No Toronto Argonauts this year??? Probably the most talked about game of the year in the East??? Has the league gone insane??? Who was the marketing genius that thought that one up? I for one am extremely P.O.ed about this.
this is an OUTRAGE!
[url=http://slam.canoe.ca/Slam/Football/CFL/Toronto/2011/02/18/17326391.html]http://slam.canoe.ca/Slam/Football/CFL/ ... 26391.html[/url]For the first time since 1995, Argonauts fans won’t be filled with hate for the Hamilton Tiger-Cats on Labour Day weekend.
The Labour Day Classic between the Argos and Ticats, an annual staple on the schedule for both teams — and one that players have acknowledged is the biggest game of the regular season — won’t be happening in 2011.
Because they play so many games on the road prior to Labour Day weekend, the Argos will play at home that Friday night versus the B.C. Lions. The Ticats will play host to the Montreal Alouettes on Labour Day.
The Argos are an afterthought when it comes to scheduling at the Rogers Centre, as they get the scraps once the Blue Jays’ schedule is set. The Argos will play their first three games on the road, starting July 1 in Calgary against the Stampeders, and of their first eight games, five will be away from Toronto.
The Labour Day Classic had been a tradition prior to 1995, when the Argos played at home against the San Antonio Texans.
In the 15 games between Hamilton and Toronto on Labour Day since ’95, the Ticats hold the edge with an 8-6-1 record.
The thinking is this will be a one-off, with the Canadian Football League doing what it can in 2012 to ensure that the Labour Day Classic between the Argos and Ticats is back on.
It all boils down to the Argonauts being at the bottom of the food chain when it comes to priority at Rogers Centre. The greatest legacy David Braley could leave the CFL, imho, would be to spearhead building a new stadium in Toronto for the Argos. Then, they'd be in the driver's seat!
This is dumb, the Cat's vs the Al's always seems to be the most boring matchup in the history of mankind.Almost always a blow out one way or another.
maybe with Avon Coborne being a cat, the game might be a little more intense then normal.
but i'm not impressed that they are messing with tradition.
Well, I guarantee from week 1 on that there's going to be alot of anti-al's ad's at IWS to promote the new LDC to the max.I hope it works, I hate the games where only 19,000 show up.Although sadly, they're often louder than a maxed out IWS.
Love the whine fest going on here. The schedule can’t be helped. It’s still Labour Day and we’re still hosting. Everyone does realize that the “Labour Day Classic” only goes back 20 years? Before that we used to host a Thanksgiving Day game, against a different opponent every year and honestly I preferred that. I remember going to the game with my Dad and then coming home to a Thanksgiving dinner with our family. For me, that’s a tradition that should be honoured.
"While these are all compelling match-ups, there's no doubt we would have loved to see the Argos face their traditional Labour Day foes in Hamilton," Cohon said.“The fact is a shortage of available dates for the Argos at Rogers Centre, which also has to accommodate Major League Baseball’s Blue Jays and some major concerts, made that virtually impossible. To have the Argos on the road on Labour Day Weekend would have meant they would play away from home six of the first nine weeks of the season, and that simply wouldn’t do justice to the competitive balance and fairness we strive to achieve. This change achieves the best possible home schedule for the Argos under the circumstances.”
Let the latest round of Wiggles jokes commence.
the reason is, as explained on the CFL Facebook page is that they could not make the schedule work out BECAUSE
(clears throat)
of the ROGERS CENTRE schedule.... figures. :roll:
they didn't want to have the Argos with 6 home games in a row? which is what it would have ended up being.
so blame Rogers Centre for their scheduling stupidity.
This is such an abomination.
It’s seems so wrong that they would mess with labour day, regardless of the reasons stated.
This is just a shame.
The CFL is a league built on rivalries, and labour day is the most magical weekend of the regular season…
The Waaaambulance is perminately parked in this forum, haven’t ya noticed?
Hey Grims…
Maybe part of the reason that you aren’t sympathetic is simply because you don’t have a “natural” rivalry with another close city. Trying to make Montreal-BC a major event game just doesn’t work the same.
Actually, I wasn't as much downplaying the importance of the game as making a statement people here love to complain.
A lot.
Also, not sure if you have noticed or not, BC and Montreal have had many epic games. I particularily enjoyed the last two times the teams met up in the Grey Cup! 
It’s about the rivalry and the biggest game of the regular season for the Cats.We pay to watch the Cats vs. the Argos, Hamilton vs Toronto, Blue collar vs. slick haired BMW owners, two cities only 45 minutes apart, alot of bad blood and one of the biggest rivalries in north America cancelled for a matchup nobody wants to see.Montreal laying the usual smackdown on the Ticats.It’s not the same, and if you were an observant CFL fan you’d realize that this game is just as worthless as Hamilton vs Edmonton.It’s not going to draw people UNLESS they advertise it to the max.Even then everyones still going to miss having the Arblow fans down at a sold out IWS and watching the war on the field and in the stands.The Montreal fans that do show up to IWS are no fun.They all hide in one section and keep to themselves.Argo and Ticat fans are in each others face all through the game and even afterwards.
Right you are bobby. I wouldn’t be surprised if we hear some rumblings about that in the not too distant future. The RC has made it clear the Argos aren’t wanted there.
labour day weekend wityh two teams playing owned by the same man. the braily bowl. i kinda like it... but it aint gonna sellout the skydome. can montreal and cats sellout iws? side note, are the cats playing in skydome when iws is being rebuilt? I think the two staples of labour weekend are always toronto game, then the calgary game. not taking anything away from the other games... just the way it seemed. the banjo bowl owns the rematch week along with the calgary edmonton rematch.
I believe Bob Young has said no to that. I don’t think it’s been said what’s going to happen when construction starts.
thank goodness for that. i already dont like watching 9 games a year on tvthat are played there. 18 would be way too many
This is another failure by the league to secure an important, historic game on the schedule. Rogers Centre is the only CFL stadium that houses another major pro sports franchise. Therefore, when creating the schedule, make sure to secure the Labour Day game first, then the rest of the schedule afterwards. If the Argos need to open the season with a couple extra home or away games so be it; but make sure the Labour Day game goes on as scheduled. This date is one of the only ones where the football focus of Southern Ontario market is squarely on the 2 Toronto area teams and is steeped in tradition. To change this means the league is turning its back on its history and is a major loss of one of the few "big game feel" type regular season games that is not only good for tradition and promoting the game, but for the all important bottom line as well.
I for one am looking forward to a Labour Day game that means something outside of the ontario centric fantasy hold on canadian interest.
two best teams in the East…finally on a holiday that is truly Canada wide. i’ll be watching. good move CFL.