Can we outdraw Montreal?

[KCargosfan]

Only 21,016 in Montreal tonight. Imagine how they would draw if they sucked.

[1argoholic]

Yah it would drop right off if they hit the skids.

[tc23]

Only 25,109 in B.C. tonight, thats Brutal for defending Grey Cup Champs !!

Can Argos get 30,000 tomorrow ?? That would be Awesome !!

[Gill The Thrill]

Only 25,109 in B.C. tonight, thats Brutal for defending Grey Cup Champs !!

Can Argos get 30,000 tomorrow ?? That would be Awesome !!Hamilton's not one of the better draws in Vancouver. It's also their 2nd straight home game, and it's still July 6. People may not want to hear that, but it's not exactly football weather even out west. I would not want the first 2 games at home by July 7 if I were an owner. The league opener was always more anticipated when the league started in the 2nd week of July. I could remember opening games starting as late as July 11 or 12, that's when anticipation was highest. July 7, 8 or 9 was quite common for many years before the bye week.

The odd number of teams and/ or the bye week has dragged the season too long. The league was never too hyped up when they started the season on June 15, which is what I remember when the Renegades were around in '04. IIRC, was the first Argo game not played on June 15 that year vs the Riders at the Dome? Was it not also scheduled on the same day as a Stanley Cup Final game b/w Calgary and Tampa...I also remember Nealon Greene getting a broken leg and then never really playing again in the league, but I digress.

Anyways, I'm hoping the Argos can attract 23k for tomorrow's game, not a great crowd but a modest improvement from last year. I also think they really screwed up in making it an afternoon game in the summer. Football is not a sport that is enjoyed as a player or spectator on a muggy summer afternoon with the sun beating on you, but on a night when cool winds from the lake hopefully bring the temperature down a few degrees. I guess 3 pm is better than 1 pm, but the days are still long and the sun is still blistering until 7 or 8pm in the evening at this time of year.

[ArgoRavi]

The odd number of teams and/ or the bye week has dragged the season too long. The league was never too hyped up when they started the season on June 15, which is what I remember when the Renegades were around in '04. IIRC, was the first Argo game not played on June 15 that year vs the Riders at the Dome? Was it not also scheduled on the same day as a Stanley Cup Final game b/w Calgary and Tampa...I also remember Nealon Greene getting a broken leg and then never really playing again in the league, but I digress.

I can't remember the exact opening date in '04 but I do remember that it was the Argos' second preseason game - at home to Hamilton - that was scheduled opposite Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Finals that year. And speaking of the NHL, that is the one league which most obviously has too long of a season and it doesn't even seem to have much of an off-season at all now. These rookie scrimmages that the Leafs are having now seem to get more media attention than the Argos do for crying out loud. Do we really need every freaking little detail from these rookie scrimmages???

[argotom]

I can't remember the exact opening date in '04 but I do remember that it was the Argos' second preseason game - at home to Hamilton - that was scheduled opposite Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Finals that year. And speaking of the NHL, that is the one league which most obviously has too long of a season and it doesn't even seem to have much of an off-season at all now. These rookie scrimmages that the Leafs are having now seem to get more media attention than the Argos do for crying out loud. Do we really need every freaking little detail from these rookie scrimmages???


Like I have always been saying, hockey, hockey 24/7 over the top coverage.
Yesterday while driving from work I checked the two channels 590 and 1050 and you guessed it unbelievable hockey talk and why Steve Nash didn't sign.
No mention of the Argos or CFL action.
How bloody sad.

[294life]

Alouettes need to adjust their pricing. Impact is already doing it in the MLS with those low 12,000 some crowds.

[Ballstothewall]

Watching the game, the answer would be NO. I can't complain about the crowd, since i could not make it down there today. Its just a bad day and time for a home opener in this city

[1argoholic]

F@#K NO WE CAN'T because to many in TO are at their F@#King cottages, watching on tv or not giving a flaming rats ASS! F@#K!!!!
It's obvious we need our own stadium in Mississauga where Hazel has boatloads of cash mo. Something has to give as the Argonauts marketing boat has sailed. Time to get their head out of their asses and market to people who'll pay to get in and not 5 years olds who know squat other than peeing in a sand box.

[Fungi]

I have a buddy who still can't find an Argo car flag any where.

[1argoholic]

Wonder why? The business and marketing capital of Canada and the oldest professional sports francise in North America is fading away slowly. This cuts real deep. Not like my moving to shit ass Duncan BC and letting my 20 year seasons seats go means squat at this point.

New idea. The Argos can play at Centennial stadium in Etobicoke which is still Toronto. The place would looked jammed with 7 thou. Then the Argos wouldn't have to worry about giving tics to 5 years olds.

F@#k Braley are you still actually alive?

[294life]

I understand your frustration. Montreal can't do much better in spite of all the success they've had over the years. Yay for the big cities (sarcasm).

[D-Gap-Willie]

Yah it would drop right off if they hit the skids.

It's been dropping for a while -- there doesn't seem to be the same fervour that there used to be. No finger pointing, but they have lost more than 4,000 season ticket holders since they renovated Molson Stadium; they say it still has the same ambience, but personally I loved the old stadium, and sitting in the new one simply does not have the same feeling.
Ray Lalonde did not help the cause much with his Canadien's philosophy of managemment and marketing -- under his one year tutelage the Als dropped $2.5 million ( 60 %) in corporated sponsorship as well as attendance losses.

