ChampionsWorld in Toronto

[Stephen1164]

All,

Toronto had some great parties for Euro2004 are there any plans for the 2 ChampionsWorld Soccer events?

[TopDogg]

None of those parties were planned.

Although the two ChampionsWorld matches take place the same weekend as Caribana, which may just be the biggest street party in Canada.

[Stephen1164]

None of those parties were planned.

Although the two ChampionsWorld matches take place the same weekend as Caribana, which may just be the biggest street party in Canada.


Yea I kinda of notice it was not planned but at least the city blocked off strreets knowing what would be happening. So is the Caribana a big event in Toronto? Is it close to Skydome?

[TopDogg]

Yea I kinda of notice it was not planned but at least the city blocked off strreets knowing what would be happening. So is the Caribana a big event in Toronto? Is it close to Skydome?
http://www.caribana.com/

[Stephen1164]

Does anyone know what hotels the teams will be staying at in Toronto?

[Sepp Bladder]

I'd think that a victory for Porto or Roma would be cause for some small-scale celebration within the respective ethnic communities in Toronto. However, with these being friendly matches there is considerably less to celebrate. The European Championship, as we all know, kicks up a lot of excitement in people who normally don't give a care about soccer. I'd assume most of the interest in these matches will come from "real" soccer fans. Are you guys going to both matches?

[Stephen1164]

I'd think that a victory for Porto or Roma would be cause for some small-scale celebration within the respective ethnic communities in Toronto. However, with these being friendly matches there is considerably less to celebrate. The European Championship, as we all know, kicks up a lot of excitement in people who normally don't give a care about soccer. I'd assume most of the interest in these matches will come from "real" soccer fans. Are you guys going to both matches?

I'm catching the Pittsburgh Match and then
I'm staying at Skydome and will be attending both Matches

[ToMhIlL]

I've got tickets for Celtic-Roma, but who is the other match in SkyDome? I also plan on checking out the Caribana parade, and taking the ferry out to Olympic Island for the arts & cultural festival. Should be a great time!

Tom

[Stephen1164]

I've got tickets for Celtic-Roma, but who is the other match in SkyDome? I also plan on checking out the Caribana parade, and taking the ferry out to Olympic Island for the arts & cultural festival. Should be a great time!

Tom


Liverpool and Porto play on Friday July 30th

[ToMhIlL]

OK, so it's a bit late, but I had a great (long) weekend in Toronto, and hope to make it back soon. Roma were staying at our hotel, the Westin Harbourfront on Queens Quay. My wife was the first one to figure this out, when she spotted several young guys in tracksuits lounging in the lobby, chatting on their cell phones in Italian.

I've got to say, SkyDome is a magnificent stadium, and even thoguh it's about 12-13 years older than Gillette Stadium, it is better laid out and the flow of the crowd seems to work better. There were just over 50,000 for the Celtic-Roma match, and it was never a hassle getting in/out/around, even at the end when everyone was leaving. There were about 41,000 at the Liverpool-Porto game Friday night.

All I was hoping for was a good, entertaining game, and that's what we got. Totti scored a nice goal, chipping the keeper, but you could argue that he was too far off his line. Both teams had some good chances, especially Celtic, who could easily have won by 2-3 goals. There was enough fight for a few yellow cards, and it was a far cry from the Bayern-Man U snore-fest that I had the misfortune of watching on TV a week or so earlier. The only bad thing was some idiot jumped on to the pitch, but the funny part was that it was like that "streaker" ad, where it took a ton of security and a lot of running to finally get him. The ref blew the whistle right at 90, when some other idiot followed suit. No point in risking anything.

The Caribana festival was a good time as well, and I found almost all the folks I encountered in TO to be very friendly and fun to be around. I will definitely go back again!

Tom

[TopDogg]

Liverpool also stayed in that same hotel the night before, as there was a bit of a mob scene just outside the lobby when some people recognized Michael Owen and Steven Gerrard.

Glad you enjoyed Toronto, it really is a great city. As for the SkyDome, it is a very nice stadium considering is the epitome of "multi-use", as you will have noticed by the curved lower deck (which can be moved entire to accomodate the Blue Jays or the Argos, depending on who's playing that night. Obviously what you saw was the football configuration).

[Khansingh]

SkyDome is nice, it's just obsolete What are the odds that it's vacant in 2009? The Argos will be in their new stadium by then and the Jays' lease expires at the end of 2008. They'll probably want a new one.

[Stephen1164]

Toronto is an excellent city to see any sport. The Soccer matches were great. I wonder what will be done with Skydome after everyone leaves. I hope it's not another skyscraper.

[ToMhIlL]

SkyDome is nice, it's just obsolete What are the odds that it's vacant in 2009? The Argos will be in their new stadium by then and the Jays' lease expires at the end of 2008. They'll probably want a new one.
How is it "obsolete?" OK, most of the baseball teams are playing in natural grass and brick "retro" parks, and this came out just before that trend, but for a modern stadium, it's quite nice. By comparison, I go to Revs games at Gillette Stadium (2002), and you can't even compare the two for crowd control, ease of getting around or configuration. Even though SkyDome is a big stadium, seats in the upper deck appear a lot closer than they do at Gillette, and the whole place had a more intimate feel.

The Argos close off the upper deck, so I can see if they would prefer a smaller stadium, like the Alouettes did when they moved to Molson Stadium from the Big Owe. So who is going to pay for the Argos or Jays to have a nice new stadium to play in? I hope to hell it won't be the Toronto/Ontario taxpayers, since there's no way SkyDome will be paid for.

If they Jays want to build a Camden Yards type place, fine, as long as they buy the land and pay for the construction themselves.

As for the SkyDome, it is a very nice stadium considering is the epitome of "multi-use", as you will have noticed by the curved lower deck (which can be moved entire to accomodate the Blue Jays or the Argos, depending on who's playing that night. Obviously what you saw was the football configuration).Yeah, I was really surprised to see the Jays playing at home Monday afternoon when we went up the CN Tower. It didn't take them too long to take out the grass field and move the seating configuration back to baseball in less than 36 hours

Tom