Jerkoff Simmons at it again...

[tfcleeds]

Can't believe the soccer fools were anti-Argo protesting at BMO Field, as if the stadium belonged to them. The stadium was built with taxpayers money. The Argos, having been around forever, are as deserving of occupying that stadium as anyone.

OK, I know like most other people on this board, I promised I wouldn't let Simmons get under my skin anymore, but what makes me mad here is that he is basically using the same argument that a letter-writer yesterday used, that simply because the Argos have been around way longer than TFC, they deserve to be at BMO.

And Steve, the protest wasn't anti-Argos. It was a protest to keep BMO soccer-specific. But I wouldn't expect you to know the difference. Idiot.

http://www.torontosun.com/Sports/Oth...76701-sun.html

[GabrielHurl]

he's got one of those faces you want to hit - repeatedly

[Oblio2]

Simmons=Douche

[jabbronies]

And Steve, the protest wasn't anti-Argos. It was a protest to keep BMO soccer-specific. But I wouldn't expect you to know the difference. Idiot.

Another very poor statement from an un-informed reporter

[toemoss]

Simmons=Douche

i would even include (douche) BAG. what a dick.

[rocker]

the argos are deserving of staying in the stadium that was already built for them with taxpayer money: Skydome.

I guess 600 million in taxpayer money wasn't enough for them

sigh.. can you imagine the soccer stadium you could build now for 600 million..

[TFC FAN72]

he's got one of those faces you want to hit - repeatedly

He is on record as saying that it is appalling that TFC is outdrawing Argos and for that he has issues dealing with that fact.

[Mango Kid]

He is on record as saying that it is appalling that TFC is outdrawing Argos and for that he has issues dealing with that fact.

TFC is not outdrawing the Argos - the Argos have pulled 30k and 28k for their two home games so far.

http://www.argonauts.ca/schedule/year/2008/7

[profit89]

as i said before, i hope the cfl folds so like that they can never threaten to move in

[profit89]

[TFC FAN72]

TFC is not outdrawing the Argos - the Argos have pulled 30k and 28k for their two home games so far.

http://www.argonauts.ca/schedule/year/2008/7

Well maybe he is talking about season ticket holders/ merchandise, but I have read that he thinks we should support the Argos more in the same way we do TFC.

As far as crowds go, good for the Argos for drawing as much, but with Buffalo coming into town for a few home games I am afraid the Argos are going to become an afterthought.

[tfcleeds]

Simmons is known to be very in favour of the idea of the NFL coming to Toronto. I'm surprised he is so short-sighted, and can't realize that a permanent NFL franchise in Toronto would be the death knell of the Argos.

[MFBODD]

Well maybe he is talking about season ticket holders/ merchandise, but I have read that he thinks we should support the Argos more in the same way we do TFC.

As far as crowds go, good for the Argos for drawing as much, but with Buffalo coming into town for a few home games I am afraid the Argos are going to become an afterthought.

I really don't think the Argos have to worry about the Bills right away. I mean, they should be very concerned, but the Bills are only playing here once or twice per year over the next 5 and the tickets are crazy expensive.

The Argos draw well and the TV ratings are healthy. This is pretty much the same story for the entire CFL right now.

Really, I don't get why the Argos would want to move to BMO. I know they want an atmosphere much like Montreal has, but it's not that bad at Skydome right now. They get good crowds, they have a crazy lease deal + concession take, they don't have to worry about people not showing up if the weather blows, Skydome is easy to get to via transit. I don't get it...

I am not a fan of clubs from various sports sharing a venue. Sport specific venues are always much better. Why don't they just slap a track around the pitch while they're at it...

[TFC FAN72]

I really don't think the Argos have to worry about the Bills right away. I mean, they should be very concerned, but the Bills are only playing here once or twice per year over the next 5 and the tickets are crazy expensive.

The Argos draw well and the TV ratings are healthy. This is pretty much the same story for the entire CFL right now.

Really, I don't get why the Argos would want to move to BMO. I know they want an atmosphere much like Montreal has, but it's not that bad at Skydome right now. They get good crowds, they have a crazy lease deal + concession take, they don't have to worry about people not showing up if the weather blows, Skydome is easy to get to via transit. I don't get it...

I am not a fan of clubs from various sports sharing a venue. Sport specific venues are always much better. Why don't they just slap a track around the pitch while they're at it...

Going to have to agree with with your post for the most part. When the Leafs/ Raptors deal was setup, I would it would be a mistake because for as long as anyone can remember, Maple Leaf Gardens was a Hockey venue first and was only used for concerts and circus.

Now with them sharing the facilities, the ice is horrible and players are at risk all the time of getting injured.

As far as knowing about the Argos, to be honest the only Football I follow really is the one played with FEET.

[RealG-TFC]

this is really getting annoying!

[GuelphStorm2007]

I personally cant see the Argos leaving the Skydome. especially with there lease agreement etc. And more importantly The Skydome people would be crazy to lose a tennant.

[SLBuu]

did he forget that there was a deal to make a stadium for both teams at York which the Argos backed out of. Hence having the taxpayers ante up cash to make the NEW SSS at the the ex.

STUPID CUNTS!!!!!!

[egoodwin]

what a douche, he can't even come up with his own arguments, he stole the whole idea of that part of the article from the idiot I mean letter of the day yesterday

And according to his logic, the Argos have just as much right to play at Glen Abbey or where that tennis tournament is happening right now

If Argos really want a waterfront stadium that is intimate, they should build one where the old Lakeview Generating station was in Mississauga, there are already talks of turning it into green space with possibly an aquarium or stadium... the Argos already practice in Mississauga, why don't they just build the stadium there...

