Milt Stegall bashes Toronto sports fans again!

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Milt Stegall knew he'd created some sparks with his comments about Toronto football fans earlier in the week.

So when he arrived here yesterday, he got out the fan and tried to turn it into a full-blown fire, calling Torontonians "disrespectful" of the game.

"You're dealing with this many people, and you're getting the same amount of fans that we get in Winnipeg or Saskatchewan," Stegall said. "I won't say it's sad, but I think it's disrespectful for these players and coaches here who have been working hard and putting a great product on this field for these Toronto people."

Stegall's comments several days ago about apathetic Toronto fans were already being used by Argos management in an attempt to sell tickets for today's East semifinal.

"While Milt Stegall is running his mouth, we'll be running the ball," the Argos told prospective ticket buyers.

Stegall remains unconvinced a big crowd will show up today.

"Is Buffalo playing a home game? 'Cause most of 'em will be there," he said, referring to the NFL's Bills, who are as popular here as the Argos. "Are the (NBA's) Raptors playing?

"Toronto wants to be the Hollywood of Canada. These fans have been crying about an NFL team for I don't know how long ... Two years ago Toronto won the Grey Cup. Last year they were Eastern conference champions, and this year they're in (the playoffs). What else can you ask for?"

Toronto running back John Avery stepped in to defend Argos fans, suggesting they're more supportive than Winnipeg's.

"How many seats does Winnipeg Stadium hold?" Avery asked. "We had, like, 40,000 the last game. That's enough of that."

The Argos drew some 38,000 to their last game against Montreal, about 9,000 more than capacity in Winnipeg.

Clearly enjoying himself, Stegall told reporters all the attention he's generated for today's game ought to get him some attention from Argos president Keith Pelley.

"He owes me some money for marketing, man," No. 85 said. "I've gotta stop giving this stuff away for free."

Toronto has never really given much of a **** about the Argos. Just look back to when Flutie was there in the 90's. Even Flutie himself said he couldn't understand why so few people were showing up at the park on game day and at that time they were a powerhouse! Avery is a goof who can't count!! Toronto has around 4.5 million people in and around the GTA and they draw 38000 for one game.Winnipeg has around 650,000 and they draw 25000 to 28000 consistently. Do the ratio math! Aside from some real Fans on here and 20000 or so real Fans, the Argos barely exist in the minds of Toronto sports Fans and at least one billion for a precious NFL franchise they can keep dreaming!

The CFL fans in Toronto are a minority. I am one of them.

....Stegall is right....until they can clear that nfl 'wannabe' notion out of the media minds in T.O....and a few other supporters of the 'no fun league'...there never will be the kind of support that there should be in the centre of the universe.....HOPING for a good crowd today though.... :thup: :rockin:

toronto looks down its nose at the league for only having 8 teams...

i wonder if toronto will respect the league more if it had 10-12 teams? ( and not dysfunctional, like the US expansion days )

Funny how the Argos organization is using Stegall's comments to try to sell more tickets when the mere act of doing so merely proves that Milt is right, even if he's joking.

There are also many great seats available for the game, unfortunately. Is it true that tickets only went on sale on Thursday?

i think the argos are trying to convince their fans, who may have been sickened by the teams performances this year, to come out to the playoff game to show they are fans, despite being ticked at the team.

Yeah, what about the Grey Cup next year. I mean, it if they cant sell tickets to their own PLAYOFF games, then what about the Grey Cup?

I know you are all gonna jump on me for say this but......

Stegall should keep his opinions to himself!

i think selling 22,000 grey cup tickets in one day should quiet some doubters.

maybe milt stegall should be more concerned about winnipeg STILL not having a sellout for thier grey cup…only 2 weeks away.

There's a difference between selling tickets to a warm dome indoors for a playoff game with relatively cheap seats versus cold metal benches outdoors with seats that are really expensive.

Pathetic looking crowd today in Toronto. Guess ol' Milt was right.

Stegall was just speaking the truth. Nothing wrong with that. Teams that got bailed out of troble, toronto is top of the list. Others were Montreal, Hamilton, Ottowa, and my Calgary team of old. Only teams that never needed aid from the league were Edmonton, Winnipeg (but close) and Saskatchewan. They too were close but always manage to get help with promotional support of thier fans.

I think Milt is just saying what needs to be saying. Really, he's speaking the truth - the fans that do go are fine, but the remaining 4 million that don't are lame. It's about time something was said by someone who will be listened to (at least by the media). Torontonians SHOULD take this personally and try and prove him wrong.

Toronto HAS come a HUGE ways from where they used to be, which is really impressive. They're basically doubling their attendance from a few years ago. Still, Stegall is right.

It needed to be said, and at least now it can be said in the media.

Does the average person on a Toronto street even care what Stegal thinks? Can't see them being bothered to even want to prove him wrong .

Does the average person on a Toronto street even care what Stegal thinks
of course not, they too ignorant to even care about the CFL, or anything to do with the CFL, at all.

Part of the issue is there is nothing else to do in Winnipeg, so you have no choice but to go to the football game.

so, does that mean that all the NFL cities in usa with less population than Toronto, yet get twice as many fans out to games, have nothing else to do either??

LOL, this is great. You know even with this rant I don't think people even care.

Its still a lot better than years ago. As stupid as Toronto is, they're getting smarter about the CFL slowly from the decline of the late 90's and early 00's when TO was getting like 9,000 a game.

As long as it keeps improving i'll be happy. Its better than any other year, i'm actually quite surprised Toronto is even doing this good.

OK I know I can be kind of a radical thinker sometimes but here goes......

If it's true what's being said on this site all the time about Torontonians not really caring about the Argo's or the CFL, then why hasn't someone thought about moving the team to a city that WILL support them??

I mean there are threads started on here all the time about what city should get a team next,but what about making the teams the league has more stable? If CFL brand football is that far down on the city's list, then the logical question to me is.....Why stay there? I mean no disrespect to the true Argo fans on this site or in the city but...since we're talking about "what needs saying" then maybe the old saying might apply here. "Don't know what you have 'till it's gone" Take the team elsewhere and then see what happens.