Kurt Larson Has No Class

[Scooter McCray]

In today's Sun he writes "anyone else tired of reading about how big game fatigue hurt Grey Cup ticket sales? The CFLs title game didn't sell in this city for a number of reasons. First and foremost the Argos weren't in it. Second the pricing was ridiculous. You could have attended super bowl 50 for those prices. Finally the CFL isn't a draw in this marketplace. There are not big players. Getting to BMO field is extremely difficult compared to Roger's centre. If Toronto truly had big game fatigue then Toronto FC wouldn't have sold our 37000 seats to Wednesdays game in a matter of days and weeks."

What is this guy's major malfunction. The GC game was so entertaining that to criticize not supporting the product really can call into question what exactly sports minded people want to watch and why. There are so many holes in what he writes. Journalistic integrity is at its lowest ebb in modern history right now.

[AngeloV]

He blocked me on twitter for disagreeing with his point of view, so I rarely read what he has to say. Might be hard for some on here to believe, but on twitter, I generally do not get derogatory unless someone has done so to me. He and Arash Madani are the only media people that have blocked me. I disagree with Steve Simmons all the time, but he hasn't blocked me. Simmons has a lot more integrity IMO than either of those guys despite the fact that he is often critical of the Argos and CFL.

Back to Larson, if two out of market teams were playing a big MLS game, I really doubt that the ticket sales would be close to what they are. If the Argos were in contention for the Grey Cup, the game would have sold out long ago, even at those really high prices.

As a final thought, I'm pretty sure I saw (albeit faintly) a faded line running across the 23 yard line at BMO last night. That was obviously from the 18 yard soccer box (I'm guessing the soccer configuration has the goal lines move 5 yards towards one end of the stadium to allow for movable seats), and I for one am outraged that the CFL had to put up with seeing a soccer line on the football field. Ruined my viewing experience. Oh the humanity!!

[Will]

However unfortunate this is, was Larson really inaccurate in anything he wrote?

[Scooter McCray]

Angelo you are right. I didn't even think about FC trying to sell a MLS championship game without Toronto in it. Plus the TV ratings would be off the charts bad. Larson bust have been jealous of the 15 pages of coverage in his paper of the grey cup by all of their top writers. When will the Sun cover the MLS title game like that? Answer - Not any time soon.

[Will]

I haven't figured out Larson. He's obviously Toronto FC's beat writer, but drew ire of some of their fans by suggesting that the Argos move to BMO wasn't going to be as bad as people thought. Still, he's looking at it from the perspective that Toronto FC has (on the surface) had no trouble selling out games (or close to it) at BMO and that there will (sadly) probably be more people in the stands on Wednesday than there were yesterday.

[argotom]

In today's Sun he writes "anyone else tired of reading about how big game fatigue hurt Grey Cup ticket sales? The CFLs title game didn't sell in this city for a number of reasons. First and foremost the Argos weren't in it. Second the pricing was ridiculous. You could have attended super bowl 50 for those prices. Finally the CFL isn't a draw in this marketplace. There are not big players. Getting to BMO field is extremely difficult compared to Roger's centre. If Toronto truly had big game fatigue then Toronto FC wouldn't have sold our 37000 seats to Wednesdays game in a matter of days and weeks."

What is this guy's major malfunction. The GC game was so entertaining that to criticize not supporting the product really can call into question what exactly sports minded people want to watch and why. There are so many holes in what he writes. Journalistic integrity is at its lowest ebb in modern history right now.

You should have read his weekend article even worse!
Something to the effect how millions and millions of TV viewers will watch the game.
Complete one sided moron, just like when he wrote how thew taxpayers field belonged to them.

[Will]

Between TSN and RDS they did average close to a million.

https://ca.sports.yahoo.com/news/on-grey-cup-eve-rise-of-mls-cast-shadow-over-cfls-place-in-toronto-194102344.html#more-id

[1971GreyCup]

Funny, I just put down the Sun's Sports Section. I marvelled over the 18 pages dedicated to the Grey Cup! After reading that, I put the paper back without going to Kurt's article. I'll read it now, but try and avoid articles by writers that only delve into the CFL to take pot shots. I noticed Bob McCowan in a Executive Suite at the Grey Cup and theword "hypocrite"did cross my mind. No point dwelling on the negative as he wouldn't care, and the negativity would only come back to me.

[AngeloV]

I noticed Bob McCowan in a Executive Suite at the Grey Cup and theword "hypocrite"did cross my mind.

LOL...I would have had a few stronger words come to mind, but out of respect to Will, I will not use them here.

[Scooter McCray]

Funny, I just put down the Sun's Sports Section. I marvelled over the 18 pages dedicated to the Grey Cup! After reading that, I put the paper back without going to Kurt's article. I'll read it now, but try and avoid articles by writers that only delve into the CFL to take pot shots. I noticed Bob McCowan in a Executive Suite at the Grey Cup and theword "hypocrite"did cross my mind. No point dwelling on the negative as he wouldn't care, and the negativity would only come back to me.

