The real test will come in October with the bad weather, but I must say that you could not tell that the Argos had played a game on that turf only a week ago. It looked great, played true and there were no grid iron marks anywhere.
Yep - only thing I noticed was some marking in the south 6yd box - unsure what it was tho - doesn't seem like any CFL line markings.
Yeah - thought it might be that - wasn't sure. Either way - the pitch looked great on Saturday. Though I suspect there will be doubters for the foreseeable.
After the first game, I assumed that the Argos would attract near capacity crowds all season. What a surprise to see acres and acres of empty red seats last night. Has the BMO novelty worn off already? Some guy tried to explain it away by saying that it was mid-week and really hot. The trouble with that is that the stadium would still have been filled if it were TFC.
I don't buy the temperature excuse. Everyone knows that temperatures close to the lake are pretty moderate in the summer.
In addition, when I used to go to Argo games, all the summer games were played in mid-week. The switch to weekends always came on Labour Day weekend.
Went to my first Argo game at BMO the other night......not my sport (pointy ball football whether it starts with a C or an N before the FL) just never makes any emotional connection with me. That said, at BMO it came close to make me intrigued.....the closeness of the action and the brilliant sitelines was very interesting. Another thing I noticed, is that while the crowd was only 16k it "felt" like more....I think this is because argo fans making noise are more spread out the stadium than at our matches....as good as the south end thing is, the negative is that it has not spread around the stadium and the effect is that the crowd sounds/feels smaller than it is.
You are right about the fans. More people have to get involved. Unfortunately, so typical of Toronto crowds.
not sure we are totally agreeing...I am saying that the 16k at Argo game was as loud and "into it" as a low 20k crowd at tfc because it was spread around the stadium...heck I was in 124 ( a very quiet section for TFC matches) and most people were chanting).....so a very engaged crowd. Sometimes your greatest strength is your greatest weekness.....TFC did great work in the early days and has continued to work to showcase the south end as where the noise is......so I think, inadvertently, they sent the message that that is the only place you can sing/chant/clap...etc.
I agree with you. The south end is great. I sit in 210, right above the south end supporters' groups. I just wish more of the fans in other parts of the stadium would get as involved as the south end. I can remember in year one, at an exhibition game against Pachuca from Mexico, the whole stadium was rocking. It was incredible. I just wish we could get back to that.