They have some serious recovery work to do !

[argolio]

It's obvious we need our own stadium in Mississauga where Hazel has boatloads of cash mo. Something has to give as the Argonauts marketing boat has sailed. Time to get their head out of their asses and market to people who'll pay to get in and not 5 years olds who know squat other than peeing in a sand box.Not that I think a stadium in Mississauga would necessarily be the answer, but Hazel has already said she won't run again in 2014. And any new stadium would almost certainly need funding from the provincial and/or federal governments.

[Gill The Thrill]

Not that I think a stadium in Mississauga would necessarily be the answer, but Hazel has already said she won't run again in 2014. And any new stadium would almost certainly need funding from the provincial and/or federal governments.

Hazel's milked the contruction industry for years and had the developer's paying all the taxes to support Mississauga's ever-growing infrastructure. With growth being halted in the area because of saturation and environmentalist trends, she realizes that property taxes are going to have to skyrocket and that she's no longer viewed as a shoo-in for mayor. Her skeletons are coming out of the closet, and even though Carolyn Parrish made herself look bad and did not beat her for mayor, she did uncover all lot of BS in terms of how Hazel ran Mississauga politics for her own personal self-interests. At least June Rowlands while Toronto's mayor did not hide the fact that she gave her son a great job in the city, Emperor Hazel in Mississauga did and that's only the tip of the iceberg. Mississauga is in not better shape than Toronto, but at least they have established user fees for all their rec services, so that thier bleeding hearts can't cry about hurting the unprivileged like they do in Toronto.


I understand your frustration. Montreal can't do much better in spite of all the success they've had over the years. Yay for the big cities (sarcasm).

Let's put in perspective the bad publicity Montreal has been getting because of the student riots. Perhaps 3-4000 Als fans were from out of town and they've decided to avoid Montreal for the time being...that could be a reason.


Wonder why? The business and marketing capital of Canada and the oldest professional sports francise in North America is fading away slowly. This cuts real deep. Not like my moving to shit ass Duncan BC and letting my 20 year seasons seats go means squat at this point.

New idea. The Argos can play at Centennial stadium in Etobicoke which is still Toronto. The place would looked jammed with 7 thou. Then the Argos wouldn't have to worry about giving tics to 5 years olds.

F@#k Braley are you still actually alive?Why attack Braley, all he's done is save 3 teams over the last quarter century and with his own dough. That's more than Cynamon and Sokolowski who blew a lot of hot air about how they were in this for the long haul and wanted to build a stadium. In the end, they wanted a handout and free stadium build by taxpayers so that they could reap the benefits off the concessions and parking without spending a dime. If they at least spent some of thier own coin to help build BMO, then they could have at least sued MLSE and Tom Anselmi for costs to make sure that a Canadian Football Field was accomadated. The stadium blueprints according to Doug Holyday at City Hall called for a CANADIAN FOOTBALL field so that it could be used for community football events such as the Metro Bowl. They did not put in a dime, which means they can't do squat now that MLSE and Anselmi purposefully overlooked the length of the field by permanently building the south stand so that it could not retract back for football.

David Miller was another piece of work for all of you naive ones who sing the praises of how he backed the CFL. The building of BMO happened under his mayorship, you think this guy did not know that MLSE under Anselmi's direction, and his CNE managing sidekick, Joe Pants (Pantalone, who was Miller's right hand man) were engineering this slight oversight of accomadating a field long enough for Canadian Football....sure.;)

[Will]

Let's put in perspective the bad publicity Montreal has been getting because of the student riots. Perhaps 3-4000 Als fans were from out of town and they've decided to avoid Montreal for the time being...that could be a reason.

Attendance was trending downwards in Montreal last year, and that was before the riots.

[1argoholic]

I guess the fact that we hear nothing ever from Braley pisses me off. Braley what do you see for the future of your Toronto Argonauts? You just never hear anything from this man. Are you going to cash in from another Grey Cup and then sell or what?

[paulwoods13]

I guess the fact that we hear nothing ever from Braley pisses me off. Braley what do you see for the future of your Toronto Argonauts? You just never hear anything from this man. Are you going to cash in from another Grey Cup and then sell or what?

You don't actually think he would announce it if that was his plan, do you?

The guy has saved three of eight franchises in the league. He does not have to be a public presence to deserve everyone's gratitude.

[Ballstothewall]

I guess the fact that we hear nothing ever from Braley pisses me off. Braley what do you see for the future of your Toronto Argonauts? You just never hear anything from this man. Are you going to cash in from another Grey Cup and then sell or what?

You hear from Chris Rudge (not sure of the spelling) who the Head guy and so it should be that he does the talking. They have done a great job so far on selling the GC, how about you give the guy some time. He (Chris) has only been in charge for less then a year and the Argos are starting do some good things off the field

[ArgoRavi]

Attendance was trending downwards in Montreal last year, and that was before the riots.

I had assumed that the Montreal Impact, with their new stadium, were having an effect on the Als but that doesn't appear to the be the case as the Impact have drawn quite poorly since moving into their new stadium. It looks like the Als have gradually gotten away from some of the things that had made them successful. I am hopeful that Mark Weightman can get them back on track though.