Correct. I cannot get down on anything anyone says about CFL or Argos after yesterday. Anyone who says they were not entertained is ignorant. What is happening in Ottawa with the rebirth of that team and interest in that team can happen in Toronto with the right determination by the Argo organization. There is hope.

[gilthethrill]

Angelo you are right. I didn't even think about FC trying to sell a MLS championship game without Toronto in it. Plus the TV ratings would be off the charts bad. Larson bust have been jealous of the 15 pages of coverage in his paper of the grey cup by all of their top writers. When will the Sun cover the MLS title game like that? Answer - Not any time soon.

MLS did have the title game in Toronto in 2009..maybe 2010. Colorado and some other team played in front of flies. No one was aware that this huge sporting spectacle, the MLS Cup was even being played. MLS soccer will not have the title game at a neutral site because they damn well know it would go unnoticed.

In closing, screw off Larsen.

[Scooter McCray]

MLS did have the title game in Toronto in 2009..maybe 2010. Colorado and some other team played in front of flies. No one was aware that this huge sporting spectacle, the MLS Cup was even being played. MLS soccer will not have the title game at a neutral site because they damn well know it would go unnoticed.

In closing, screw off Larsen. So even the incredible diehard FC fanbase (not sarcastic) did not support their own sport's championship that year? IMO MLS has a long way to go before it can be compared to the CFL. The Grey Cup was on ESPN 2 yesterday and available on YouTube all over the world. My guess is at least 5 million will have been watching on average last night with spikes late in the game.

[gilthethrill]

So even the incredible diehard FC fanbase (not sarcastic) did not support their own sport's championship that year? IMO MLS has a long way to go before it can be compared to the CFL. The Grey Cup was on ESPN 2 yesterday and available on YouTube all over the world. My guess is at least 5 million will have been watching on average last night with spikes late in the game.

It was 2010. It was the lowest rated MLS Cup ever. That was the last year that neutral site games were used. Soccer Thug Wannabes like Larsen really irritate me. Funny how he did not mention that.

[ArgoGabe22]

Larson seemed to be poking at the Argos/Grey Cup situation all week. Even Steve Simmons replied to Larson, that TFC would have trouble selling at GC prices.

Larson also claimed TFC has a bigger brand than the Argos, while Chris Zelkovich gave the Argos the edge in a separate discussion. Zelkovich's job requires him to look at these things more than a former college soccer player turned TFC beat writer. I asked why Larson believes so and the best he could come up with is that TFC is known in Europe, while the Argos are not. Not sure how that relates to popularity in the city. It's a no brainer that soccer has more global exposure, especially with players signing from overseas. That being said, Americans are familiar with the Argos, games tend to have the highest ratings on ESPN and it is the Canadian Football League after all. What's funny is that the Italian coach actually refuses to take Giovinco because he plays in the MLS, called it a meaningless league.

I hate always comparing the two but I actually don't think there is a clear winner. TFC will get a packed house on Wednesday but it's not like there is much buzz. The Grey Cup, no doubt in my mind had more of a buzz than anything TFC related.

[argotom]

Funny, I just put down the Sun's Sports Section. I marvelled over the 18 pages dedicated to the Grey Cup! After reading that, I put the paper back without going to Kurt's article. I'll read it now, but try and avoid articles by writers that only delve into the CFL to take pot shots. I noticed Bob McCowan in a Executive Suite at the Grey Cup and theword "hypocrite"did cross my mind. No point dwelling on the negative as he wouldn't care, and the negativity would only come back to me.


Not that I care for many years now, I do wonder how he will knock the game today on his show?
No sane individual can regardless of the blinders or corporate priority.

[Ron]

Getting to BMO field is extremely difficult compared to Roger's centre. If Toronto truly had big game fatigue then Toronto FC wouldn't have sold our 37000 seats to Wednesdays game in a matter of days and weeks."

So extremely difficult that those 37K will somehow get there.

[Argo57]

He blocked me on twitter for disagreeing with his point of view, so I rarely read what he has to say. Might be hard for some on here to believe, but on twitter, I generally do not get derogatory unless someone has done so to me. He and Arash Madani are the only media people that have blocked me. I disagree with Steve Simmons all the time, but he hasn't blocked me. Simmons has a lot more integrity IMO than either of those guys despite the fact that he is often critical of the Argos and CFL.

Back to Larson, if two out of market teams were playing a big MLS game, I really doubt that the ticket sales would be close to what they are. If the Argos were in contention for the Grey Cup, the game would have sold out long ago, even at those really high prices.

As a final thought, I'm pretty sure I saw (albeit faintly) a faded line running across the 23 yard line at BMO last night. That was obviously from the 18 yard soccer box (I'm guessing the soccer configuration has the goal lines move 5 yards towards one end of the stadium to allow for movable seats), and I for one am outraged that the CFL had to put up with seeing a soccer line on the football field. Ruined my viewing experience. Oh the humanity!!

Funny how these thin skinned "journalists" react to a fact based response.
Can dish it out but can't take it I guess.