Game Thread: Ottawa Redbacks @ Toronto Argonauts

[gilthethrill]

Some may say this is distasteful but the league robbed Kelly back to back MOPs.

Also waited after the game for some appreciation but saw nothing. I legitimately thought the reward was a home playoff game because that's all I saw.

Nothing distasteful about that at all Gabe. Good point. Although earning a home playoff date without your your starting QB for 9 games, replacing many key deaprtures and having to endure all those distractions should earn Dinwiddie COY.
BTW was Kelly seeing any ghosts out there yesterday??

[TICATS SUCK !]

Some may say this is distasteful but the league robbed Kelly back to back MOPs.

Also waited after the game for some appreciation but saw nothing. I legitimately thought the reward was a home playoff game because that's all I saw.

Are you serious about Kelly?

[shayman]

They said to stay in your seats after the game but I saw nothing being done. Maybe someone can shed some light as to what they did.

A handful of players and staffers threw some mini autographed footballs into the seats - i hardly even knew this was happening but a kid showed me the one he caught.

It was pretty underwhelming considering everyone was told to stay in their seats.

[GreyCup1971]

I can only imagine the crowds we could attract if the Argos actually had a business department.

Games like this demonstrate the baseline Argos fans.

I once spoke with Bombers CEO Wade Miller in Winnipeg in 2017 about ticket sales. He said the additional effort required to sell 1,000 more tickets was enormous, but the long term benefits of getting the butts in the stands was worth it.

Bombers routinely sell out IG Stadium (or whatever they are calling it now). Their success doesn't hurt either.

I'm not taking issue with your basic point, but it's worth remembering that the Bombers do not have to compete with MLB, NBA and MLS franchises for entertainment dollars. The Blue Bombers are at about the same level of stature in Wpg as the Jets are -- kind of like the Argos were with the Leafs 50 years ago, before the pro sports market here exploded with new franchises and the influence of the NFL started growing.

Fair points Paul. I feel like I am in the film Groundhog Day waiting for the Sonny and Cher song. I have seen the ups and downs since the 1960s. Even when the Argos were at the same level as the Leafs were 50 years ago, they still had a dedicated sales/marketing department to move tickets.

Fast forward, I think Mike Hogan and Chris Balenovich do a commendable job. Their efforts are largely responsible for, and the latent love for the Argos, the 20,000 fans yesterday. But they don't have any sales/marketing support.

Yesterday, I saw a lot of reasons to be optimistic. Plenty of fans, in Argos gear. Young and old fans. From tailgate to game time having a ball. The future bodes bright.

As for the business of sports, the old adage is "if your company is failing, the last department you look to find cuts for is your sales staff." Business 101.

I understand the MLSE ticket sale now provide some sales support. But if my experience is common to others, it's difficult to find any help. I am an existing season ticket holders. Call backs take 24/48 hours. I don't think proactive ticket sales is thing here.

A new ownership group won't have the (supposed) synergies with MLSE and will be forced to go back and sell tickets the old fashioned way. Here's hoping.

[IssuesMcgee]

Going to be a solid crowd for sure. Best one of the year until November 2.
Anyone else surprised? Ottawa never draws like that here.

It occurred to me very late the Chad Kelly incident, particularly the drawn out process of reinstating him, provided more exposure for the Argos than any ad campaign would have done.

Any news is good news?

Yes and never let a good crisis go to waste.

I have never seen so much coverage of the Argos since I was a kid, and I don't recall articles about the team on sites like the Toronto Star generating hundreds of comments.

While we can all argue MLSE isn't doing enough traditional advertising, they have the power to catapult the Argos into primetime Toronto news and mainstream coverage.

Treat the team like a mainstream team that has mainstream problems, and the team will eventually become mainstream. This is what we were hoping for when MLSE took over.

By the way, the fact there was also a Leafs home game last night makes the 20,487 attendance that much sweeter.

[OV Argo]

Some observations:
. Argos D line is best in the league with not only with great talent but also great depth
. It has been stated Grant was not resigned by the Peg because of fumble concerns--we saw that today
. Kelly is back to MOP form
. The 25 point 4th Q by Ottawa may be a blessing in disguise as the team will have to recognize a full 60 minute effort is needed in the Eastern final
, Why wasn't Adeleke playing SAM all season?

Not sure I agree on the 25 point RedBlacks 4th quarter being some sort of blessing; if it had been 10 or so points, maybe; but Ottawa scored at will against a suddenly wimpy Argo D and Dru Brown ended up with 400 passing yards in this game. IMO this could send a message to Ottawa players they can win in the big game and do plenty against the Argo D. This game should have been a foot on the pedal, 45 - 6 type score beat-down = that woulda sent the proper message.

[ArgoZ]

They said to stay in your seats after the game but I saw nothing being done. Maybe someone can shed some light as to what they did.

A handful of players and staffers threw some mini autographed footballs into the seats - i hardly even knew this was happening but a kid showed me the one he caught.

It was pretty underwhelming considering everyone was told to stay in their seats.

The year they gave the whole team’s game worn jerseys away was pretty cool. I managed to snag a shirt thrown into the stands that had a note saying I was a winner. What an awesome event that was.

[AngeloV]

Late to the party here, but Man was the Argos offence on fire. When he's on, nobody in the CFL can touch Kelly at the position. Yes, I will bring it up again, but a 9 game suspension for a non crime is ridiculous.
Defence dominated for most of the game too. I have to admit, Adeleke has been spectacular at SAM. Darkangelo has also been a huge upgrade at WILL. Maybe they decided to go Canadian at the wrong side all year. McManis is a beast, and what more can you say about the D-line?
Specials will definitely have to improve. They were horrible. Even Haggerty punted poorly with the exception of his last punt (good time for it, though).
Regarding the late dramatics, I will blame the damage that soccer does to the turf which led to those freaky bounces on the on side kicks .Thank goodness the RedBlacks idiotically tried to chip the 3rd one instead of going for the high hop of the ground. I was thinking about this type of onside kick the other day. This is the way they have to do it in American football because you can fair catch the ball. But I truly believe it is the better way to on side a kickoff in Canadian ball too. With the wider field, there is more room for the 2nd bounce which is the bounce that creates problems.

[Scooter McCray]

Just a question regarding attendance at Saturday's game. They opened up the upper deck on the East side for this game because the lower bowl and West side was mostly sold out except for single seats when you viewed the Ticketmaster map last week.
Except there were plenty of empty seats scattered throughout the lower bowl and West side. Were these tickets actually sold? Who were they sold to? Because they were empty all game. I know the announced attendance was over 20,000 and that's what it would have been had all of the seats been filled with fans. As a result the crowd noise was not as I expected.
I did buy extra seats for this game and I was disappointed that other sections I would have bought into had loads of empty seats.
Any thoughts here? I wouldn't mind hearing from Mike Hogan if he has some thoughts.

[Will]

Just a question regarding attendance at Saturday's game. They opened up the upper deck on the East side for this game because the lower bowl and West side was mostly sold out except for single seats when you viewed the Ticketmaster map last week.

Yes.

Except there were plenty of empty seats scattered throughout the lower bowl and West side.

West side seemed pretty full to me. Empties on the lower bowl east side for sure.

Were these tickets actually sold?

Maybe,

Who were they sold to?

People.