Tag Archives: Toronto Raptors

Well, I should have a reason to go to ONE Raptors game next season…

Posted by gruesomegreg on

Soooo, the NBA playoffs started last weekend, but I hafta say, I didn’t really notice.  Was I still mourning Gonzaga’s early exit from the NCAA tourney?  Perhaps a little.  But truth be told, I haven’t been following pro ball as closely as the college game these past few years.  I mean, it’s not like the Toronto Raptors have been giving me much to cheer for.  That said, there’s a good chance I’ll be going to at least one Raptors game next season–although I won’t necessarily be rooting for the home team.

Last Friday, Gonzaga big man Kelly Olynyk did the expected and declared for the NBA draft.  After becoming the third Zag to be named first-team All American, he’s now the fourth to leave school with eligibility remaining–even though, as a redshirt junior, he already has his undergraduate degree.  Of course, Olynyk also has a special set of skills to go along with his seven-foot frame, and could potentially go down in history as the top Canadian big man of all-time, unseating the likes of Bill Wennington, Todd MacCulloch and Jamaal Magloire in the process–perhaps not such a lofty achievement.  As it stands, many mock drafts have him projected to go between 10th and 14th overall.  And interestingly enough, the Raptors would’ve had the 12th overall pick had they not shipped it to Houston (for Kyle Lowry), who later passed it on to OKC in the James Harden trade.  So if the Raps wanna land the next Canadian superstar, well, they might hafta wait till Kevin Pangos is eligible in 2015. ;)

In fact, there’s a decent possibility that Raptors fans won’t even get to see KO in person more than once a year, as four of the five teams in that 10-14 range play in the Western Conference.  Draftexpress.com, for instance, has Olynyk going 13th overall to Dallas, where he could hone his Dirk Nowitzki-like game behind Dirk Nowitzki himself.  ESPN, meanwhile, has him going to Utah with the 14th pick, a team that’s had some incredible success drafting Gonzaga alumni in the first round.  (FWIW, I’m betting they sign David Stockton as an undrafted free-agent next year.)  And nbadraft.net has him 10th overall to Portland, a team that seems set at center with LaMarcus Aldridge–unless they trade him to Cleveland.  If nothing else, he’d be close to Spokane, as well as Kamloops.  And best-case scenario, he steps into the starting lineup, though I wouldn’t quite bank on that Aldridge trade.

Then again, these mock drafts are never an exact science.  Thus, it’s worth noting that two of Toronto’s Atlantic Division foes, namely Philly and Boston, have top-16 picks, while the pesky Milwaukee team that pwned the Raps all season picks 15th.  Considering that nbadraft.net has all three of them picking players 6-foot-9 or taller, and, let’s say the Blazers prefer Mason Plumlee, we could be seeing a lot more of Olynyk on the East Coast next year.  Cuz let’s face it, the chances of Andrew Bynum going a full season without injury are about as slim as North Philadelphia going a full week without gun violence.  Not that I really wanna see Kelly in a Sixers jersey.  But hey, I hear Boston’s nice this time of year…

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Now, this is the time of year where I’ll start to miss hockey…

Posted by gruesomegreg on

Normally, the NHL has an 82-game schedule, but the action doesn’t really heat up until the playoffs–not unless your team is in a tight race for the postseason.  The first couple months are pretty much a throwaway, I’ll-watch-hockey-if-nothing-else-is-on type of deal, maybe aside from a couple games against the Canucks and the Battle of Alberta.  (Plus my annual Flames-Leafs contest, which often occurs before Christmas.)  But of course, this year we haven’t had any NHL hockey at all; instead of 82 games, we’ll be lucky if we get a 48-game season…

And while I’ve barely kept abreast of all the millionaires and billionaires bickering, this is the time of year where I might actually miss hockey.  The baseball season is long gone, they’ve just handed out the Grey Cup, and we’ve only got another month of NFL action before the playoffs (and its much smaller slate of games) kick off.  On top of that, there tends to be very few concerts between the debut of December and the middle of March, most touring bands unwilling to brave the Canadian winter–and who can blame them?  (Fittingly enough, I’ve noticed a slight influx of Scandinavian bands on these shores around this time these past few years.  I guess our winters are warmer than theirs!)  While I’d be quite content to stay in and watch Hockey Night in Canada this weekend as the first substantive seasonal snowfall hits the city, the CBC has even abandoned the idea of showing retro games in favour of a Disney movie.  What’s Up with that?

