All home games (including a probable preseason game in mid June). I would be very surprised if the opening Friday night game for the CFL is not in Toronto - June 24th at 7 pm. It will be hype city.
As to the Grey Cup, as I said - it won't be moved.
I would also state that a posting about future dates on MLSsoccer.com means about as much as what Hopkinson stated - both are communications and subject to change.
But if MLS does go with this dates and TFC in theory gets a playoff date bumped for a Grey Cup, I would hope that a TFC scribe would be asking Manning what happened.
Wow just fucking wow MLSE, what a joke, so you soccer reporters out there and you know who you are, I know you guys read these boards need to be asking the tough questions to these jokers, I mean that statement about the MLS Cup being played much before the Grey Cup is a joke, and to top it all off saying that they do their homework is even worse, these are statements that people should be losing their jobs over , just fucken incredible oh my! Those MLS dates make sense they basically follow the same type of dates as this year and add on the fact that the league is shutting down for two weeks for the Copa America , those dates are most likely true ones.
Last edited by SoccMan2; 01-03-2016 at 10:57 PM.
Imagine having such a big game like the semifinal having to be played on shitty turf at the Rogers Center, because our home is not avalaible because of ponty ball , that would be a classic bending over and taking it scenario lol. The Impact fans will be loving it if that happened, I still remember that banner they unveiled at Saputo stadium that read something like , the Impact welcome the Argos to BMO , it got my blood boiling when I saw that man.
Last edited by SoccMan2; 01-03-2016 at 11:06 PM.
One step forward, two steps back.
Holy shit thanks for digging that up, I thought I remembered something like that. The situation & that quote is even worse than I remembered!
Usually there's at least a bit of a gap in the MLS schedule before the MLS Cup. But I'm remembering some of the MLS playoff games from the 2015 season & previous years. Often you don't know until very shortly before, who will be playing in a specific playoff game & in which city. How the hell are they planning to schedule the Argos into that? Also, I believe they were hoping to always leave at least a week after an Argos game before TFC plays at BMO. It's gonna be a shit show...
Let's calm down a bit. Hopkinson would have no reason to have kept his ear so close to the ground in MLS as to know when the final would be in 2016. He's the CCO. It was a dumb thing to say on his part but he doesn't actually have very much to do with TFC.
That Hopkinson qoute is not towing the party line. No one around the club would have said something that could come back to bite them in the ass like that. I can assure you that Leiweke and Bez f were not happy after they saw that quote in print.
because for all intents and purposes anyone directly working at TFC is an employee of MLSE, and therefore an employee of Hopkinson. You can't shit talk your boss in public.
It's likely that no one working at MLSE distanced themselves from the quote for a couple of reasons:
A) they didn't think it would be a very big deal. Distancing yourself in the press from a quote that few picked up on the first time around will only lead more attention to said quote when you bring it back up.
B) no one at MLSE (pre-manning) is looking out for us except TL. Given his imminent departure I don't think he's concerned with the long-term aesthetics of quotes like Hopkinson's. Some time's guys are gonna talk to reporters about things they don't know. TL didn't(doesn't) plan on being around for the culmination of the stadium project. It's just not something that concerns him.
C) because you can't outright distance yourself from that quote without essentially saying that actually, no, if we do make it far into the playoffs there will definitely be scheduling conflicts that could cause issues to the pitch. It's hard to distance yourself from that quote without appearing to say the opposite of what Hopkinson is.
Under TL, Bez and now Manning, the club has had a very specific policy in dealing with fans. You get good news and positive content out as fast and loud as possible. When it's not good news or against fan interest's, they take their sweet time to carefully curate a message that softens the blow as much as possible. This usually involves telling fans at a private meeting instead of releasing it through the press.
Hopkinson works nominally on the ACC side of MLSE and no one is really in a position to tell him to shut up so that he doesn't embarrass us later. It's just unfortunate more than anything else.
I have a shorter response than what molenshtain wrote: The Hopkinson quote was before season ticket renewal time. Now it's too late to renew or cancel. In that context, better for someone like Hopkinson to spout it, as now the soccer guys can say "oh he didn't know the MLS details." Plausible deniability.
It's a guess, but it's a guess that's as good as any.
They played the odds knowing a severe minority would know they have everything to prove with those comments and zero history to back that scheduling change up.
"Trust us..."
Prove it.
FORMER FULL TIME KOOL-AID DRINKER
We are back to vintage MLSE - promise, promise, promise, until you are blue in the face then hope nobody is paying attention when the time for performance comes.
