I'm not throwing a tandrum.
So you have proof for this. That it provides more fans even though many CFL fans claim its a different game. And would the NHL still have a strong presence if Calgary, EDM and Van had left for the states? No. Besides the NHL have teams there is comparable to having an NFL team here.
I gotta side with the "NFL here and NHL here being not comparable" side of this discussion.
Think of it this way....if all of the Canadian based NHL teams were gone (either relocated or contracted) would the NHL miss them? I think so, an all-American NHL just does not seem to work. If the NFL does not come to Canada, would anyone outside of Toronto think that the league was "missing something"....not likely as an all-American NFL seems to work just fine.
That is not to say the NFL won't come here....or even to say I don't want them here......I just don't see a lot of comparison between the NHL in Canada and the NFL in Canada.
I heard Doug Ford on the Fan590 this morning. His explanation of how he accidently included N.O. as one of the teams potentially moving here sounded very reasonable and his apology sounded, to me, very sincere....and I think I can accept that at face value.
The only part of the interview that disturbed me was the part at the end about the relationship with the CFL and the possibility of tailgating. On the first point he noted that he and his bro were big fans of the CFL and that he felt any NFL team would not mean the end of the CFL in Toronto and that they could work together for the betterment of both teams and the football fans at large. Then the discussion moved to stadium location and the need for a location that facilitated tailgating.....the interviewer pointed out that tailgating was illegal and he said "leave that to us"....indicating that he and Rob could, with the stroke of a pen, change the tailgating laws and permit it if there was an NFL team.
Well if you are such a big fan of the CFL and want to see it thrive AND you can change tailgating laws that easy....do it now. Give the Argos a few years of being able to market their product with tailgating parties included! Or are you only willing to do that for an NFL team?
P.S.....in case anyone thinks this is an endorsement of tailgating, it is not....just don't understand the Fords' position on it. I still stand by my long held position that if we are going to change our laws to allow people to
drive to an area for the sole purpose of
drinking and eating it must be in a single, controlled access/egress, lot and that each driver leaving said lot should be subjected to a Breathalyzer upon exiting the lot. The interests of public safety as it relates to drinking and driving trump the party time interests of a few thousand football fans.....if we can't put this stipulation in place, leave our current laws as is!
