Please feel free to report posts that you think deserve attention. This thread has already been pruned of needless trolling and off topic comments.Originally Posted by GabrielHurl
Please feel free to report posts that you think deserve attention. This thread has already been pruned of needless trolling and off topic comments.
FORMER FULL TIME KOOL-AID DRINKER
Oversight, I've now deleted it! I did the initial clean up and missed that one!
MLS is a tough, physical league, that emphasizes speed, and features plastic fields, grueling travel, extreme weather, and incompetent refs. - NK Toronto
It's really not that hard to understand. I've already laid this out before in this thread somewhere. There are 24 weekends from June-November that the CFL season runs, with Argos needing about 10 home dates.
You can easily fit in TFC league games, as well VCup, CCL, friendlies, etc while still maintaining a minimum 5 day gap after Argo games.
Now, I have no idea if 5 days is enough for the field to recover and be in good shape. But unlike most posters on this board who think it's a foregone conclusion the field will be unplayable garbage, I'm willing to wait and see.
Schedule wise 2016 will be a big mess if the Argos come in just because of the construction precluding any pre May TFC games.
The problem with "willing to wait and see" is that, if it's a shit show, the horses are out of the barn. I'd rather not entertain the possibility, because once they're in, there's no going back.
Toronto FC baby...best team everrrrrrrrrr -Jozy
Mowe, my response was addressing the pitch not the schedule.
And hyperbole doesn't help your case. I don't need to think the surface will be garbage to justify my opinion that the Argos don't need to make our surface at all inferior. We don't need them and they don't deserve a pity home. But we'll find out in
days.
FORMER FULL TIME KOOL-AID DRINKER
True. But it's been obvious that Argos to BMO was inevitable for a long time now. It was either this or they fold. If they're having trouble coming up with $20 million to convert BMO then they have no chance at building their own stadium.
Were any TFC fans under the impression that they could somehow stop this from happening? The only thing to do now is to pressure MLSE to prioritize TFC. We need to be the clear primary tenant.
So on July 18th this summer - there's a TFC game at 4pm and then Porto vs PSG at 8:30pm
i want to apologize to my fellow real TFC fans for my language yesterday,i just want futbol to be relevant in the city.
I know the RPB rule on links to blogs.
Maybe I feel that gaining a RPB ban would look good on my resume. Truly joking about that....just wanted to share...
I too feel the clock ticking in these final hours before the infliction of the Argos on the national soccer stadium. Through connection (not merit) I sometimes appear on a sports show on am740 sunday mornings and try to speak on behalf of TFC supporters. They had me on last Sunday, but I did not feel that I covered the topic well enough, so I tried to capture it in my blog Mistake by the Lake It is possible to want the best for the Argos, a real future for Canadian football and STILL want a worthy soccer stadium. ps I did post the blog link in the approved blog link thread... AND it was written Sunday - prior to the Bell/Tanenbaum owning angle and the Braley wants to be thanked travesty....
is that official or just speculation?
The original schedule was that the roof construction would be completed by about May 1 2016, and then alterations for CFL would be done winter 2016/2017.
If they are trying to expedite the whole thing for spring 2016, then the two big issues are demolishing the north stand (which shouldn't require stadium closure) and modifying the south stand. Given all they've accomplished on the east stand this winter before May 1, I'd be surprised if they can't modify the south stands by May 1, 2016.
And no TFC game after until August 5. Lots of time to clean up after the stadium is empty by 6:15 pm. And no different on pitch than the post-match reserve games that have been occurring for years.
A bigger issue for the pitch is the previous week.
July 11/12 - 2 whole days of Pan-Am Rugby 7s. (three 4-hour sessions and a 5-hour final medal sessioN).
July 14 - Gold Cup double Header (two games for the price of one ... well the price of two really ... but one ticket).
I'd think that whatever the Argos do to the pitch damage-wise is going to be nothing compared to what 17-hours of rugby will do if the weather is poor. July 18th will be an interesting test.
And then on July 29th, there's the Rugby Pacific Nations Cup triple-header (3 full international rugby matches). So another test to see what the pitch is like when TFC plays a week later.
Personally, for all the fuss about the pitch ... I'm more concerned about the removal of the north stands, and the modification of the south stands.
As long as there is a spot to stand I don't care.
Good thing Pan Am isn't every year.
FORMER FULL TIME KOOL-AID DRINKER
It's not under the MLSE banner if it's just Bell and Tannenbaum together buying the Argos.
It seems my worst fears about this happening could be realized. Bell has got a big stake with the CFL as the main television rights holder for the league via TSN. Tannenbaum wants to bring an NFL team to Toronto (and with the new Bills owner recently stating he's cool with it, that dream is not dead and buried). Both interested parties need a strong, healthy Argo franchise if they hope to maximize their profits and have their long term plans fulfilled. And for that to happen, it would seem they're going to want to make the Argos the primary tenant at BMO Field and leave TFC and other soccer related events with the shit end of the stick. No amount of pressure from the soccer supporters is going to change that - especially if they think of the supporters as a bunch of whiners who pay the cheapest tickets for TFC matches and think they're entitled to have a say in team matters.
