The Argos are a mystery today and while I agree with a few sentiments in the post above I don't know if I am ready to permanently write them off just yet.
Depending on how young you are and the poster above is likely too young to remember the heyday of the Argos when it was just hockey and football that dominated the local sports scene.
The Argos are first and foremost the victims of their own ineptitude and an incredible piece of bad luck along the way.
Where the situation is today re: sharing BMO is exactly where it was intended to be years ago with the CSA and the Argos sharing a stadium at U of T. The university backed out of the deal and the Argos (in hindsight) made one poor decision after another after that.
Add to that Braley conversely saving and killing the franchise and you get to where we are today with the Argos trying to dig themselves out of a big hole.
Also added to that are the NFL trolls and whatever their motivation is to knock the league needlessly and more recently the TFC trolls who actively and insidiously campaign against the Argos. That seems to have lessened significantly as the sky is falling predictions of the Argos going to BMO haven't come to fruition.
The TFC trolls only came out of the woodwork when the stadium sharing issue came forth. Until then their antipathy was pointed at baseball. They would try to denigrate ball players as fat and out of shape in the vain hope that would somehow elevate soccer in people's eyes.
And add to that a hostile local media led by Sportsnet who not only can't see fit to mention a rival's sports property (somewhat excusable) but actively campaign against it (totally inexcusable) This also seems to have abated somewhat as they seem to have caught some badwill and blowback over what they were so obviously doing.
Now I'm not saying any of the above has singlehandedly put the Argos in the poor position they are today re: attendance, but they surely haven't helped.
It's just too difficult to tell that with the good ownership the Argos have whether they can dig themselves out of the hole they are in. Historically CFL attendance in the big 3 markets is notoriously cyclical. Almost all the CFL teams have been near death at one time or another and most have bounced back spectacularly.
This portrays the cyclical nature of the Argo attendance. I don't know if anyone has the answer on how to resurrect the franchise if it is even possible but I do know groups needlessly kicking them when they are down doesn't help.
There is a fantastic documentary out there called "The Greatest Team That Never Won" which shows the Argos when they owned the town in the 70s. I particularly enjoyed the colour footage of the Ex in the 70s with the chewed up turf and mud (a real historic document)
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