I will say this though, in the national network’s defense: They’ve got an interesting documentary on Luka Magnotta tonight at 9 that I’ll probably tune in for.  Hey, it beats watching the Raptors, right?

Don’t get me wrong, the Toronto Raptors are one of the two teams in this city I have no trouble cheering for–or at least I wouldn’t have, were they not so painful to watch.  Even without the Leafs to offer a more popular alternative for the corporate crowd to entertain clients at the ACC, the Raps continue to be crap.  If their 3-13 record is any indication, that preseason Toronto media hype bestowed upon this team, along with the city’s misplaced hopes and dreams of making the playoffs–in absence of the Blue-and-White–will be gone out the window by the All-Star break.  Here’s hoping they don’t use next year’s top pick on the next Andrea “Primo Pasta & Soft” Bargnani…  That Valančiūnas kid, on the other hand, seems not so shabby.

Mind you, if there’s one Canadian basketball team worth watching this time of year, it’s Gonzaga University.  Though they’re at least 100 miles south of the border, Gonzaga has replaced one Canadian 7-footer in their starting lineup with another, and seems poised for an exciting season.  Redshirt junior Kelly Olynyk currently sits second on the 7-0 Zags in scoring as his game has grown by leaps and bounds after sitting out last year.  That said, he’s only about a point ahead of the GTA’s own Kevin Pangos, a super soph PG who could be the next Steve Nash.  They’ve finally got his jersey for sale in the Gonzaga Team Shop–of course, now that I’ve purchased his Number Four, I see the team has finally added names on the backs of its jerseys this season.  Oh well, Zags fans don’t need a name to know who their next great point guard is–and neither do I!

Alas, after winning the Old Spice Classic tournament last weekend, Gonzaga finds itself ranked 12th in both the AP and USA Today polls.  They’ve also got a handful of nationally-televised games (in the States, that is) coming up between now and the new year against the likes of Washington State, Illinois, Kansas State, Baylor and Oklahoma State before they start conference play, with weekly contests on Thursdays and Saturdays.  From the looks of things, I likely won’t be running back and forth from my TV to my laptop when they face their WCC foes this season–not if there isn’t any hockey, anyways.

I have seen the future of the Toronto Raptors, and it’s not as good as advertised…

Posted by gruesomegreg on

So, I got up semi-early this morning to watch the U.S. men’s basketball team take on Lithuania in the Olympics.  The States have a crazy good team this year, with seven of the NBA’s top 10 scorers–but Lithuania has always played them tough in the Olympic Games, and today was no exception.  The scrappy former Soviet republic actually held a two-point lead halfway through the fourth quarter, though they wound up losing 99-94.  But I didn’t tune in just to see a good game (admittedly, I was flipping back and forth between second-half action and the women’s trampoline final) or to see Carmelo, Lebron and Kobe light up the scoreboard.  Rather, I wanted to get my first look at the Toronto Raptors’ Great Lithuanian Hope, centre Jonas Valanciunas.  With the Raps missing out on Steve Nash and taking less-than-outstanding swingman Terrence Ross in the first round of this year’s draft, they’re going to be relying on the potential of Valanciunas, the fifth overall pick last year, to sell season’s tickets.  But from what I saw today, this kid doesn’t look like the 2013 Rookie of the Year, let’s put it that way.

Mind you, I didn’t get too long of a look at him.  Going up against Tyson Chandler in the paint, the future of the Raptors franchise missed a couple shots in the low-post early on, before getting nailed to the bench until halftime with two fouls.  In the second half, he only scored once before taking a shot to the chops, clutching his throat as he left the game.  Final stats: 9 mins, 4 points, 2-4 shooting, 1 rebound, hardly setting the world on fire with those numbers.

