City of Losers
Published March 12, 2009 @ 14:42 in The T.Dot, Toronto Argos, Toronto Bills, Toronto Blue Jays, Toronto Maple Leafs, Toronto Raptors

My city is a city of losers. At least when it comes to our primary professional sports teams. We suck.

Our Maple Leafs of the NHL are 27-28-13, which puts us 11th in the conference and well outside the playoffs.

Our Raptors of the NBA are 23-42, which puts us 14th in the conference and well outside the playoffs.

Our Blue Jays of MLB were 86-76, which put us 4th in the division and well outside the playoffs.

Our Argos of the CFL were 4-14, which put us 3rd in the division and well outside the playoffs.

Our Bills of the NFL were 7-9, which put us 4th in the division and well outside the playoffs.

There is little hope for any of the above. In fact, I'm willing to bet all miss the playoffs again next season.

Welcome to Loserville.

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Joe Krol, Rest in Peace
Published December 17, 2008 @ 15:11 in Rest In Peace, Toronto Argos

Joe Krol was 89. He won six Grey Cups, five with the Toronto Argonauts, as a Canadian Football League quarterback, running back, and placekicker/punter from 1942-1953 and 1955.

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Ralph Sazio, Rest in Peace
Published September 26, 2008 @ 19:31 in Rest In Peace, Toronto Argos

Ralph Sazio was 86. He won three Grey Cups as a coach with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats and served as Toronto Argonauts' team president from 1981 to 1990.

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Thank You For Not Throwing In The Towel
Published July 19, 2008 @ 12:56 in Toronto Argos

I got a chuckle out of the headline of Chris Zelkovich's column in today's Toronto Star. It reads "Argos Not Throwing In Towel".

On behalf of all Toronto Argonaut fans, I'd like to thank the club for not throwing in the towel after a 1-2 start. Considering six of the eight teams in the CFL make the playoffs and we're technically sitting in 2nd place in the Eastern division, I find myself even more relieved that we haven't thrown in the proverbial towel quite yet.

Hang in there, guys. I know it's tough starting 1-2, but teams with that exact record after three games have actually won championships. It's true, you can look it up.

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Toronto Bills Tickets and Argonaut Guilt
Published June 1, 2008 @ 12:00 in Toronto Argos, Toronto Bills

Thanks to Ajax Mike, I've won the Toronto Bills lottery. On June 4th I'll try and buy a couple of cheap seats to the 8 Buffalo Bills games at Rogers Centre SkyDome. I'd love to be there on December 7th when the Toronto Bills squish the fish.

As I crunch the numbers and see who's willing to buy some of the tickets off of me, especially for the August 14th game against the Steelers I can't make, I'm feeling a tad guilty. You see, I actually like the CFL and our Toronto Argonauts. I have tickets to our season opener and I'm pretty psyched about the arrival of Kerry Joseph and the return of Mike Vanderjagt. Even though I believe myself to be more of a CFL fan than an NFL fan, I'm about to buy 16 tickets to see NFL games here in Toronto. How do I explain that?

The fact is, I'm a homer. I prefer the CFL and the Argos because they're based in Toronto. If the Bills were based in Toronto, I'd be a huge NFL fan. I'm buying Bills in Toronto tickets because it's going to be a big-time event and I want to be a part of it and because I know I'll be able to sell the tickets I don't want.

Speaking of that, if you're interested in buying Toronto Bills tickets from Toronto Mike, leave a comment on this entry and you might just get that chance. Non-family members may have to pay a moderate Toronto Mike service fee.

Oh yeah, about that guilt... My penance will be the purchase of more Argo tickets and a promise to raise my children as CFL fans.

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Damon Allen Retires
Published May 28, 2008 @ 21:12 in Toronto Argos

I wore my #9 Damon Allen 2004 Grey Cup Championship tee shirt today. I didn't wear it because Damon Allen was announcing his retirement today, that part was a complete coincidence, but I'm glad I had it on. Allen played in the CFL for 23 years and has more passing yards than any other player in professional football history.

