and all you see is negative things about the Argos and the CFL, do you honestly think it's the Argo and CFL fans who are doing that? It's people who want to see the CFL and Argos DEAD! But no, ol' RDavies is paranoid and we'll just give him the condescension treatment and we'll just be nice folk until the franchise goes into the ground.
Are some people too old to know that the social medias are how the future fans get their news and communicate. If they see nothing but bad and negative news without rebuttal who do you think they are gonna believe? They're gonna believe the guy who posted the negative news because the new possible "fan" doesn't know any better.
But those guys who want to see the CFL and Argos dead don't think like that. And when MLSE didn't run the operation the way they thought they were loud about their protests. They definitely subscribe to the squeaky wheel gets the grease.
So we'll just meekly accept the situation and muddle along and muzzle crazy old rdavies and then close the thread, so discourse (civil or otherwise) doesn't happen.
Nope, there's nobody out there hoping the Argos die and insidiously posting in many places to that end to try and influence people to hurry it on. Not happening at all.
Ok, I got my frustration out and I'm not directly pointing fingers at anybody, especially those who are loyal ticket buyers and supporters but there has to be a recognition of this issue. And I recognize "mainstream" media and trolls alike for this behaviour, it's real easy to kick somebody when you let them. A little pushback from the Argos community would be well served. Would it kill some people to respond to a Trash Madani or Damien Cox article and let them know what you think.
Fans sometimes do have to make those choices. I'm a season ticket holder for the Argos, Rock, Leafs and Ticats - if I had to only pick two of them: I'd go with the Argos and Rock. As of right now I'm still trying to figure out if I want to get season tickets for either the Marlies or Steelheads, and with that I'll probably drop my Ticat tickets - my dollars can only stretch so far lol.
Where's your cape ?
Thanks a lot RJ. You and your penny pinching ways and that great idea of initiating blackouts. Then you decided to bring in the Blue Jays and helped promote this major league attitude. Then you allow media members to diss the CFL, or just completely ignore its existence all together. If I knew you were the problem, I would've not allowed you to take things this far.
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