TORONTO FC, 2017 MLS CHAMPIONS!!! (Still the greatest in league history!)
Well, if that happens he can build them a stadium and share that with the Argos.
Pretty sure that's the end game.
Too bad there's no leap frogging to that step though. Save the Argos squatting at BMO.
FORMER FULL TIME KOOL-AID DRINKER
I just hope things get settled soon one way or the other. The discussion in this thread is borderline toxic much of the time due to posters' strong feelings on this issue.
It isn't, but Rugby usage is slowly increasing. The Pacific Nations Cup isn't Pan-Am. And presumably we'll now be seeing regular matches in the recently announced North/South America Nations Cup announced to start in 2016. And I'd expect to see future 7s tournaments as well.
And full-disclosure ... I enjoy watching Canada play rugby at BMO Field!
That's nice for you then. If the pitch didn't suffer I'd be happy for you. But it does.
FORMER FULL TIME KOOL-AID DRINKER
It's not about that. My understanding was that the NFL would never allow a team in Toronto at the expense of the Argos. They wouldn't want blood on their hands if the Argos were to die. So they would want someone to make sure that the Argos were strong both on and off the field before they consider giving their blessings for an NFL team in T.O.
TORONTO FC, 2017 MLS CHAMPIONS!!! (Still the greatest in league history!)
Six bloody days. Then it will change for a time.
FORMER FULL TIME KOOL-AID DRINKER
It suffers from anything really.
Should we ban community usage (I think so) and reserve games?
It's really hard for us to say that it can't have other uses than impact the pitch a bit, when some of the biggest stadiums in the world also allow similar usages that impact the pitch a bit.
It's kind of like in the UK, where there are sometimes signs in parks about no one being able to walk on the grass - ever. What's the point?
Given that Councillor Grimes is already threatening to override MLSE if MLSE can't come to a deal with the Argos, then I doubt the 6 days has any meaning.
Thats nice of him. Maybe he can also explain his conflict of interest being on the board of the Argos Foundation as well as spearheading this as city councillor and chair of Exhibition Place.
Do you believe that about the NFL? Do you think an NFL team in Toronto really comes down to anything other than money?
Yeah ban community usage. I never wanted to play on it.
Everything else is compromise. I don't care how big other stadiums are that have groundshare events. That doesn't make it the ideal to strive for. It's still compromise for an inferior pitch.
Preserved for the professional players has always been the ideal.
I would assume I'm not alone in expecting something after 6 days. Even if it is a Grimes announcement.
FORMER FULL TIME KOOL-AID DRINKER
The deal is going to get done.
Remember The Man, The Legend, The Goal 5-12-07 and All That #9 Left On The Pitch, Thanks For The Memories !!!
The deal is going to get done.
Lansberg says
"SOON"
Also: That's some crack investigating done there CB.
FORMER FULL TIME KOOL-AID DRINKER
The NFL has a close relationship with the CFL. There are reasons for them wanting the league to be successful - not the least of which is gives them a layer of protection from any U.S. anti-trust charges leveled against them. In 1996, when the CFL was a mere whisker from death, the NFL gave them a loan to help keep them afloat. It bought them time to get their act together and turn things around to where the league is now at its healthiest.
TORONTO FC, 2017 MLS CHAMPIONS!!! (Still the greatest in league history!)
HaHa, was just having some fun with this after the storm that hit this thread this early morning. But on a serious note this deal was going to get done the moment the discussions began, it was just a lot of posturing from both side outside the stance Rogers has taken.
Remember The Man, The Legend, The Goal 5-12-07 and All That #9 Left On The Pitch, Thanks For The Memories !!!
I would agree that money is at the heart of it. But three levels are involved - the money needed for a franchise, the money needed for a stadium and the money needed from the television side. NFL teams share tv revenue, from back in the Rozelle days, and the US networks will always have cities south of the border they would prefer to have NFL teams. A Toronto team would have to have a Canadian tv group willing to pay a super premium to be a part of the NFL world.
Above all that is the complication that the NFL requires individual not corporate ownership. The NFL likes having a CFL for anti-trust purposes, but they would have no special love for the Argos...
Well, yeah, this is it. The single owner willing to put up the money. If that were to happen everything else would get worked out. But it's not going to happen in my lifetime (I'm probably older than you, but still). The NFL already gets as much money out of Canadian TV as it ever will from Bell - who would ever bid against them? Would NFL TV ratings get better than they are now across Canada if a team played 8 home games in Toronto?
We've been all over this (a lot in this thread) and the NFL in Toronto is a non-starter. It's even less likely than MLSE spending their own money on a soccer-specific stadium for TFC. Which is why we have to make sure that TFC is at least the primary tenant in the stadium.
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