Was going to bed but after seeing the image think ill have a few nightmares. Thanks KingmanIII

55,000 fans reacting in unison to this being shown on the jumbotron:

http://assets.sbnation.com/assets/603416/ufc129_11_aldo_vs_hominick_012_medium.jpg

was something I will NEVER forget :eek2:

As bad as that was I still think Rahman holds the title for worst bump. In keeping with the thread title, it kind of looks like a tiny Rogers Centre (roof closed) growing out of his forehead. :)

http://l.yimg.com/ea/img/-/110518/hasimrahman_16t60ce-16t60co.jpg?x=390&q=80&n=1&sig=4USWfyebRWEgw.7sAIlejQ--

That picture looks fake. When the UFC event was held here, the roof was closed.

Yeah something does look weird in that photograhpy

Sorry, guys. I just found out that that pic was from the official UFC website at the time when it was advertising the event.

My bad.

As of January 20th, 35,000 tickets have been sold for the CCL match between TFC and LA Galaxy. Match is on March 7th. Great effort so far

And when they said 35k had been sold it was a week ago so that number has probably gone up since. It should be a great atmosphere.

Jays consider going (real) green
Mike Cormack January 31, 2012

It's long been an eyesore to fans in the stands and to those watching at home on TV.

And now that they fear it might cost them the opportunity to land a premium free agent, the Toronto Blue Jays say they are seriously considering rolling up the Astroturf and installing a grass field at Rogers Centre.

The surprising revelation came from team president and CEO Paul Beeston in response to a question from a season-ticket holder during Monday's state of the franchise event at Rogers Centre.

It's long been held that a grass field could be not be sustained at Rogers Centre for the duration of a baseball season. Not so said Beeston.

"Grass can grow here. We've checked it out," he told a scrum of reporters moments after completing an hour-long Q&A session for fans along with general manager Alex Anthopoulos and manager John Farrell. "The real issue that we have is we have other events (at Rogers Centre), not just the Argos, but the other events here."

Beeston added that there are fertilizers available strong enough to sustain a grass field for a baseball season, provided the field stays in place for the duration.

"If you made the decision that you were going to make it a baseball-only stadium and you were going to put grass down, the question being can you do it, the answer would be yes," said Beeston. "Theoretically and practically. It can be done."

The biggest current obstacle standing between the Blue Jays and a grass field appears to be the Toronto Argonauts of the CFL, a Rogers Centre tenant for nine dates in 2011 between the start of the baseball season and the conclusion of the World Series.

The Argonauts current lease with the Rogers Centre is set to expire at the end of 2012, the same year their current five-year deal with the Buffalo Bills of the NFL ends.

There is talk that Rogers Centre owner, Rogers Communications, and the Bills may extend their partnership beyond 2012, but as long as future Bills games aren't held during the baseball season it should pose no threat to a grass field for the baseball season.

Rogers Centre is also scheduled to serve as the venue for the opening and closing ceremonies of the Pan American Games in July, 2015.

Earlier in the evening Anthopoulos acknowledged that this off-season the Jays had lost out on two free agents with whom they had offered more money and more years to. Later in his scrum with reporters, Anthopoulos refused to divulge the league the respective players will ply their trade in next summer, but he did concede the Blue Jays current playing surface is a non-starter for some free agents.

"There's certain players that just don't have any desire to play on (artificial) turf no matter what the dollars are," he explained. "At times it does affect things, it's a factor. It can pose a challenge at times, but I'm not one to make excuses. This is a place that when it was (artificial) turf, all the great players were willing to come here."

Still, Anthopoulos is a big proponent of rolling up the Astroturf for good.

"That's exciting, the fact that there's even a conversation about it," he said. "But again, that's a decision that's way above my pay grade. But from a selfish standpoint, I'd love to see it happen."

As CEO of not only the Blue Jays, but of Rogers Centre as well, Beeston knows the numbers better than anyone and he said he has an idea of how much a move to grass would cost. If that's the case it would appear then that the only decisions to be made now are whether Beeston wants to do it and whether Rogers is willing to bankroll the extra gardening supplies and potential lost revenue from other events.