I really like Damon Allen, a fierce competitor who could run like no other quarterback I've seen. In just five seasons as a Toronto Argo he sits second in club history in career passing yards (13,974), career attempts (1,713) and completions (1,051), career passing touchdowns (77), and once completed 13 consecutive passes in a game - the second-best streak in team history.

My only complaint about Allen is that he hung on a tad too long. I should have been writing this entry one year ago. Still, that's my only beef with #9. He had a stellar career.

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Kerry Joseph An Argo?
Published March 5, 2008 @ 19:29 in Toronto Argos

The Toronto Argonauts appear to have landed a bonafide starting quarterback who's not in his 40s. Sources say the Argos have acquired the Canadian Football League's reigning outstanding player, Kerry Joseph, for a group of players. We'll likely get the details tomorrow at 10am.

Joseph ranked third in CFL passing last season with 4,002 yards and guided the Roughriders to a 12-6 record and their first Grey Cup appearance since 1997.

Arrrrrrgoooooos!

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Pinball for Mayor
Published November 17, 2007 @ 11:12 in The T.Dot, Toronto Argos

Stephen Brunt has a great column in today's Globe & Mail entitled "A Higher Calling". It's about Michael "Pinball" Clemons, easily the most likable athlete to play in this city. Pinball is asked daily when he's going to run for Mayor of Toronto. I decided long ago this was both inevitable and a very good thing for my city.

In September 2000, Pinball was set to play his final game of professional football. His last run would take place at SkyDome against the Saskatchewan Roughriders, and I knew I had to be there. I bought two tickets and took my wife to say farewell to a player who didn't just excite you with a big play, but inspired you with character. Pinball was never just a running back or kick and punt returner, he was a motivator, a leader and a hero, on and off the field. After the game he addressed the crowd with a wonderful speech drenched in class and sincerity. I'm glad I was there.

On Sunday he coaches in the conference final, and hopefully he'll be coaching in this year's Grey Cup. Then, I hope he steps down as Argonaut head coach. It's time he enters the political arena and takes the first step toward being our next mayor. He does have a higher calling, and we're the beneficiaries.

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Michael Bishop 8-1 as Argo Starting QB
Published October 13, 2007 @ 17:43 in Toronto Argos

As I prepare for Sid the Kid, it's time to give some love to my Toronto Argonauts Football Club. Not that long ago, the double blue were 2-6 and all hopes we'd play in the Grey Cup game we're hosting were spilling down the drain. We won 35-17 victory over the Montreal Alouettes last night to improve to 7-7.

We might finish second in the division, in fact a win next week clinches that possibility, but a certain fact about Michael Bishop at quarterback is what has me intrigued. With Michael Bishop starting at quarterback, the Toronto Argonauts are 8-1.

Imagine if he hadn't broken his wrist and missed five games. We lost every one of them.

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The Rouge Does Suck
Published September 27, 2007 @ 13:26 in Toronto Argos

There's a nice little list in the Sun today. They rank the top 10 dumb sports rules and #1 on their hitlist is the Canadian football rouge. Here's what the article says.

How much do we need to say about a rule that rewards failure? If you lineup for a field goal and miss, you should get nothing. Instead, in the CFL, you get a point even if you miss by 20 yards, as long as the other team concedes or the ball goes through the end zone. However, if the ball goes off the upright, which means it was a decent kick that missed by inches, you don't get a point. Here's a single point for you -- the rouge sucks.

I too think the rouge sucks. It's not just in the CFL, I remember Michael Power getting on the board in a Metro Bowl by scoring a rouge. I've never understood the purpose of the rouge, other than to differentiate our game from the American game, and that's not a good enough reason.

The best moment a rouge ever gave us was that great scene in The Simpsons episode "When Flanders Failed" when Homer was watching the CFL draft on television.

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