Thing is, his country didn’t really need him out there.  With the USA going small by putting Kobe, Lebron and Melo in the front court down the stretch (Tyson Chandler only saw eight minutes of action himself and shot 1-for-4), the Lithuanians got some big buckets from the likes of ex-NBA roleplayers Darius Songaila and Sarunas Jasikevicius as well as former Duke benchwarmer Martynas Pocius.  But their biggest contributor–in fact, he’s their leading scorer throughout the tournament–also happens to belong to the Raptors, none other than Linas Kleiza.  Finally healthy after being banged-up last season, the 6’8″ swingman came out firing in the first quarter, allowing his team to keep up with the mighty Americans.  He finished with 25 points on 10-of-20 shooting, while also chipping in five rebounds and three assists.  Averaging 16 ppg coming in, Kleiza was the game’s high-scorer, dropping more shots than Melo, Lebron or Kevin Durant.

Man, the Raps could sure use that kinda scoring from the wing this season.  If Kleiza can continue to be the man for his country, then maybe, just maybe Toronto will have a new Lithuanian to pin their hopes on next season…

The Knicks let Lin leave!? Talk about Linsanity!

Posted by gruesomegreg on

Now, I must say that I’m not the biggest fan of NBA basketball (gimme the NCAA any day!), but I found myself tuning in to a lot of those Sunday afternoon 1 o’clock games on ABC last season, for pretty much one reason: Jeremy Lin.  The man came outta nowhere (Harvard, actually), was signed off the street and burst out of the gate for the Knicks, earning a spot in the rookie-sophomore game on All-Star Weekend, and ultimately putting up impressive totals of 14 points and six assists per game in his first significant NBA action.

But while his final numbers were pretty impressive, the start he got off to was simply ridiculous.  After being pressed into starting duty due to a rash of injuries in February, Lin reeled off six straight 20-point performances and scored 20 in nine of his first 10 games–including a 38-point effort to beat the Lakers on Feb 10th.  Linsanity had arrived, and though he missed the last 17 games of the season and the Knicks’ playoff series with a knee injury, his run through February and March is what put the team in the playoffs in the first place.  Not only that, but he became a mass media and social media phenomenon in the process, and as the first Asian-American to play in the NBA, a role model for an entire demographic–of which a large portion live in the Big Apple, where his jersey and t-shirts were flying off the shelves.  This is a man who single-handedly made basketball in New York matter again–and yet, when the Houston Rockets made him a three-year, 25-million-dollar offer, the Knicks decided to walk away when they could’ve matched it.  What gives?

I suppose leaving Lin behind would’ve made sense had New York signed Steve Nash, a guy who, let’s face it, is clearly the young PG’s role model.  But the Steve Nash sweepstakes landed in La-La Land, disappointing many fans on the East Coast, especially in Toronto, where the Raptors are now stuck with Landry Fields in a gamble that didn’t pay off.  Did I mention that Fields was also a Knicks free agent–one who they didn’t opt to re-sign?

After losing out to the Lakers, however, the Knicks offered themselves a consolation prize in Raymond Felton, who had starred in Carolina with UNC and the Charlotte Bobcats, and put together a solid season of 17 points and nine assists per game with in New York before being dealt to Denver for Carmelo Anthony a couple years back.  That said, his numbers took a dive on the West Coast; he averaged just 11.4 points and a respectable 6.5 assists with the Portland Trail Blazers last season–and Bleacher Report is calling him riskier than Jeremy Lin.  Sure, he’s a seven-year vet, whereas Lin really only has two solid months of NBA playing time under his belt–but there’s no doubt who’s going to sell more jerseys and put more butts in the seats.  Felton simply isn’t a captivating player and a feel-good story like Lin and it looks like the Knicks will be fading back into national obscurity due to this questionable decision.

Then again, the New York Jets did just trade for Tim Tebow, so perhaps the Big Apple wasn’t big enough for both of them?

