[esquire]

Originally Posted by isaidso

Interesting. I've always viewed the name 'Argonauts' as one of the best in north American sport. Perhaps it's just not been marketed properly. It's in the same vein as USC Trojans, Michigan State Spartans, but more unique/unusual imo. They also have the added tie in to Argonaut Rowing, the history behind all that, and 'Argonaut Blue' inspiration for the Maple Leafs' colours.

I completely agree. Argonauts is definitely one of the best names around. It is steeped in tradition both in the Toronto sense and in the sense of classical mythology. The notion that the Argonauts name is a weak spot is complete nonsense IMO.

Originally Posted by isaidso

And there you have if folks! Some Torontonians care more about prestige than the actual sport. Americans don't think like that. If they did, UCLA, USC, Ohio State, Auburn, Florida State, Nebraska, Texas, Michigan, Penn State, etc. All these schools would see their fan base desert them. It's not the NFL after all!

Some of you rag on me for going on about Toronto and its failure to appreciate any sport that doesn't have the US seal of approval, but comments like Stryker's more or less confirm that that is very much the case.

It's funny/sad how the same Toronto fan who gets excited for a Leafs vs. Habs game and gets nostalgic about the Original Six days will all of a sudden turn up his nose at a game vs. the Alouettes and slam the CFL for having nine teams.

Originally Posted by Berklon

I'm not sure why Toronto gets picked on when it appears Montreal and Vancouver have a similar issue. Those 2 cities aren't exactly packing the stands as I see the average attendance for both are about 20,000 and 24,000 respectively this year.

These are highly populated cities and their attendance isn't that much better than Torontos.
I think part of the problem is that with bigger cities there's a lot more to do than take in a sporting event, and when they do want to dedicate some of their time to sports - they'd rather just "go big or go home" (so to speak).

Montreal and BC aren't perfect, but the difference is that the Als and Lions have a prominent place in their local sports firmament, as compared to Toronto which seems to go out of its way to ignore the CFL. When there is a big game, the Als (playing at the Big O) and Lions sometimes draw upwards of 50,000 fans... when was the last time that the Argos ever did that?

Originally Posted by elly63

Here are the most-watched sports events on English-language television for the past weekend, according to BBM Canada overnight ratings:

1. CFL, Alouettes at Lions, Saturday, TSN: 717,000
2. CFL, Ticats at Stampeders, Friday, TSN: 692,000
3. CFL, Argos at RedBlacks, Friday, TSN: 673,000
4. MLB, Blue Jays at Rangers, Sunday, Sportsnet One/360: 520,000
5. MLB, Blue Jays at Rangers, Friday, Sportsnet: 518,000
6. Golf, British Open final round, Sunday, TSN: 511,000
7. MLB, Blue Jays at Rangers, Saturday, Sportsnet One/360: 375,000
8. Golf, British Open third round, Saturday, TSN: 251,000
9. Auto racing, Toronto Indy, Sunday, Sportsnet: 227,000
10. Golf, British Open second round, Friday, TSN: 220,000
11. MLS, Whitecaps at Real Salt Lake, Saturday, TSN: 176,000
12. MLB, Dodgers at Cardinals, Sunday, TSN: 161,000
13. MLB, Royals at Red Sox, Saturday, Sportsnet: 121,000
14. Auto racing, F1 German Grand Prix, Sunday, TSN2: 119,000
15. Auto racing, Toronto Indy, Saturday, Sportsnet: 110,000

GlobalTV news story about return of REDBLACKS to Ottawa

For some reason the Star left out the top-rated game of the week from the list, being the Bombers vs. Eskimos. So there you have it, the supposedly "minor league" CFL once again sweeps the top of the sports ratings.

It's funny, because on the weekend I watching CBC News Network's morning show on Saturday and the only thing the sportscaster talked about was the British Open and not a word about the Redblacks' home debut... but from the looks of things the British Open probably had fewer viewers than the garbage-time portions of the CFL games when the outcomes were all decided.