So Chad Kackert gets signed and the Toronto media scoff that it's created little buzz.....because the Toronto media under-reports the story. D'uh!
Perhaps more disturbing are the comments accompanying the column. This "bush league/farm league/2nd tier league" thing seems so pervasive there. I can't deny it exists elsewhere in Canada, particularly in big cities, but CFL bashing seems to be an obsessive hobby in T.O. - like it's some type of threat. I just don't get it. :roll: I just worry that these cretins are going to migrate West and spread their bile to the rest of us. Granted, some comments were supportive. But most were like these....
Shaft1974In Toronto, the Argos are probably the 5th team behind the Leafs, the Jays, the Raptors, and TFC. The aforementioned teams are owned by large and powerful entities that make sure they get enough media attention. It doesn't help, that the CFL is, let's just say it, a minor league or developmental league for the NFL. 95% of the CFL players couldn't make an NFL team roster. ...User ID:http://thestar.com/user/179482User IP:
4 Hours Ago· Reply· ShareibmetomI had to think hard to remember if I even watched the game so it's not just the Argos it's the CFL that lacks appeal; one guy owns a quarter of the league. ...User ID:http://thestar.com/user/178351User IP:
5 Hours Ago· Reply· Sharecristian.taneCFL is a second tier league and that's all the explanation needed. A city that has NHL, NBA and MLB teams is never going to truly care about the CFL, no matter how many titles the Argos win.
The NFL - now that would be a different story. If only we got a team. ...User ID:http://thestar.com/user/234978User IP:
5 Hours Ago· Reply· SharerhizzyThe Argos play in the CFL, which is an irrelevant league in the scope of North American sports. Championship or not, they will never generate as much buzz as teams in the major leagues do....User ID:http://thestar.com/user/229338User IP:
6 Hours Ago· Reply· SharedragongraveAt the end of the day, the argos don't generate buzz because they are a second rate team playing in a second rate league. End of story. This city cares more about the NFL, than they will ever about the CFL. The NFL took all their fans and keeps their attention with better athletes, betting, fantasy football and so on. The CFL has none of this and won't have any of this ever.
Toronto is a city that has always sought status and praise. It wants to be Americana in spite that it has been allowed to become what it is because Canadians decided that we wanted a very restrictive banking system. Not much we can do about it. Glad someone wants to live there...
I mostly agree. I wouldn't say Kackert's signing was reported quietly, my Google news alerts sent me five or six articles about it. I haven't read a single article about Flacco trying to get a new contract, but then again I don't know much about the NFL... kinda like Cox doesn't know much about the CFL...
Offseasons have always been a quiet time for the Argonauts, that's nothing new. Doesn't indicate much one way or the other.
"the worst time to win a championship?"....... ok there buddy...
The CFL is a second tier league when it comes to Gridiron football, I don't think there's much sense in denying this and I don't think it's really a problem. It's those who see this as a reason to deride the league that have the real problems. If you really love a sport, wouldn't you want to consume all you can of it? Wouldn't it at least be better than sitting around waiting for the NFL to start again? I never understood that, it must be the result of some unmet desire to be the most popular kid in school, who knows.
Agree dmont. There is a lot of jealousy towards the CFL right now, right in Toronto, I mean 2 cities in s Ontario are going to have new stadiums that the "big league" Blue Jays can only dream of. They are stuck in the tomb bowl. :lol: Ouch, that has to touch some nerves among those with big egos, especially in Toronto, and Toronto isn't one of the cities getting a new stadium even with a team that won Canada's 100th Grey Cup national football championship. All of this has to hurt big time.
So the more "bush league" comments towards the CFL, the better in many respects, shows people know exactly what's going on and bugs the livin pee out of them there in the Centre of the Universe. 8)
Keep up the good work Damien, you doin' good there my man. :thup: :twisted:
Days after the 100th Grey Cup, the Star said the Argos were no longer a top tier sport and lumped them in with the Rock and Marlies with regards to their stature in Toronto. The Star recently eliminated their Argos webpage (which was a joke anyways) and now lump all Argo and CFL news in with the NFL, under “Football” (much like the G&M does). This contributes to the “lack of buzz” about the Argos (and it’s only 5 months to opening day!) that the Star is propogating. :roll:
Seeing how the Star has gone overboard gaga about the Jays recently, they’ve likely been co-opted by Rogers to stick it to the Argos and CFL (in a cynical pursuit of power and greed.)
Off season is a quiet time for most CFL teams. Outside of free agency and the draft, there’s not a lot going on to write about. Not sure why Cox talks in terms of “headlines surrounding” Flacco seeking a new contract from the Baltimore Ravens. Huh? I must be missing something. BFD.