How I spent an entire weekend without watching any playoff hockey…

Posted by gruesomegreg on

As I’ve said before, I’m not all that interested in this year’s NHL playoffs.  The lack of Canadian teams whose fans don’t start riots has left me with no one to cheer for (let’s face it, the Sens probably won’t get past the first round), and after an anti-climatic ending to another disappointing Flames season, I’ve decided to stay away from hockey for a couple weeks, overtimes be damned.  Fortunately, there are plenty of other alternatives in Toronto, the Centre of the Known Universe™, including a coupla major-league sports teams at opposite ends of their seasons.

The last time I went to see a Raptors game, it was last season with Steve Nash, Vince Carter and the Phoenix Suns in town.  Suffice to say that Toronto lost–big time.  This year, I decided to settle for Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett and the Boston Celtics, along with the faint hope that the Raptors might catch their division rivals on an off night and sneak away with a win.  Not that I was getting my hopes up, or anything.

Mind you, Toronto came through for just the 21st time in this lockout-shortened season, handing the stunned Celts an 84-79 road defeat.  The first half of this game was worse than watching women’s basketball, with the home team trailing 36-30, shooting just 23 per cent from the field.  I think the 12-year-old kids who played at halftime made more of their shots than the pros did.  If you could even call them pros, that is–the Raps were without Bargnani, Calderon and Bayless and had a pair of D-League callups in their starting lineup.  Boston, meanwhile, benched most of their star players, even giving a pair of third-stringers some significant minutes on the assumption that they had this one in the bag.  But then a funny thing happened in the third quarter…

Toronto came out firing on all cylinders, particularly Linas Kleiza, who scored most, if not all, of his 17 points in the second half.  As a team, the Raptors nearly matched their first-half output with 27 points in the third, raising their field-goal percentage by 10 points in the process.  Section 109, which had been dead silent save one fauxhawked fellow, started to come alive, although some of the so-called fans were cheering for Boston.  Meanwhile, the Celtics, suddenly down 13 after the first basket of the fourth quarter, realized they needed Pierce, Rondo and company if they wanted to win this one.  They came awfully close, too, cutting the lead to one in the dying seconds, but DeRozan and Kleiza hit their free throws as the Raptors pulled off the upset.

From the perspective of wanting to see all of Boston’s star power on display, the game was a little disappointing (Ray Allen didn’t even dress), but if you’re a Raptors fan, you’ll take it.  I guess I am, though this might have been the first time I’ve sat through four quarters of one of their games this season.  The excitement of the second half was almost enough to make me forget the worst 24 minutes of NBA basketball I’ve even seen, so in the end, I suppose I’m a satisfied customer.

…

At first, the plan was to go see the (C)Raptors on Friday, then catch the Jays game on Saturday afternoon to remember what a real sports team looks like.  Toronto was playing Baltimore, the worst team in their division, so it looked like they could probably pull this one off.  Alas, if you had told me on Thursday that I’d watch the Raptors win and the Jays lose over a two-day stretch, I’d have called you crazy.  But you also would’ve been right.

Toronto got a solid seven innings from rookie right-hander Henderson Alvarez (fun fact: he was 3 when they last won the Series), but their bullpen gave up a pair of long balls to spoil a somewhat mild Saturday late afternoon/early evening.  Not sure what was up with the 4 o’clock start–I guess Sportsnet musta been showing an important soccer game or something.  But that didn’t stop a respectable walk-up crowd from heading out to the ballgame, with total attendance topping 28-thousand.

Now, I’ve been to about a dozen Jays games in the 6+ years I’ve lived here, but I’d never sat behind home plate before.  If you can spare the dime, I highly recommend it.  From my vantage point some 13 rows up, any balls fouled straight back went well over my head, and I could see every pitch just as well as home plate umpire Derryl Cousins–who didn’t do the Jays’ pitchers any favours, and called a whole helluva lotta strikes against Jose Bautista, to boot!  For the record, Casey Janssen clearly struck out Wilson Betemit with a 2-2 pitch in the bottom of the eighth, but after Cousins called it a ball, Betemit belted the next pitch over the right-field fence to tie the game.  Had Cousins made the right call, there’s no telling how that game would’ve ended.