In the meantime, Beeston and Anthopoulos said they can win on the (artificial) turf, even if it means missing out on the odd free agent.

"Carl Crawford wanted out of Tampa Bay because he didn't want to play on (artificial) turf anymore," Beeston said, referring to the playing artificial surface at Tampa's Tropicana field. "So there's a real live example. If we wanted Carl Crawford, Carl Crawford didn't really want us. Not because he didn't like Toronto, not because he didn't like John Farrell, not because he didn't like Alex Anthopoulos, not because he didn't like our money. He didn't want to play on (artificial) turf."

Beeston was then asked if he thinks a grass field is therefore imperative when pursuing elite free agents.

"It may well be," he said. "It may well be, (for) getting that premier, young free agent."

Anthopoulos said although he'd love to see his team play on grass at home, the playing surface won't be such an issue if the team is winning.

"If we're contending for a World Series each year, it's not going to be a problem," he said.

http://www.sportsnet.ca/baseball/2012/01/31/bluejays_grassfield/

If grass was installed at SkyDome, would it be removed from October to February, to host "other events" and then re-sodded again in the spring? Seems like grass would only make sense if it didn't host all the other events.

If grass was installed at SkyDome, would it be removed from October to February, to host "other events" and then re-sodded again in the spring? Seems like grass would only make sense if it didn't host all the other events.

The thing is the Rogers Centre doesn't host that many events. There's a massive convention centre next door for all the conventions. They don't get any concerts at all because the acoustics are absolutely terrible.

Skydome is the home stadium for Toronto's pro football team, so the Argonauts would have to be fine with the change. Btw, Skydome has 'Astroturf'? I assumed it was 'FieldTurf'? :weird:

Btw, Skydome has 'Astroturf'? I assumed it was 'FieldTurf'? :weird:

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-V4rlRbPbNe8/ThDrqbrWEhI/AAAAAAAAADA/SHLDl1m6Hlg/s1600/DSCN0243.JPG

They switched to Astroturf 3D before this past season. Probably the best, most complete infill product out there now.

The thing is the Rogers Centre doesn't host that many events. There's a massive convention centre next door for all the conventions. They don't get any concerts at all because the acoustics are absolutely terrible.

True but I think that the biggest reason for this change in thinking is now that Rogers owns MLSE, there's no reason to compete against the ACC for events anymore.

The CONCACAF Champions League quarterfinal against LA Galaxy is officially sold out.

Here's a nice gallery (https://plus.google.com/photos/107540802009253451244/albums/5717585963892594609?banner=pwa) of pics from last nights game. TFC and LA tied 2-2. 47,653 attended.

http://i.imgur.com/BEemU.jpg

A couple of TIFO shots...

http://i.imgur.com/EH8jr.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/J9Ug3.jpg

Video of the entrance of the teams...

yjGIDjL49Lw

And here's Gigapixel's fan cam (http://gigapixelfancam.com/fancams/soccer/torontofc/20120307/) of the event. Pretty cool and shows the entire stadium during the event.

great atmosphere, nice tifo

Rogers Centre rolls out green carpet for Toronto FC
2012/03/06 20:53:00
Toronto Star

http://i.thestar.com/images/d8/65/c02136c940c0be3468f4a3feba50.jpg

Toronto FC is covering new ground Wednesday night: their match against the Los Angeles Galaxy is their first at the Rogers Centre.

The actual ground they’re covering — not the stadium’s usual baseball turf — is also newly-installed: this time last week, the pitch was mere concrete.

It took 25 workers about 36 hours to lay down the soccer playing surface late last week. The temporary lines demarcating the field were painted on Sunday, just in time for Toronto FC’s first practice there on Monday.

The whirlwind installation seems like a daunting task. But for Frank Grespan, who’s been the director of conversions at the dome since before the stadium was built, it’s all part of the job.

“It takes months and months of planning, actually,” he said. “The average fan out there doesn’t understand the work that goes in.”

