Owners of Jays, Leafs, Raptors Team Up

[Original6]

Montreal success story? The CFL is one cheap ticket and it is the only thing they have other than hockey (Im not going to mention USL soccer).

Anyways, why the hell do you people from outside toronto feel you have some kind of say with what goes in our city? You don't live here, you don't pay taxes, concentrate on your own cities instead of hating ours.

No one here pays attention to what people outside of this city say until you annoy us enough. Then you say we have the "Centre of the universe" mentality. It's a huge joke really have you been to New York do you think people in L.A. care about what the New York Sports scene has or may get? Do you think people in Liverpool england care about what people in London think?

Maybe you guys could use the "Centre of the universe" mentality so maybe things can actually happen in your town.

Seriously we have the NBA, NHL, MLB, MLS next, a crazy night scene, and 3 NFL teams close to us. Do you guys really expect people in this city to stand up and take notice when Milt friggen Stegal and the Blue Bombers come to town?

[DEAD!]

Do you guys really expect people in this city to stand up and take notice when Milt friggen Stegal and the Blue Bombers come to town?

*just about to get up from my chair.....*

[Original6]

Even if the NFL has no intentions of expanding to Toronto or whatever, it isn't going to help the Argos or the CFL. I mean how many championships have the Argos won in the last two decades? Yet, they still aren't the talk of the town and probably never will be unless they can acquire the best talent. They got a buzz when Ricky Williams signed, but I kid you not a few games into the season it all dropped off very quickly. Damon allen passed warren moon and the next morning the biggest story in the city was the MLSE and Rogers partnership. Not to mention the Argos grey cup victory parade in 2004. If any other team won a championship they would have a parade on young street, but the argos got a parking lot rally in nathan phillip square. People will still watch their favourite NFL teams, the niche core of CFL fans will watch the Argos, and things will stay pat. If the Argos aren't winning, they are screwed in this town... totally.

[Phil]

First off, just a thought... you seem to be getting pretty riled here, and you may want to remember that this is an internet forum.

...and secondly, I figured I was too far off base with my comments, but I wasn't expecting as vehement a validation as that. I guess from this point on, it's all a matter of perspective...?

[VandyDelphia Mike]

What makes 32 the perfect number?

32 gives you 4 4-team divisions in each conference and simplifies scheduling. The days of getting a "last-place schedule" are over.

In a 24-year cycle, your NFL team will play every other NFL team at least once at home and on the road.

From a scheduling perspective, 32 is the perfect number of NFL teams.

[sean69]

original6, your right the NFL will not help the Argos.... they will help the the CFL! Like they have in the passed with marketing and helping sell the league. We get it you don't like the CFL, you like the NFL. So go move to an NFL city and be happy!!!

[CaolinaJoe]

In a 24-year cycle, your NFL team will play every other NFL team at least once at home and on the road.

So, once a generation.

[mrfab]

I'd love to see a TO NFL team. It would obviously be sold as "Canada's Team". Watching my beloved LaLa land twist in the NFL wind for over 10 years now, bear in mind a new or relocated team needing a new stadium is in for a $ 1 billion tab minimum. Toronto & Canada's entitled to be part of "the world's most exclusive club", sure. Ironically, maybe, the buy-in's become SO huge the league might NOT grow beyond 32 teams for that reason alone. As a lifelong Whaler sufferer I don't wish that Buffalo lose their time. Still, Mr. Wilson's own mortality beckons, Bills blogs/news says he's very quiet about the team's future, and I hate to say it but I don't see Buffalo getting the new stadium they need. The League shares income like none other, so small market/older facility teams can at least exist if not really compete. Still, in LeagueThink, you'd have to think the New Commish (don't get excited, Chiklis fans) will have a "Buffalo Situation" along with San Diego, San Fran and any other team with "stadium issues". The League will ALWAYS go where the money is, and if the CND exchange rate remains favorable, who knows? But for my $ the whole notion of non-US pro sports teams being able to consistently fund their teams remains a riddle. That being ranted, let's talks some TO NFL team names JUST for s$!ts & giggles, "EH?!?!?" I'm gonna open the festivities with "Toronto Maple Leafs" NFL! I know, I know, but I like "two teams, different sports, same city, same nicknames & color schemes" scenarios, it ain't done much.

[FrankCostanza]

In a 24-year cycle, your NFL team will play every other NFL team at least once at home and on the road.

So, once a generation.

Actually it's only once every eight years.

[Original6]

original6, your right the NFL will not help the Argos.... they will help the the CFL! Like they have in the passed with marketing and helping sell the league. We get it you don't like the CFL, you like the NFL. So go move to an NFL city and be happy!!!

That makes no sense. Why would I move to a city just because they have a NFL team? If anything I could drive to Buffalo, Detroit, Cleveland, or Cincinati...

All I am saying is the CFL will never take off in this city and that an NFL team here wouldn't kill the CFL since most of the support is outside of Toronto anyways.

[sean69]

I don't care if it is Bill Gates himself wanting a NFL team........ THE NFL HAS NO INTEREST IN COMING TO CANADA, PERIOD!!!!!

As soon as you folks get that in your heads the better off you'll be. Toronto might think it is a NFL city, but come on... where is the stadium? Are the tax payer going to fork out 100 mill for a new facility? Never mind all the other problems there would be in running an NFL teams in Canada. This is just so Rogers can get his name in the paper, the self indulging prick the he is.

Sorry, but Ted Rogers is a great philantropist, who loves Toronto and wants to leave a legacy.

As long as he's at the helm of RCI, we'll be fine.

The day he kicks the bucket and it falls into the hands of the shareholders, that's when it'll all go down.

Those "hobbies" of his will no longer have any meaning unless they reap cash, so the Jays will be gone, and any hope of an NFL, or whatever else we may dream of may be in jeopardy.

Nobody who's ever been in the same room ar Mr.Rogers will ever call him a prick.

Don't get me wrong, his businesses are there to make money, and I personnally have suffered greatly from the lack of structure/focus one of its divisions had, but nevertheless, it is far from a reflection on the man's abilities. He's a visionary. And this country needs more of those.

Now to the topic at hand, NFL in Toronto, I would say as long as they wear blue and white uniforms that include a Maple Leaf in it, the pseudo bandwagonesque sports fan base in this city should follow it.

What's the Skydome called again? Oh yeah the Rogers center!!! Your right though no self indulging there. Ted is all about Ted, and making more money for Ted and his company. With and NFL team, he could sell more phones and every thing else his company sell. If he wanted a team he would flip the bill himself, because he can.

[Phil]

Interesting Chris Schultz article on TSN.ca.

Pardon his spelling, he's a former lineman (in both the NFL and CFL), but in many ways, his views closely reflect mine.