Stadiums and Arenas of Canada part 2

[esquire]

Originally Posted by GernB

You said five QBs, I name seven or eight...now you shift ground and say your beef is that Burris is too old...

Reilly, Mitchell, Collaros, Harris and Jackson are all under 30, so where's the problem there?

Yeah, the QB shortage in the CFL is yesterday's news. Anyone who watched last season knows that.

IMO it was just the normal generational shift that takes place.... I remember people said the same thing in the 90s when a crop of QBs like Dunigan, Ham, Austin and Flutie retired or left the CFL. There's always a bunch of new QBs waiting in the wings.

[elly63]

Originally Posted by GernB

I think you're picking gnatshit out of pepper here.

Not sure what that means but ol calvin's post was kinda ill informed

[nas1787]

Originally Posted by Oilkountry

Yeah I hope he sells that team but he's gonna want an arm and a leg for them so I don't see them going anywhere. BC place, beautiful as it is needs to be slightly reconfigured. It's too big for Vancouver..too many seats not enough premium seating. I think loge areas would do it wonders. Also tarping off the endzones or a creative way of dissolving some of those seats. Ive always that about them removing or changing the structure of the precast in the zones to party decks or just open concourses on the upper deck. Also to come up with a clever way to block off the very top rows of the upper deck where last 5-8 rows of seats intrude back into the building. Even a retractable roll up canvas that can be lifted for the bigger events. BC place would be a beautiful 40,000 seat building

I see your point, but I think reducing the size of BC Place in any permanent way would be a mistake. The large capacity has played large part in us being able to get some premier events in recent years (Grey Cups, Women's World Cup, Heritage Classic, upcoming Rugby Sevens). These one-off events are huge for the sports loving crowd here in Vancouver (myself included).

I've had the pleasure to attend sports events at BC Place in a few different configurations this year. I'm a Whitecaps SSH, so I regularly see the stadium in it's 21 000 seating capacity, I also attended the Whitecaps playoff match where all lower bowl seats were sold, bringing attendance up to 27 000, and I attended the Canada-England WWC QF where there were 58 000 or so in attendance. And the fact is, the stadium worked well in all three configurations. They've gotten creative about how to artificially reduce capacity, and the atmosphere doesn't suffer.

On another note, I have never heard BC Place as loud as it was for the Whitecaps playoff match. Not even 58 000 at the WWC could compete (largely because there were many families and young children at the WWC). I'm looking forward to the day that every Whitecaps match has 27 000 in attendance.

[GernB]

Originally Posted by elly63

Not sure what that means but ol calvin's post was kinda ill informed

Nitpicking. An old expression of my father's.

[isaidso]

Originally Posted by Acajack

What you say is largely true but if I judge by what has happened in Ottawa, Montreal and Hamilton there is a segment of the 18-45 crowd that can be brought back. Not a huge percentage of course, but enough of them to fill some seats.

If you go to a CFL game in those cities today there are quite a few people who at one point wrote off the CFL completely and only swore by the NFL.

They may still like the NFL more but still attend CFL games for a fun evening out.

That's very encouraging. That said, the amount of scorn for the CFL in Toronto is off the chart. I don't think that level of disdain ever existed in other Canadian cities despite their affection for the US league. The view that Toronto must not support the CFL if it's to join the Chicagos of this world is quite pervasive here.

Perhaps a great 2016 at BMO will bring some of them around.

[isaidso]

Originally Posted by Acajack

There are some truths in this post but regarding that last statement, I think the 416-905 demarcation is not as cut and dried as some people are making it out to be. (I realize this is an urban affairs forum of course so it's important to many people to make that distinction.)

I don't really find that something magical occurs when you cross Steeles Ave.

On the other hand, even if it were true and the Argos really had zero fans in the 416, the suburban market of Toronto would still be tied with Montreal for the biggest market in the CFL.

I realize I'm a strange breed but I follow the Argos and live 2 blocks from Maple Leaf Gardens. I'm middle aged. A friend of mine also follows them and he lives right down town as well. Granted we're transplanted Bluenosers but CFL support does exist among downtown urbanites. We're also the polar opposite of that stereotype. We couldn't be further removed from those Rob Ford types if we tried. He's a globe trotting gay architect and I.... well I'd rather not say.

If we exist, surely there are others.

[SkydivePilot]

Originally Posted by osmo

Burris is 40 years old...

It isn't a good thing when a 40 year old is your league MVP....

Any skilled 23 year old can out perform a 40 year old at QB.

These old guys still get work in a 9 team league because they cant dig up any new arms. All the smaller read option types that used to be tossed from the NFL and became CFL stars are staying down south now.

There is also a deficit in the CIS which is not developing QBs like it used to. I believe IIRC a Canadian CIS QB has not made a NFL roster in over 10 years now...

Russell Wilson IMO is the prototype CFL QB and would be perfect for our game. If this was 10 years ago people would be calling him the second coming of Doug Flutie. 10 years ago Wilson would not get on a NFL roster and would be up here.

Look at Payton Manning in Denver with a springy kid out performing him of the simple fact he can just do things a smidge quicker.

