Argos vs Lions

I'm not saying it is a conspiracy but I am saying that it is a huge competitive advantage for a team to be home for 4 weeks in a row late in the season when games take on an added significance - and in a properly administered league - it should not be allowed to happen. I know the Argos have issues with getting home dates - but I simply don't believe there was not a way to get around being home 4 consecutive weekends in October after a bye week.

Conceivable they will be hosting the Eastern Final on November 23rd and between now and then the Argos will be sleeping in their own beds for 63 of the 64 nights. I don't care what the excuse is - that is simply wrong.

Well, considering how any years in a row they have had a terrible schedule, not believing there is a way around it is ridiculous, IMO. As I said, they were offered either 11 or 12 dates - total – from the start of the season to the end of the season. How would you propose that they or the league “get around” that?

Simple - you tell a team they can't be home that often in the last 6 weeks of the year and they have to find a place to play a home game or two earlier in the year so that they have some road games late in the season - which is the only way you are being fair to the other teams in their conference. If that means playing a game at U of T, Western, Guelph, York - just like the Cats had to play at Mac when THF was not ready - that is what MUST be done.

From a fair competition perspective - a schedule down the stretch like they have this year is simply WRONG!

It actually works out to the advantage of the Ticats - they play in Toronto for two of them games and they will benefit more than any other team including the Argos. It’s like two more home games for the Ticats, it’s just a few km down the highway so no travel problems no sleeping in different beds AND the big advantage that there will be more Ticat fans in the stands than Argo fans.

this is nuts. everyone plays the same number of home games. If you have a long stretch of one, you will have a long stretch of the other. It evens out. Toronto has won 2 road games, the other three have won none. Its their fault if they are now at a disadvantage, not the schedules.

Yeah, let's tell the team in the biggest but least-interested market, with the biggest marketing challenge by far, to play some home games at 6,000-seat Varsity Stadium to counteract the monstrous advantage they received by playing two home games in 11 weeks. Why didn't I think of that?

:roll:

Who would waste videotape on a Canadian? No one would care anyways…

Hmmm. Seems to me I've watched some Eastern teams really struggle in late season games in the cold or snow out west - and have watched my Cats in fact often lose late season games in snow in Calgary and Winnipeg the last few seasons in weather they were not accustomed to.

I've also noticed over years of watching CFL games - or for that matter games in any professional sports league I watch - that late season games get much more intense - are played with a level of intensity not often matched in early or mid-season games - with crowds way more into those late in the year critical home games - making it much tougher on visiting teams - compared to games in Juky or August.

Or have I been imagining that all these years?

The Argos right now have a HUGE and IMO unfair competitive advantage having so many KEY late season games in their own park without having to be out on the road at all for five of the most critical and hardest fought games of a CFL season.

I am actually stunned that you guys don't understand that.

Just to add an example from another sport - if the NHL schedule came out and the Habs had something like 10 consecutive home games to close out the season - if I'm another team in their division - no way on earth do I approve that schedule. Sure it means they have played more road games the rest of the year than any other team - but there is no way you want a team you are battling in a play-off spot with to have that many home games during the part of the season where games are most intense and where by being home for that many games in a row they have a good chance of going on a real roll heading into the playoffs.

Why should the CFL be any different?

This kind of scheduling happens in any sport. What about the Texas road trip in the NBA when teams have to go against Houston, Dallas, San Antonio, etc? The schedule is what it is.

:cowboy:

Mr. Beaglehound- Your lions may not be as dumb as we make them out to be. 4th place finish in the west may be the smartest place to finish. Crossover to the east for playoffs!!! Well done Benevides and company. You are on task. :wink: :roll: :rockin: :cowboy:

"4th place finish in the west may be the smartest place to finish."…. by Turkeybend2

I would not want to suggest playing for 4th spot would be intentional Turkeybend2 but the way things are shaping up the Western Team that ends up in 4th spot may well earn a spot in the playoffs. However, I would not want to bet that the cross-over team beating both the 2nd and then the 1st place team in the East would be a sure thing give the way the Eastern teams are starting to come on. Hamilton and the Argos are looking much better of late.

The East plays most of its remaining games against each other. The eastern teams are currently so low in the standings that it is may be quite the accomplishment for the 3rd place team to finish the season with 18 or even 16 points given the fact that most of their games are against each other. This clearly opens the door to the a western team crossing over. I think a 4th place western team finishing the season with 18 points or even 16 has a pretty good shot at the cross-over 20 points and its guaranteed! Regardless, I don't think the coaches are trying to script it that way.