Another thing that I don't get, is why is a paper that is "the Official newspaper of Toronto FC" allowing such anti-TFC smut being published? You can't whore TFC to increase your profile on one hand then go publish bullshit against TFC on the other

[Pachuco]

BMO field was not entirely buit with tax payer's money. MLSE has $ invested as well. This guy is such a moron.

[RealG-TFC]

Since Cricket was the first official sport of Canada maybe we should call the Rogers Centre the Rogers Cricket Ground.

[SLBuu]

does anyone remember how much it cost to build the stadium?

[James Oliphant]

My response:

//

“Can't believe the soccer fools...”

Name-calling will get you everywhere.

“...were anti-Argo protesting at BMO Field”

Anti-Argo-occupation, not anti-Argo. We could care less about the team...we care more about the stadium.

“...as if the stadium belonged to them.”

It is called the National Soccer Stadium for a reason.

“ The stadium was built with taxpayers money.”

Kinda like the SkyD....err, Rogers Centre.

“ The Argos, having been around forever...”

...and having never once built their own stadium...

“ are as deserving of occupying that stadium as anyone.”

Well, this is where you really lose me. Because the Argos had their chance.

The stadium, as I’m sure you well-know and simply choose to gloss over, was originally planned for the campus of York University and designed as a multi-purpose facility, capable of supporting CFL football with rolling stands in the north and south ends. Those stands would be pushed back to allow for the extra length required by the CFL.

The Argos, by withdrawing from the York U project because of Uncle Ted offer-they-couldn't-refuse, cost the university and the CSA a significant amount of money and also put our city’s attempts to host the finals of the 2007 FIFA U-20 World Cup, one of the largest sporting events in the world, in serious jeopardy.

The Argos had their chance to be involved in this taxpayer-funded project. It was another opportunity for this franchise to put in little of the money and none of the effort involved in building a stadium for themselves. They’re this city’s sporting squatters.

But you know all this, right? I mean, that’s your job as a Toronto sports journalist - to be familiar with the comings-and-goings of this city’s sporting organizations. Why, then, do you choose to omit these facts in the interest of a more controversial read? I’m sorry, Steve, but that’s the antithesis of journalism...it makes you the Ann Coulter of the Toronto sport media.

And for the record, the stadium does belong to me. As a Toronto resident and a season ticket holder for Toronto FC, I’ve paid four times over for the construction and operation of BMO Field (municipally, provincially, federally and privately). I have as much right to speak against the Argos moving into my stadium as anyone else.

How dare you insist otherwise.

Sincerely,
James Oliphant
joliphant@sympatico.ca

//

And yes, I didn't use my typical email address (james@gotorontofc.com), but that's only because my site's down at the moment due to an ongoing dispute with the hosting company.

[RealG-TFC]

does anyone remember how much it cost to build the stadium?

BMO? 70 million.

Skydome, 600 0r 500 million.

[SLBuu]

and how much would the argos have to spend to renovate BMO?

[James Oliphant]

does anyone remember how much it cost to build the stadium?

$69 million

[RealG-TFC]

BTW, wasn't it BECAUSE of the Argos the SkyDome was built?

A cold, rain-soaked Grey Cup game in November 1982, held at the outdoor Exhibition Stadium, spurred the process of looking for a new stadium. The game was tormented by cold weather and rains, the washrooms overflowed, and spectators were exposed to the harsh weather. In attendance was Ontario Premier Bill Davis, and the misery of that day was seen by over 7,862,000 television viewers in Canada (at the time the largest TV audience ever in Canada [7]). The following day, at a rally at Toronto City Hall, tens of thousands of people who were there to see the Grey Cup winners began to chant, "We want a dome! We want a dome!" So too did others who began to discuss the possibility of an all-purpose, all-weather stadium. (As a point of interest, the 1983 Grey Cup Game was played at the newly opened BC Place domed stadium in Vancouver).[c

[James Oliphant]

BTW, wasn't it BECAUSE of the Argos the SkyDome was built?

Yes and no...SkyDome was seen first-and-foremost as the home of the Blue Jays. Exhibition Stadium worked better for the Argos than it did the Jays, simply because of the arrangement of the grandstands. Remember that the Argos were squatting at the Ex some 20 years before the Blue Jays existed....the stadium was not designed with baseball in mind at all. Which is why some seats in the outfield were some 800 feet from home plate...double the distance needed to hit a home-run to straight-away centre field.

[RealG-TFC]

This what the Argos should do. BNuild a stadium like Bright House Networks Stadium in Florida. They should build it in the portlands area because of the waterfront/revitalization plans which will make it into a more hospitable place and it's close to downtown. Hell, if we get backing from Ottawa for the PanAm games, then you can get the feds to pay for it!

The cost of this was 54 million

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bright_...tworks_Stadium

[redcard]

[quote=MFBODD;107404]
The Argos draw well and the TV ratings are healthy. This is pretty much the same story for the entire CFL right now.

Really, I don't get why the Argos would want to move to BMO. I know they want an atmosphere much like Montreal has, but it's not that bad at Skydome right now. They get good crowds, they have a crazy lease deal + concession take, they don't have to worry about people not showing up if the weather blows, Skydome is easy to get to via transit. I don't get it...

quote]

the argos have sold a lot of season tickets simply because there holders had first dibs on bills tickets...otherwise i dont think they would be selling more than 20K tickets...

funny thing is they left a outdoor stadium and moved into a domed stadium, because the team and there fans are a bunch of pussies that couldnt handle the inclement weather!!!

the more i think about it, the more i feel they will not leave the dome, they have to put up the money for demolition(south end) then expansion of BMO, those costs will rise as time passes on, and they still have a few years left on there lease a the dome.

[TFC07]

I don't what that got to do with this thread, but DAMN!