CFL (Canadian Football League)

[Golden Fox]

10 hours ago, spacemunky said:

Not a great start to the season for your Argos @Golden Fox.

First 0-3 start since 2019, once more defeat will match the worst start to a defence of the Grey Cup, and what a way to lose - down 2 scores for a lot of the game, but good comeback and up go right down the field with a TD and 2 point conversion to tie the scores with seconds left... to then only line up with 11 players on the kick-off and give up a kick off return!

 

But massive injury list - best offensive player in QB Chad Kelly out, best defensive player in LB McManis out and best Special teams player in returner Janarian Grant out (yes, I've found a good Argos podcast to tune into between games) - so it was a really impressive performance to hang in there and compete to (nearly) the end. Early days and far from out of the playoff race in the East with Hamilton and Ottawa 0-2, and with most of the injured players set to come back at some point, so big picture isn't as dire as it seems.

[EastAnglianFox]

 Not a great start for my new team The Elks, although from research it seems they tend to start the season slowly.

 

Crowd didn’t look great for such a big stadium

 

 

[Golden Fox]

10 hours ago, EastAnglianFox said:

Crowd didn’t look great for such a big stadium

That's one of my biggest takeaways after 3 weeks, is how many empty seats there are. So different from the NFL.

 

The Stampeders game was played in torrential rain in an outdoor stadium, so there was an excuse for it to be virtually deserted & from what I can tell, the Argos do a Filbert Street and load up one side of the stadium, which also happens to be where the cameras are, which makes it look worse than it is... but a lot of them aren't massive stadiums to begin with.

 

I guess hockey is king (particularly as the Stanley Cup has had a Canadian team in and just finished), and the CFL is a pretty niche sport, but maybe it ramps up as the season goes on & the game get more important?

[spacemunky]

1 minute ago, Golden Fox said:

That's one of my biggest takeaways after 3 weeks, is how many empty seats there are. So different from the NFL.

 

The Stampeders game was played in torrential rain in an outdoor stadium, so there was an excuse for it to be virtually deserted & from what I can tell, the Argos do a Filbert Street and load up one side of the stadium, which also happens to be where the cameras are, which makes it look worse than it is... but a lot of them aren't massive stadiums to begin with.

 

I guess hockey is king (particularly as the Stanley Cup has had a Canadian team in and just finished), and the CFL is a pretty niche sport, but maybe it ramps up as the season goes on & the game get more important?

I've always felt the two teams with the best support are Hamilton and Saskatchewan. Probably a lot to that the CFL is the biggest ticket in town for both of them.

 

All the other cities have NHL teams. In Toronto the Argos would come after the Leafs, Raptors, Jays and TFC.

[spacemunky]

Big win tonight for my TiCats at home against the previously undefeated Alouettes.

 

I didn't see the game, but at one point, I had I very nice view from above the stadium.

[CheeseHead]

8 hours ago, spacemunky said:

Big win tonight for my TiCats at home against the previously undefeated Alouettes.

 

I didn't see the game, but at one point, I had I very nice view from above the stadium.

I'm going for hot air balloon.

 

Don't follow it closely but whats up with the Argos? Not putting up much of a defense of their crown!

[EastAnglianFox]

The Elks are now 0-3 since I’ve started following 

 

Much better from my guy Tre Ford though 

[spacemunky]

4 hours ago, CheeseHead said:

I'm going for hot air balloon.

 

Don't follow it closely but whats up with the Argos? Not putting up much of a defense of their crown!

There's an escarpment here that overlooks the city. I happened to be stuck in traffic at the time and had a nice view of the stadium.

 

I think the Argos main issue so far has been injuries to key players.

[Golden Fox]

8 hours ago, CheeseHead said:

Don't follow it closely but whats up with the Argos? Not putting up much of a defense of their crown!

4 hours ago, spacemunky said:

I think the Argos main issue so far has been injuries to key players.

Yes - as the new resident Argos fan on the board, I can confirm its mainly been injuries! They did lose quite a few players in free agency, but are down their best player in each phase: QB Chad Kelly, LB McManis and returner Janarian Grant. They haven't helped themselves either, with a couple of close losses in the last 2 games, and some bonheaded penalties and 11 men on the field on a KO return last week sparked a big outburst from the coach. But not time to panic yet, as its a long season, players are due to come back, and they only need to finish 2nd in the East to qualify for the playoffs. But with Ottawa last week and Hamilton this week picking up big wins, it will start looking an uphill struggle if they go to 0-4 against the RedBlacks tomorrow night. Not quite must win yet, but I've been really enjoying following the sport, and would rather not keep waiting for my first CFL win as a fan! Especially as this was meant to cheer me up after the debacle of Leicester's season.

[CheeseHead]

On 28/06/2025 at 21:30, Golden Fox said:

Yes - as the new resident Argos fan on the board, I can confirm its mainly been injuries! They did lose quite a few players in free agency, but are down their best player in each phase: QB Chad Kelly, LB McManis and returner Janarian Grant. They haven't helped themselves either, with a couple of close losses in the last 2 games, and some bonheaded penalties and 11 men on the field on a KO return last week sparked a big outburst from the coach. But not time to panic yet, as its a long season, players are due to come back, and they only need to finish 2nd in the East to qualify for the playoffs. But with Ottawa last week and Hamilton this week picking up big wins, it will start looking an uphill struggle if they go to 0-4 against the RedBlacks tomorrow night. Not quite must win yet, but I've been really enjoying following the sport, and would rather not keep waiting for my first CFL win as a fan! Especially as this was meant to cheer me up after the debacle of Leicester's season.