So let me get this straight. This reporter, who regularly covers the CFL, is writing about the Argos in the middle of February, and you're calling it a hatchet job. I take it there is something in the article you found unfair, or untrue? I'd be interested to hear which parts of the article you disagree with.
As for the commenters, it's hard to tell where people come from when you're reading anonymous web posts. After all, you're reading the story from B.C. And I'm not sure they said anything worse about the CFL than you said about some of your fellow Canadians in your own post. I guess everyone needs to bash something/someone.
If Rogers did not steal Skydome from the city for a bag of beans they could not afford to keep the Blue Jays and would have gone the way of the Expos. Owning the team, the stadium, and the network that broadcast the game the games will keep the Jays in Toronto for as long as Rogers wants them to. Grass will eventually become a reality and the retractable roof is also a plus that the MLB will look at as a plus for any team in baseball with the World series now going all the way until the start of November and open roof during the summer and a closed roof during october is a great situation for the MLB. Living in the US the Blue Jays playing at Rogers centre is not ever mentioned as an issue for baseball fans.
So just because this reporter (columnist actually) is "writing about the Argos in the middle of February," somehow makes the content about which he's writes irrelevant? Do you subscribe to the notion that negative publicity is still publicity??
Are you serious? I found the entire tone of the column unfair. Take your pick: that there's no buzz around team in the off-season? ("buzz" is one of those annoyingly nebulous, subjective words. If you can't quantify something, give it a "buzz."). That the Argos picked the "wrong time" to win a Championship (I assume he was being facetious?)? The idea that we should somehow be surprised that the Leafs/Raptors "in season" (and the Rogers-owned Blue Jays) are newsworthy when the Argos, in their "off season" are not?? The irony of a major newspaper telling us that the Kackert signing "was reported, but quietly so?" Hello?!?
That's what I love about the CFL, well just one more thing, that new stadiums and major refurbished stadiums can happen with media like the Toronto Star and Rogers trying to minimize the league and their own team in their own city. It's actually quite funny but hey, what can I say, they probably don't even have a clue all this does is make them, the city of Toronto, look less and less important in terms of the overall makeup of what makes Canada Canada. I hope they keep it up at there with media like The Star, it's beautiful. They don't even know how to respect their own team. I love it! :thup:
Hey gem, I guess they sort of have to since they are too embarrased as they don't even know how to build a 25,000 seater gridiron stadium there and if you can't do that, well what choice have you got but to do what they think they are trying to do. But that's the way people who don't know how to get things done act, instead of building up the Argos and CFL and go with the positive momentum of having their city be the 100th national Grey Cup champs of Canada and hosting it, they get all confused and flustered and can't put the eggs one behind the other to just "do it". Pathetic.
Don't shoot the messenger (i.e. the columnist, not me). He's saying Toronto sports fans have been more interested in the Leafs/Raptors/Jays than the Argos, and that those other teams have been doing positive things. The fact that we CFL fans wish it weren't so doesn't change reality. And Rogers may own a lot of things, but they don't own the Star, so I don't think you can dismiss all positive statements about the Jays as being driven by the Rogers puppetmaster.
A quick Google News search shows that the Star covered the Kackert signing two days in a row, compared to once for the other outlets. But "buzz" is also about the TV sports shows.
The "worst time to win a championship" line is more of an opinion than a fact, but it sums up everything he said in the article. Columnists are paid to have opinions. He's saying Argos did good, but their success is drowned out by that of the other teams. Do you disagree?
I'm not saying it's the best column ever, but I don't see it as a "hatchet job" - mainly because he's not really saying anything bad or false about the Argos, which would be the definition of a hatchet job.
In contrast, there's that little matter of attacking all residents of a city you don't happen to like based on what you read in a sports column ...
Yet, never any talk about TFC getting TV ratings under 25,000 for some games and majorly inflating their attandance numbers. No talk ever that due to the MLSE owning the Raptors, that Leaf season ticket holders (platinum) have to buy Raptor season tickets, even if most do not want to. In media circles its talked about how the Raptors would have left T.O by now, if not for the Leafs due to lack of fan support. I go to lots of Raptors games and see thousands of emtpy seats and or sections, only to be told announced attendance is 17,000 in a 19+ building, when people in the chairs are really 13,000 sometimes. No story on this. What are the Raptors TV ratings, 4th in the city of T.O, well behind the Leafs and Argos. It would be nice just to get some fair reporting on the other teams, but it seems, that the poor Argos are always held to a higher standard then the other teams