"The Argos right now have a HUGE and IMO unfair competitive advantage having so many KEY late season games in their own park without having to be out on the road at all for five of the most critical and hardest fought games of a CFL season." ... by TravelPatB

Home field can help but I don't agree with your perception that the Argos have a "HUGE" edge over the competition. In my opinion every game should be a critical game unless a team has already been eliminated from playoff contention or the team cannot go any higher in the standings.

The Lions just played one critical game at home against, none other the Argos, and the Lions lost. So much for home field advantage.

Would you be saying this if it were your team that had the kind of schedule the Argos have been given? I guess we won't really know.

I think what's really bugging you is that the Ti-Cats and Argos are developing into the two "top" teams in the East and only one can host the Eastern Final. The Argos have the edge because they play the Ti-Cats two more times and both games are in Toronto. Too bad so sad.

The crowd can help but the crowd does not win games. In fact I've heard players say they revel going into a game as the visiting team and dishing out some whoop a** to the home team and the home crowd. I don't think the players are all that concerned.

It is what it is TPB. If you really think the Argos have a huge competitive home field edge going into the final stretch I'd like to see if it is true. Have there been other seasons during the past 20 or 30 years where a team plays so many consecutive home games in the final stretch and if so did it work to the home team's advantage? I'm not going to bother looking it up because I don't really care all that much but I think you're stretching it when you suggest the schedule is not fair. If your team is good enough it will get the job done no matter where it plays.

The task of scheduling games has become more complicated with the number of teams renovating and building new stadiums adding to stadium availability issues that are increasing in Toronto, Vancouver and other centres (including the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup in five CFL centres) as well as television requirements.

OK - so if playing at home isn’t any advantage let’s offer the first place teams a chance to play on the road for the conference finals and see if they agree.

And fyi - I had this conversation with friends who are Argos season ticket holders back when the schedule came out. They hated the schedule but they also said this. 'If we are in first or close to first by the end of September - we're laughing.'

And don't bother going back because I can tell you with some degree of certainty you won't find examples of any other team having five of their last six games at home. Pretty sure it hasn't happened. Why? Because it is not a fair schedule!

Where did I say it wasn’t an advantage? I said it can help but it doesn’t always work to the benefit of the home team. You need to put on your listening hears TPB. :wink:

"I had this conversation with friends who are Argos season ticket holders back when the schedule came out. They hated the schedule …" by TPB

So that makes the schedule unfair?? Because some of your "friends" didn't like the schedule?? Oh pahleez. I just got off the phone TPB after talking to "all" my Argo friends back east [both of them lol] and they loved the schedule when it came out.

"And don't bother going back because I can tell you with some degree of certainty you won't find examples of any other team having five of their last six games at home. Pretty sure it hasn't happened. Why? Because it is not a fair schedule!"…. TPB

I love how you use phrases like "with some degree" and "pretty sure". What exactly does that mean? Does it mean you don't really know TPB? If you think the schedule is unfair you're entitled to your opinion. But that is all it is…. your opinion based on your perception. There are obviously reasons why the Argos schedule is what it is. I presented what might be some reasons. If you think the schedule is unfair get over it. :rockin: It is what it is.

Toronto had four of its last six at home last season, including the last three. In 2012 it had six of its last eight at home, including a stretch of five out of six. In 2011 it had five of its last seven at home. In 2010 it had five of its last seven on the road, oddly enough. 2009: 4 of the last 6 at home. 2008: 4 of the last 6 at home. 2007: 4 of the last 6 at home. 2006: 5 of the last 7 at home.

Bottom line, the Argos have not had a “normal” schedule (mostly alternating home and away games) since 2005. Now that you’re on the case, I guess this decade-long streak of unfair advantage will finally come to an end.

Gee with a schedule like that the Argos should be winning the east more often. :twisted: And thank you for going back and checking the schedule - you made my point - there has not been another time where a team has had five of their last 6 games at home and not had to travel on the road at least twice over the last 7 weeks of the regular season - something the Argos only have to do just once over the last seven weeks of the regular season this year. Ridiculous - and not fair to other teams in the east!

Can't wait until they get into BMO so that every team in the division can have a balanced (and fair) schedule.

TravelPat—

Can ANYONE call the Skydump (ahem) Robber’s Centre home? It’s dead in there. When the Cats play the Argos the Cat fans are louder in there.