ALIVE AND KICKING
TFC has clearly moved up a rung on T.O. sports ladder, leaving Argos at the bottom.
The contrast was just too great, too utterly convincing, to ignore.
In the same stadium where the Toronto Argonauts drew tiny crowds all season, the same BMO Field that was supposed to save the CFL in this city, Toronto FC attracted a capacity audience on Sunday night for a raucous, thrilling playoff game against New York City FC and in doing so made a statement.
This was the moment TFC clearly became No. 4 in this sports town, passing the Argos, the oldest franchise in the city. Passion has vanquished history. Those who follow the Reds will have a giggle at this statement, believing they left the CFL in their dust long ago, and they may be right. For years, even in the face of strong evidence that suggested the Argos were in serious decline as a sporting concern in the GTA, it was difficult to give TFC its due, largely because the team was lousy most of the time and missed the playoffs for the first eight years of its existence.
Traditional media outlets stuck stubbornly to the belief that the Argos still mattered to significant numbers of people and pro soccer couldn’t grow because it never had. But you just can’t make that case anymore.
It’s not about which sport is better or more entertaining. This is about relevance in the city, and watching the soldout stadium on Sunday as TFC charged to a 2-0 victory in the first game of the two-game MLS aggregate series, and listening to the non-stop chanting and singing of TFC’s supporters in the end zone, it was impossible to deny the fact this soccer club has not only engaged its core group but started to attract sports fans in general.
Pascal Siakam, one of the newest Raptors, tweeted his support and offered his playing skills. SNL comedian Leslie Jones spent all Sunday tweeting her thoughts on MLS playoff competition, including the Toronto-New York game.
TFC’s stars, notably Sebastian Giovinco, Jozy Altidore and Michael Bradley, all shone brightly on Sunday night in a game that seemed part-brawl at times, giving the team personality to those, like myself, who haven’t watched much before.
It’s taken TFC nine years and lots of missteps — lest we bring up the name of Jermain Defoe — to reach this point under head coach Greg Vanney. Not only will there will lots of anticipation for next Sunday’s game at Yankee Stadium, there are lots of talking points, including the style of play and perhaps whether Spanish captain David Villa should be suspended for the second game for a rather brutal kick to the back of TFC’s Armando Cooper’s legs that was clearly seen by referee Silviu Petrescu but somehow went unpunished.
So as not to get carried away, let’s be clear; TFC remains no threat to the Big Three in this town, the Maple Leafs, Raptors and Blue Jays, although the 238,000 viewers TFC attracted Sunday night wasn’t far off what the Raps attracted Friday (300,000) against Cleveland. The trend is clearly upwards, the soccer team can fairly say it dominated the front pages of Toronto sport sections on Monday and the commitment of TFC’s fans to their team matches any of the other three franchises.
The Argos, meanwhile, are limping to the end of a sad 5-12 season in which they won only two of nine home games. As mentioned, BMO Field was viewed as a panacea for much of which ailed the football franchise, but the first year out of Rogers Centre didn’t prove that to be the case at all.
The Argos drew an average of 16,380 fans, with crowds as low as 12,373. In a shrinking league in which average attendance is now less than 25,000 (it was 29,166 a decade ago) the Toronto squad is disappearing out of sight.
With aging quarterback Ricky Ray seemingly injured almost all of time, the team has no noteworthy stars. While once upon a time the Argos could go out and get players like Rocket Ismail, Doug Flutie and even Ricky Williams to try and goose the city into paying attention, it’s hard to imagine a single football star who could do that today.
Peyton Manning out of retirement, maybe? Johnny Manziel out of whatever world he’s inhabiting these days? Bo-Levi Mitchell is probably the CFL’s top quarterback now, but if the Argos managed to get him, it would have no impact whatsoever on the team’s profile in this city.
Meanwhile, the recent controversy over price-slashing for the Nov. 27 Grey Cup game at BMO Field hasn’t helped create any better feelings about the Argos.
After setting sky-high prices for the games and drawing a moderate response from the public, ticket prices were reduced, which might help fill the stadium but incensed those who had bought at the initial prices.
In a fall in which Toronto sports fans have had to dig deep already for the World Cup of Hockey and Blue Jays playoff games, it will be interesting indeed to see whether the Argos and the CFL can fill BMO Field for the Grey Cup contest.
It’s hard to see how the Argos can survive this, although being owned by TSN and Larry Tanenbaum at least offers deep pockets and commitment. It’s surely better than being owned by David Braley.
They now seem destined to finding ways to simply survive. Every other CFL team is, at worst, the second pro team in their market. In Ottawa, the RedBlacks might be No. 1. The Argos are fifth in theirs.
A decade ago, few would have imagined the day Toronto’s football team would fall so far to be eclipsed by professional soccer. But it has surely happened. Damien Cox is the co-host of Prime Time Sports on Sportsnet 590 The FAN. He spent nearly 30 years covering a variety of sports for the Star. His column appears Tuesday and Saturday. Follow him @DamoSpin.