Mind you, the Jays could’ve altered the outcome had J.P. Arencibia (he of the .071 batting average) not struck out swinging with runners on second and third in the sixth, or had Brett Lawrie not tried–and failed–to steal home with Bautista at bat in the second.  Remind me to look for a new catcher for my fantasy baseball team, by the way, cuz the kid’s just not cutting the mustard at the moment.  On the other hand, I really can’t complain about Lawrie…

…

Almost as disappointing as the Jays’ late-game meltdown on Saturday was the post-game meal at a nearby Baton Rouge restaurant.  From a place that’s supposed to be known for its ribs, I was not expecting barely warmed-up pork with sauce stolen from a Swanson’s TV dinner.  Guess they didn’t microwave ‘em long enough.  Also, the coleslaw tasted kinda funny.  Sad to say I can get better food at Swiss Chalet for a significantly lower price–and I guess I’ll be going there next time instead.

(Wait, do they even have a Swiss Chalet on Front Street?)

So, NBA basketball’s back. Meh, I hardly noticed it was gone…

Posted by gruesomegreg on

Admittedly, basketball’s not my favourite sport, but I’m hardly ignorant of its existence.  As a matter of fact, I was one of those weird kids that played basketball instead of hockey when I was growing up.  (Saved my parents a ton of money on equipment!)  Last season, I tried to keep tabs on the Toronto (C)Raptors, mostly during commercials/intermissions of whatever football or hockey game I was watching, but it got to the point where I just couldn’t be bothered, since I knew they were gonna lose anyways.  The only game I went to last year was when the Phoenix Suns were in town to A) See Steve Nash in the flesh and B) Boo Vince Carter.  Suffice to say that the Suns still won, though I can’t even remember the final score.

Sure, there was some excitement when Vince was in town, and the team was headed to the playoffs–I’ll admit, I even bought his jersey–but lately, the Craptors have been prime practitioners of bad basketball.  Without Chris Bosh anymore, the team will be relying on a handful of young players, none of whom have shown they can play defence, and it doesn’t look pretty.  (Mind you, Bosh didn’t D up much either when he wore a Raptor uni…)  In fact, in a recent Toronto Star poll (scroll down for it), 82 per cent of respondents had the Raps winning less than 30 games this year, with 27 per cent pegging their win total at 10 or less.  Even with the lockout knocking 15 games off the calendar, Toronto’s still gonna be in for a long season.

Mind you, after they announced the end of the lockout earlier this month, it took me a good two weeks just to remember the names of Toronto’s starting five.  This made me realize that not having the NBA from Halloween through Christmas wasn’t such a huge loss.  Somehow, a league of overpaid multimillionaires with a salary cap that’s soft like Charmin playing a large slate of high-scoring games where points don’t mean much–and most games don’t really matter till you get to the playoffs–has made such a small impact on me that I didn’t even notice it was gone.  Hey, wake me when it’s April, alright?

That’s not to say I haven’t been watching basketball though, having caught all but a couple of Gonzaga’s first nine games.  Although Toronto has been Canada’s Team by default since the Grizzlies moved to Memphis (why they never changed that team’s name is beyond me!), the Gonzaga Bulldogs, with two key starters from north of the border, have a lot more Canuckian hoops cred than a team that’ll be bringing Jamaal Magloire off the bench for the first time this year.  Unlike the NBA playoffs, which resemble the clutch-and-grab postseason play of the pre-lockout NHL, the NCAA men’s basketball tournament is one of the most exciting events in sports, with its fast-paced, frenetic, one-and-done format–and I fully expect the Zags to make their 12th straight appearance come March.  As for the Raptors chances?  Well, I think I’ll leave that one to Jim Mora…

For the future of Canadian basketball, look no further than Gonzaga University!

Posted by gruesomegreg on

Personally, I’ve been a fan of Gonzaga Bulldogs men’s basketball since the late 90′s, when they made their first run in the NCAA Tournament.  See, in Calgary, we got all of our American network TV from Spokane, WA–home of Gonzaga U–and this was sort of a big deal.  Ever since then, I’ve kept tabs on the team, even after moving to Toronto.  (Online streaming plays a big part in that.)  I’ve actually got a Toronto Raptors program with Adam Morrison on the cover from his rookie year in Charlotte, and a Number 23 Gonzaga jersey, even though I can’t think of any Zags who wore that number.