The CFL is still stuck with gargoyles from when I was a kid. I see Wally Bauno's goofy mug and it reminds me of the crap days at Taylor Field in the cold with 9,000 fans with the Riders getting tossed around by the Stamps. CFL is slowly getting new blood, dudes like Jason Maas and other players going strait into coaching is good for league long term.

Get those old school guys out.

I thought this was the Stadium Thread.

Anyhow, young or not, Burris and his boys did wonderful last season. Besides that, I think it is fantastic that a 40-year-old as league MVP.

By the way, the Riders will be the ones doing the "tossing" this year.

[drummer_god]

Burris may be 40, but...
How old is tom Brady?

[drummer_god]

Originally Posted by GreatTallNorth2

I live in London and Toronto draws a lot of people from London to Maple Leafs, Raptors & TFC games. In fact I am going with my 2 sons to see the Raptors on Friday. Yet, I don't know of anyone in London that drives to Toronto or Hamilton to see a CFL game. I've never heard a friend say "let's go see a CFL game" and especially young people don't have interest in CFL.
Not trying to put down the CFL at all, but there is honestly not a lot of interest in CFL. Will that change with moving to BMO? I don't think so.

I live in London. I'm 33 and have been following the CFL since I was 23 and I drive to Toronto for Argos games and Hamilton for tigercats games multiple times per year.

Don't act like you're the utmost authority on what all Londoners do.

When the grey cup train came to the London train station in 2012, I was surprised to see so much CFL support here - jerseys from every team.

You may choose to drive to Detroit to support a foreign country's teams, but I drive to Toronto to support Canadian teams. Perhaps, next time you drive to Detroit, you shouldn't come back.

[Berklon]

Originally Posted by drummer_god

Perhaps, next time you drive to Detroit, you shouldn't come back.

Perhaps, next time you post, you shouldn't be an asshole.

[Riise]

Originally Posted by isaidso

The view that Toronto must not support the CFL if it's to join the Chicagos of this world is quite pervasive here.

And ironic since being able to support a locally niche sport would actually boost their credentials.

[elly63]

Originally Posted by Berklon

Perhaps, next time you post, you shouldn't be an asshole.

Always good to have an expert's analysis.

[elly63]

Originally Posted by Riise

And ironic since being able to support a locally niche sport would actually boost their credentials.

That concept seems lost in the torrent of wannabeism (is that a word)

[FrankieFlowerpot]

Originally Posted by SkydivePilot

I thought this was the Stadium Thread.

Same here

[elly63]

It will never be just the stadium thread

Here's how it works:

1. Poster makes perceived anti-Canada/CFL/wannabe American comment
2. Canada/CFL supporters issue full retaliatory response
3. Rinse and repeat
4. Issue settles for a time
5. See 1.
6. Rinse and repeat

[elly63]

I should add though that with all the new projects that have been completed or are nearing completion there isn't much live news to fill in the down times that isn't off topic. That's why TSN plays SportsCentre half the time.

Personally I'm not much interested in arena talk so that leaves finishing Mosaic and a new Calgary stadium as about all that are left for me. Possibly also a refurb of the Big O that they keep threatening every few years so the thread is bound to go off topic but eventually it comes back.

[tomthumb2]

^^^ Calgary will never happen so all we have left is Mosaic. Speaking of which, would be nice to see some new pics.

[elly63]

Originally Posted by tomthumb2

^^^ Calgary will never happen so all we have left is Mosaic. Speaking of which, would be nice to see some new pics.

Obviously, you know the area better than I do, but your negativity makes no sense. Calgary seems to be mounting some of the least objections to this project (other than financial) than most of the other new builds. The present project is a no go but like every other project gets tossed around, rejigged and eventually sees fruition.

If one of the city's main wishlist projects is a fieldhouse, why wouldn't this be done if/when the financial climate improves.

Buildings get built it's a fact of life. Someday, McMahon will reach its EOL (like Hamilton) where it won't be cost effective to repair.

I also know many people have commented negatively on the initial design but that is what it is, an initial design. The ownership themselves admit this, they're just floating the boat seeing which way the wind blows.

A change of financing, political office and goodwill and things can change fairly quickly. Ownership will take the necessary steps eventually to do the things they have to do to maximize their revenue, I can't see McMahon being part of that scenario, long term. That is especially true in the light of every other city finding a way to come up with a solution to fund a new facility, why should Calgary be different?

[tomthumb2]

Originally Posted by elly63

Calgary seems to be mounting some of the least objections to this project (other than financial) than most of the other new builds.

Sorry but this is where you're wrong. In papers, forums, etc, I've seen way more objection than support. The main reason I'm negative is that we all thought the Flames would present a great idea and it turned out to be crap.

They also said this was the ONLY idea they have, so considering the time it will take for this to drag out before it finally dies and then start all over again with a massively down-sized plan, well let's just say that Saskatchewan might be looking to replace new Mosaic.

[TownGuy]

Originally Posted by isaidso

The view that Toronto must not support the CFL if it's to join the Chicagos of this world is quite pervasive here.

What an odd comment. There is some apathy towards then CFL that's about it.