Rogers Centre has nine full-time workers who operate the hydraulically-powered equipment needed to convert the stadium between sports.

Especially for this match, 16 more temporary workers were brought in to first tape down granulated rubber to the concrete, to soften the playing surface.

“(Toronto FC’s) coaching staff probably felt that the turf itself was a little bit too hard on the concrete, so they wanted to soften it up a little bit,” Grespan said. The surface also features silica sand, which gives the rubber its weight.

Stadium staff then put a stiff layer of plastic on top of the rubber so that they could slide turf rolls on top together perfectly, without any seams between them. The turf surface is made up of 50 separate rolls, which weigh between 8,000 and 11,000 pounds depending on the length.

The turf panels were installed one at a time because the crew’s heavy machinery couldn’t travel across the rubber underlay without destroying it. After three twelve-hour shifts from Wednesday through Friday, the field was set.

The artificial turf is three years old, and the same surface the CFL’s Argonauts play on. It’s been used for European soccer games in the past at the dome.

And despite the gruelling shift work, it’s still easier than installing the turf for Jays games, Grespan said. “It’s a lot easier, in the sense that you’re just working with a rectangle. Baseball’s diamond shape gives us different lengths of turf.”

Immediately after Wednesday’s match, the same crew will descend to remove the surface in time for Spring Fling, the annual carnival which starts on March 10.

This was a good game :D

I struggle to understand why a soccer match in Toronto attracts 45 000 yet the Argonauts can't get anywhere near that. If there some kind of cultural cringe attached to the CFL in Toronto?

I struggle to understand why a soccer match in Toronto attracts 45 000 yet the Argonauts can't get anywhere near that. If there some kind of cultural cringe attached to the CFL in Toronto?

Thing is that in Toronto, a "world city" looks at the CFL as some kind of second tier sport-league, while the NFL and Soccer will continue to attract very big crowds because they are The Big Event or the world game....

Plus you have to consider the huge amount of immigrants that live in T.O. metro, that are thirsty of soccer.

I can see in the long term a even bigger fan base for Soccer than the CFL. And thats considering poor results by Toronto F.C. at the moment, just wait until the get a decent squad.

That is not entirely true. Yes, some people do look at the CFL in a condescending manner but at the end of the day, the Argos fail to attract big crowds simply because they suck. In Toronto, unless you are the Leafs, you cannot afford to suck for so long. If you suck, the least you could do is market your team properly and build grass roots connections with the community at large and the inept owners of the Argos have failed to do that as well. Moreover, they play in a large, cavernous baseball-first facility and have constantly screwed up various opportunities to move to a more suitable stadium simply because the owners were short sighted and did not want to invest any money upfront.

Personally I see a very bright future for the CFL as a whole. The current management has done a tremendous job of making the league sustainable and attractive to more and more fans across the country. The continued failure of the Argos is an outlier, not a trend. If they address some of the issues mentioned above, I see no reason why the team can't experience financial success just like the rest of the league.

Soccer may be the "World Game" but MLS like most soccer leagues around the world is very much 2nd tier while the CFL is the indigenous game. I guess this is a missunderstanding on my behalf that I thought the sporting cultures of Canada and Australia weren't that much different. Australian Cities also have large immigrant communities but that hasn't translated into the same support for the A-League as it seems to have for MLS in Canada. Sydney FC and Melbourne Victory had some alright crowds but the bubble has burst. The children of immigrants tend to embrace Aussie Rules and/or Rugby League along with (or to the exclusion) of Soccer in Australia.

It just seems sad that Toronto can't get behind their historically significant team that play a really decent sport.

Soccer may be the "World Game" but MLS like most soccer leagues around the world is very much 2nd tier while the CFL is the indigenous game. I guess this is a missunderstanding on my behalf that I thought the sporting cultures of Canada and Australia weren't that much different. Australian Cities also have large immigrant communities but that hasn't translated into the same support for the A-League as it seems to have for MLS in Canada. Sydney FC and Melbourne Victory had some alright crowds but the bubble has burst. The children of immigrants tend to embrace Aussie Rules and/or Rugby League along with (or to the exclusion) of Soccer in Australia.