I'm just going to assume the worst and if they surprise me with actual actions (as opposed to empty platitudes) I will be pleasantly surprised. Otherwise I can only laugh at putting stock in whatever they say.
i need myself a #DoYourHomework t-shirt
Lied? That's quite an accusation!
Dave Hopkinson clarified exactly what he told the Star a few days after it the October 1st publication. See the responses to:
https://twitter.com/TeamHop/status/649644717127241729 and https://twitter.com/TeamHop/status/651567718563487744
They'd play MLS leg night before. MLSE had no concerns about playing MLS Cup game 5-7 days after CFL game.
MLS is a tough, physical league, that emphasizes speed, and features plastic fields, grueling travel, extreme weather, and incompetent refs. - NK Toronto
Not so fast..
1. The Eastern Finals is a game that is nationally televised in the US by either Fox or ESPN who only have Sunday open for MLS games due to having college football on Saturday. I don't see how MLS can move the game to Saturday and not have the Eastern finals televised in the states.
2. Last year Seattle had to play with football lines on the field because 24 hours after their game wasn't enough time to paint the field and have it dry for the Seahawks game. Also what if rain was schedule the night/morning after a possible TFC home eastern final game and the grey cup was the next day.
I really hope this conflict happens and to blows up in MLSE's face.
An extra reason to have TFC go deep into the play-offs next year, each game we advance puts more pressure on MLSE.
The pressure wouldn't be only from TFC fans though, it will be from MLS/ESPN/Fox on one side, TSN, CFL, Argos on the other
Last edited by troy1982; 01-04-2016 at 06:44 PM.
In other news
Schedule out on Thursday
Since all MLS playoff games are played on a Sunday(except for the first two knockout games) I doubt that the Grey Cup will be played on a Monday.
Will the primary tenant have to plead with MLS to make an exception and play on a Saturday if TFC make it that far into the playoffs?.
Also, I never saw those tweets.
Funny how way before turns into the night before.
Too bad that he didn't clarify it to anyone in the media, most people don't follow him on twitter.
In the end if there is a conflict that semifinal will be played at Rogers end of story. In the end the Argos did move into BMO. This is MLSE we are talking about remember so nothing surprises me with these guys.
Three days ago MLS announced that the MLS Cup will be early December.
http://www.mlssoccer.com/post/2016/0...-you-need-know
Although no specific dates are given we know now for sure that the MLS Cup will take place AFTER the Grey Cup, not well before.
MLSE has no concerns about playing 5-7 days after a CFL game in November.... FFS. They are confident the weather will be fine?... more likely 7 days than 5...Imagine BMO in pishing down rain for a week prior to letting 90 neanderthals tramp around a soaking grass pitch. They are no concerned - because they don't really give a shit about TFC making the final.
I still don't see why the Grey Cup wouldn't move to the Rogers Centre. MLSE now has 10 months head start.
If MLSE waits to find out if TFC will be playing on the same date, it might be too late to book Rogers Centre.
But they know for sure when the Grey Cup will be so wouldn't it make sense to book the Grey Cup for the Rogers Centre now instead of waiting until the last minute to try to book TFC at the Rogers centre which may not be available then, plus angering all TFC fans in the process.
Also lets say the book the Rogers Centre now for TFC and it may not be needed. I am sure it would not be free to cancel the date a month before it was to be used.
Last edited by troy1982; 01-04-2016 at 09:58 PM.
The deal to buy the Argos included BMO field Grey Cups. That gives the Argo ownership way more money then renting out the Skydome.
The Grey Cup is staying. On that Sunday.
I would note
" November: 2016 MLS Playoffs | 12 more teams enter the gauntlet."
"Early December: 2016 MLS Cup | A new champion will be crowned."
No mention of specific dates. Might change a few things.
BTW, there has been some chatter about moving the MLS Cup to a Monday Night. And there has been some chatter about reducing the games played during the playoffs but I doubt the owners would go for that - home playoff dates make money.
We'll see on Thursday.
ive always felt this may happen . Scares the hell out of me . Although wouldn't that seem like a defeat, on the whole stadium redesign to MLSE . What will be the total capacity of the 'new' hockey classic stadium 40,000 . That should be enough , especially with the 1rst level plumbing maybe not working .
ALL HELL'S BROKEN LOOSEhttp://gfycat.com/SharpKindArrowana
Imagine if hypothetically, a playoff series was between Toronto FC and New York City FC, aka the Giovinco/Bradley/Altidore vs. Villa/Lampard/Pirlo show, and because of this conflict, this game might not even be on national tv anymore. I'd wonder how the league would feel about that!
Also, I think NE, Seattle and Vancouver would have similar problems.