But lately, supporting Gonzaga isn’t just a matter of watching the team I used to see on local cable–it’s a matter of national pride.  Robert Sacre, a seven-foot centre from North Vancouver, is playing the best basketball of his career, and if I was the Raptors, I’d take him in the second round next season.  Not only that, but their new starting point guard, Kevin Pangos, is a freshman from the GTA who lit up Washington State for 33 points in his second collegiate game.  Fans of Canadian basketball, your future plays its home games at McCarthey Athletic Center.

I gotta say, Sacre has progressed by leaps and bounds over his college career.  He went from a timid frosh who’d get all his shots blocked to a veteran leader, double-double guy who can shoot the hook with both hands, has a decent mid-range J, and did I mention that he’s an 85 per cent free-throw shooter, at a legit seven-foot, 260+?  Like I said, the Raptors could use his low-post presence, even if he does no better than Rony Turiaf in the show.

Pangos meanwhile is still raw, but he’s shown shades of Steve Nash with his drive-and-dish passing.  He can also hit the three–in fact, he made nine of them against WSU.  While I can’t see him coming out early, in four years’ time he could be the next Steve Nash, if he continues to improve.  In any case, he’s been in the starting lineup in Spokane from Day One.

Need another reason to support the Zags?  Well, John Stockton, the school’s most famous alum, has a 20-year-old son in his sophomore season at GU.  David Stockton, generously listed at 5’11″ and 152, is a redshirt, walk-on sixth man who shows signs of his dad with his court vision, leading the team on the break and disrupting opponents on defence.  In fact, I’d say he’s a better pure point than Pangos at this stage of his career, though his size will likely keep him from playing at the next level.  Still, if you like an undersized underdog–who’s a stellar passer, to boot–look no further than the second-generation Stockton.

After starting the season 4-0, the Zags are ranked 18th in the ESPN poll, but have a tough stretch of non-conference games against Notre Dame, Illinois, Michigan State, Oral Roberts, Arizona and Butler.  If the NBA couldn’t return soon enough, you could do worse than to watch some top-level college basketball.  In fact, all of the aforementioned, aside from ORU, are televised nationally on ESPN2–with the exception of the Arizona game, which airs on CBS.  If you’re north of the border, there are a coupla streams showing the games on the internet, if you know where to look.

If you’re one of those weird Canadian kids like me who grew up playing basketball, not hockey, then you’ll wanna check out a Gonzaga team that displays the most key Canadian content of any major NCAA school.  I don’t wanna say these kids could beat the (C)Raptors, but if Bargnani’s having an off day, you never know…

Where would an NFL team fit in Toronto’s sports hierarchy?

Posted by gruesomegreg on

Bills in Toronto Series tickets went on sale last week, this being the fourth year of a five-year, eight-game commitment between the NFL franchise and the city of Toronto.  I have attended every game thus far, both preseason and regular season–and I’m not even a Bills fan.  Mind you, at least half the crowd at these games, all of which were sold out, weren’t Bills fans either, with a large contingent cheering for the opposition–particularly at last year’s Bills-Bears contest, where the lower bowl was largely made up of Chicagoans.

That said, there have always plenty of locals in attendance, sporting a plethora of jerseys representing a wide variety of NFL teams.  Like me, many of us are simply excited to see NFL football in Toronto, regardless of which teams are competing.  Which begs the question, will Toronto ever have an NFL team of its own?

It could happen sooner than you think.  Bills owner Ralph Wilson, 92, has said his estate will sell the team after he dies, which, at his age, could be any day now.  And the Fabulous Ford Brothers have already said they want a team in TO–who can forget that Toronto Sun front page!?  Mind you, the Rogers Centre isn’t up to Roger’s standards, and the smart money has a team going back to L.A. before Toronto gets one.  But, all speculation aside, where would an NFL franchise fall amongst Toronto’s teams in terms of popularity?  Let’s take a look at the list:

TOP DOGS: Toronto Maple Leafs.  Anyone who’s lived in Toronto for any period of time (going on six years, myself) knows that TML is the top team in the city, and throughout most of the province, for that matter.  Nevermind that the Leafs haven’t made the playoffs since I moved here in ’05, they still pack ‘em in to the overpriced seats for a pretty poor on-ice product.  Should they actually accomplish something in the standings, you get the feeling that the city would explode.