Won last night. Finally

[Golden Fox]

10 hours ago, CheeseHead said:

Won last night. Finally

Incredible from Derek Slywka - a 105 fumble return, and then a 120 missed field goal return! In the same game!

 

That pretty much got the win single handedly, as absolutely anaemic offence again - 3rd week out of 4 with only 1 offensive TD - how on earth was Nick Arbuckle MVP of the Grey Cup last year?

[Golden Fox]

Another 4 games coming up this weekend, including the Battle of Ontario on Friday night.

 

The guys on the post-Ottawa podcast seemed far more upbeat on the Argos' performance than I was, and reading 3 Down Nation ahead of this week, they seem to be in my camp and have a few choice quotes:

 

"This is a matchup where the winner will get to pretend they’re close to the Alouettes for a week based on the standings. It has been an ugly start to the season for both clubs."
"Toronto’s defence isn’t what we would call “good” right now"
"Lost in Slywka’s heroics last week was the fact that Toronto didn’t actually play very well at all."
"Arbuckle has looked better these past two weeks, but give me Bo Levi Mitchell over his former backup."

 

There is no favourite on the line, but that's not stopping 9 of their 10 writers picking the Ti-Cats, so @spacemunky and @Jattdogg likely to be getting early bragging rights! I'll be watching delayed during Saturday so that will be my excuse if I seem to be ignoring any jibes coming my way during the game!

[Jattdogg]

1 hour ago, Golden Fox said:

Another 4 games coming up this weekend, including the Battle of Ontario on Friday night.

 

The guys on the post-Ottawa podcast seemed far more upbeat on the Argos' performance than I was, and reading 3 Down Nation ahead of this week, they seem to be in my camp and have a few choice quotes:

 

"This is a matchup where the winner will get to pretend they’re close to the Alouettes for a week based on the standings. It has been an ugly start to the season for both clubs."
"Toronto’s defence isn’t what we would call “good” right now"
"Lost in Slywka’s heroics last week was the fact that Toronto didn’t actually play very well at all."
"Arbuckle has looked better these past two weeks, but give me Bo Levi Mitchell over his former backup."

 

There is no favourite on the line, but that's not stopping 9 of their 10 writers picking the Ti-Cats, so @spacemunky and @Jattdogg likely to be getting early bragging rights! I'll be watching delayed during Saturday so that will be my excuse if I seem to be ignoring any jibes coming my way during the game!

Ticats aren't exactly killing it this year so it's up for grabs.

 

That said, hope will destroy the Argos. Likely just jinxed it though lol.

[spacemunky]

That's the Bo Levi we'd hoped for 

[Jattdogg]

1 hour ago, spacemunky said:

That's the Bo Levi we'd hoped for 

Fukc the argosssssss!

[Golden Fox]

9 hours ago, Jattdogg said:

Fukc the argosssssss!

[Jattdogg]

56 minutes ago, Golden Fox said:

....Not what yo momma said last night ohhhhhhhwww...... oh to be 12 again haha.

[Golden Fox]

55 minutes ago, Jattdogg said:

....Not what yo momma said last night ohhhhhhhwww...... oh to be 12 again haha.

To be honest, it was a total beat down.

 

It was men against boys, so I had to run with the limited material available! 

[Jattdogg]

3 hours ago, Golden Fox said:

To be honest, it was a total beat down.

 

It was men against boys, so I had to run with the limited material available! 

Lol. It's all friendly banter. Hope you guys suck ass forever though.

 

Much love,

 

jattdogg 

 

Xoxo

[Golden Fox]

4 minutes ago, Jattdogg said:

Lol. It's all friendly banter. Hope you guys suck ass forever though.

 

Much love,

 

jattdogg 

 

Xoxo

Already circled Labour Day in the calender... You'll see a very different Argos team then... 

[Jattdogg]

33 minutes ago, Golden Fox said:

Already circled Labour Day in the calender... You'll see a very different Argos team then... 

...You've been added to block list after this post.... 

 

 

 

 

Haha.

 

 

It's always a mixed bag in the cfl, I wouldn't be surprised if you won the labour day classic.

[spacemunky]

3 in a row!

[EastAnglianFox]

Something quite familiar and reassuring about taking the Elks on as my new team.

 

Not sure how I’d feel about supporting any side in any sport that actually won many games, it’s been that long 

 

 

Edited 20 July 2025 by EastAnglianFox

[Golden Fox]

22 minutes ago, EastAnglianFox said:

Something quite familiar and reassuring about taking the Elks on as my new team.

 

Not sure how I’d feel about supporting any side in any sport that actually won many games, it’s been that long 

 

 

It could be worse... you do have a week off from it this week, and although the Argos aren't quite as bad as the Elks (most power rankings have them at #8 and #9), the fact there are flashes of ability means we can build a 25-7 half time lead, making it all the more distressing to self-destruct and still lose the game.  Following this sport was meant to be a bit of light relief and watching that on Friday night really ruined the weekend right from the start.

 

Still, plenty of black humour to go round, as on top of all the current injuries, our best offensive lineman, Ryan Hunter managed to get hit by a car while riding his scooter on the way to practice. The car driver claimed to not see him. Easy to miss a 316 lb mountain on a scooter.

 

Hopefully Ottawa can do everyone a favour tonight: starting to find out those TiCats fans don't make good winners!

[spacemunky]

4 in a row for the TiCats!

 

Now tied with the Als for first in the East at 4 and 2.