It just seems sad that Toronto can't get behind their historically significant team that play a really decent sport.

CFL is different from american football but not really different enough to be considered distinct. Therefore it does take on that minor league stigma. Combine the heavy inflluence of american sports culture and you inevitably have large swaths of the population who reject watching it. I would argue the real mistake was the burnside rules change a century ago. Following the rule changes of the americans (down & distance, forward pass) created this inevitable outcome. If they'd stayed the course then it would be fully appreciated and respected in its own right as a unique sport just like hockey.

That is not entirely true. Yes, some people do look at the CFL in a condescending manner but at the end of the day, the Argos fail to attract big crowds simply because they suck. In Toronto, unless you are the Leafs, you cannot afford to suck for so long.

Even in the Grey Cup years, attendance has been bad.

http://web.archive.org/web/20110430023740im_/http://argonauts.ca/uploads/assets/TOR/History/Home_Attendance.jpg

Soccer may be the "World Game" but MLS like most soccer leagues around the world is very much 2nd tier while the CFL is the indigenous game. I guess this is a missunderstanding on my behalf that I thought the sporting cultures of Canada and Australia weren't that much different. Australian Cities also have large immigrant communities but that hasn't translated into the same support for the A-League as it seems to have for MLS in Canada. Sydney FC and Melbourne Victory had some alright crowds but the bubble has burst. The children of immigrants tend to embrace Aussie Rules and/or Rugby League along with (or to the exclusion) of Soccer in Australia.

It just seems sad that Toronto can't get behind their historically significant team that play a really decent sport.

The MLS is 10 years ahead of the A-League in terms of its development. 10 years ago, you could have predicted a timely death for the MLS it was that bad. It contracted teams, much like the A-League, and struggled along in general losing tens of millions a year. 10 years is a long time, and I would fully expect the A-League to be in better shape when they enter their 17th year. The timeline of events in both leagues is eerily similar. Though due to US/Canadian demographics, A-League will never scale the heights the MLS can achieve, but again by its 17th year there's no reason for it not be a viable and thriving league.

Toronto only support major league teams. I guess they consider NFL to be the major league and CFL minor league. Its true considering many CFL players are ex NFLers not good enough to play in NFL.

Toronto only support major league teams. I guess they consider NFL to be the major league and CFL minor league. Its true considering many CFL players are ex NFLers not good enough to play in NFL.

You'd think so but the Buffalo Bills games have never sold out in a 54,000 seat stadium and Rogers have had to give out thousands of freebies for there to be any decent crowds there. It could be that Toronto just isn't a football town.

Toronto is first a hockey town, second also a hockey town, third comes the Jays and Raptors, both with a relatively stable fan base enough to have a healthy franchise, but only huge support if they make it to the playoffs. Then came the Argos, that used to have a comfy 4th place, until Toronto FC came in, with a good management, their own stadium, etc

But it is also true, that the CFL is doing fine, most franchises have decent attendance's and I can see room for expansion in the future, Quebec or Halifax.

The MLS might also be seen as a second tier league (it is by international standards) but the fact is that it is the only decent soccer league in a 6,000 KM radius, for soccer fans in Canada is the MLS or nothing (maybe catch Premier League games on a early morning).

You'd think so but the Buffalo Bills games have never sold out in a 54,000 seat stadium and Rogers have had to give out thousands of freebies for there to be any decent crowds there. It could be that Toronto just isn't a football town.
Bills are awful.

Toronto can do better than Jacksonville.

You'd think so but the Buffalo Bills games have never sold out in a 54,000 seat stadium and Rogers have had to give out thousands of freebies for there to be any decent crowds there. It could be that Toronto just isn't a football town.

It's hard to identify with a team that isn't ours. Add on top of that the high ticket prices for the game.

^That too. Ted rogers died so Bills to toronto dream is dead I suppose.