NUMBER TWO AND FADING: Toronto Raptors.  With a multi-culti roster representing six different countries, the Raptors, like the sport of basketball, appeal to a wider cultural, socio-economic fan base than the traditional Leafs.  There are plenty of people who care about the Raptors in this city–during their last playoff appearance, in ’07, you couldn’t find a seat at a downtown bar when they were playing–but with the team falling on hard times, they’ve given us little to cheer about lately.

NUMBER THREE WITH A BULLET: Toronto FC.  Soccer is the global game, and Toronto is truly a global city, so it’s no surprise that Toronto FC have been popular from the get-go, averaging over 20 thousand fans a game at a pitch that doesn’t hold much more than that.  But their on-field product has not been very good, either–they’re currently one point out of last place in the Eastern Conference.  The team won’t improve its place in the hearts of Torontonians until it improves its place in the standings.  But after seeing the pandemonium that occurred during last year’s World Cup (or even the ’06 World Cup, for that matter), a future FC playoff run would surely spark the city.

NUMBER FOUR: Toronto Blue Jays.  The city may still love its Jays, but they don’t show up in droves like they did in the 90′s.  Around this time last year, it seems they were struggling to draw 15,000 fans a game, and while attendance is up by 4,000 fans a game this year, they’re still in the bottom half of the American League in that regard.  Mind you, for every 20,000 fans in the seats, there are probably another 200,000 watching on TV within the GTA, but it’s hard to be optimistic when you’re stuck in a division with the two highest-spending teams in baseball, and your payroll hovers around $60-million.  Barring realignment or a hard cap, I don’t see the Jays making the playoffs within my lifetime.  (To be fair, I do think I will see a salary cap in baseball, though.  Another cancelled World Series would probably do the trick…)

NUMBER FIVE (AND SINKING?): Toronto Argonauts.  As a CFL fan, it pains me to place the Argos so low on the list, but it’s no secret that the Canadian Football League is not very popular here in Toronto.  The fact is, I can walk down the streets on game day in a Calgary Stampeders jersey and not get a single sign of acknowledgement or disapproval.  And my local sports bar won’t even show CFL football on TV, no matter who’s playing.  There were times I walked by to see CP24 on a couple screens, but not the Argos.

Despite a somewhat-fluky 9-9 finish last year, they only averaged 22 thousand fans a game, with the stands almost-literally half-empty (52.5% capacity)–a whopping 5,000 fans below the league average.  The year, with the team falling back to 2-6, they’ve drawn between 19 and 21 thousand a game–the league average, according to CFLDB, is closer t0 27K.  And unlike the Jays, when 20,000 people show up to an Argos game, there are maybe another 20,000 watching on TV, tops.  One could argue that this doesn’t bode well for football in Toronto–but the argument could also be made that elitist Torontonians don’t wanna settle for a “second-rate” league.

NUMBER SIX: Toronto Marlies.  Those who can’t get Leafs tickets go to the Marlies.  Although few of their games are televised, they could very well be more popular than the Argos.  I wouldn’t know, though, since I’ve never been to a Marlies game.

NUMBER SEVEN: Toronto Rock.  Do people actually pay to watch lacrosse?

 

So, where do I see the Toronto Bills (let’s call them that for now) on this list?  Provided that they’re granted a brand-new stadium in a central location (the Mississauga Bills or the Oshawa Bills wouldn’t sell too many tickets, IMO) I think they could start off at number three or number four, and if they catch a break in the parity-prone NFL and start winning some games, they could easily ascend to number two.  There’s no unseating the Leafs, though.  Hell, if the city builds an 80,000 seat stadium, I wouldn’t be surprised if the Leafs started using it!

Peace,

Greg