Photo Feature: Blue Jay Fans

Proof that I've been a Blue Jays fan for a long time. Me and my cousins in our Blue Jay uniforms sometime back when they were actually good. Taken by Sharon Davidson.

If you have any photos you think are good, send them in to pieceofdust@gmail.com and they will get posted in this space.

Pro Sports Roundup

"So what's with all this talk of pro sports on this blog?" you're probably asking yourself. "Isn't this guy not a fan of all things corporate?" Well yes and no. I do follow pro sports but sometimes I loathe myself for doing so. As I tell my students cheering for a team (in their case the Canucks) is like cheering for a company. Why should we be loyal to these companies? What do they do for us?

Well, I'm trying to distance myself from the loyalty to company idea, though I am not really doing a great job of it lately. So I thought I would try to do my best to give an unbiased (hahaha!) report of what is going on in the world of pro sports this week.

NHL
Living where I do I am exposed to many biased opinions about a certain hockey team which I am not such a big fan of (mostly due to it's fans). This week saw the beginning of the second round of playoffs, and already I think we've seen some things that we did not expect. Detroit is down 2 games to none and Ottawa beat the Devils. Vancouver actually managed to win a game in their series (so I was wrong in my predictions of a sweep - if they win game three I'll never hear the end of it on Monday from my students). I'm going to make a bold prediction and say San Jose wins the cup. Either that or Buffalo, but many people have picked them already.

NBA
It's hard to be a Toronto Raptor fan right now. They didn't really look good in their three games against New Jersey. The bright side is that they actually have one win in those games, so they are not facing an insurmountable lead at this point. All year they dealt with stretches like this and then came back with a long win streak. Maybe that streak starts tomorrow night. I have also been following Phoenix a bit (Steve Nash is the only reason really) and I was surprised they lost that third game. I'm no fan of Kobe Bryant's (due to his recent past), but the guy is a good basketball player.... Nash is better though.

MLB
What is up with the Blue Jays? They lose 5 games straight against, then win three straight and then start another losing streak. Today's game was rather dissapointing. Their offence kept getting them back in the game and their pitching kept taking them out of it. I can't really blame them since their closer is injured (along with a lot of their offensive stars). Right now they just need to hang in there and hopefully they will not be too far back when they get everyone back (whenever that happens).

MLS
Apparently Toronto has a soccer team now, Toronto FC. They have yet to win (I think they haven't even scored a goal yet) in four games this season, the latest setback coming
today to Kansas. Today was their first home game and I heard on TV that the crowd was over 20 000. Not too shabby. I wonder what it will be like when David Beckham comes to town.

Toronto Sports Update

A week ago I posted about the Toronto Sports Teams and the events of the last week have necessitated an update.

1. The Toronto Raptors have officially won the Atlantic division and are currently looking at a Gilbert Arenas-less Washington Wizards in the first round of the playoffs. I'm starting to like their chances now.

2. The Blue Jays are off to a 1-2 start. There have been some not-so-good games in those first three, but I'm going to keep in mind that there are 159 games left for them

3. The Leafs are about 25mins away from their last chance at a playoff spot. They must win tonight and hope that the Islanders lose tomorrow for them to make the playoffs. Right now I am currently haunted by my prediction (right after the Hurricanes won the cup) that the Islanders would win it all this year. Making the playoffs on the last day could certainly start a run to the final... who knows... if you're reading this before 4pm, I urge you to watch the Montreal-Toronto game. If the game is already over, I hope it was a good one....

UPDATE (7:30pm PST): The Leafs won 6-5 so Toronto fans will be watching the Islanders-Devils game tomorrow. If the Devils win, Toronto makes the playoffs.

A Couch Potato's Dream

This week marks the one time of the year when the three major sports teams that I follow are all playing. Yes, that's right, the baseball season is about to begin and the hockey and basketball seasons are coming to a close. Could this be the first year that all three of Toronto's sports teams make the playoffs in their repsective leagues?

For starters, the Raptors seem to have a playoff spot locked up, with the only question being: will they be seeded fourth, third, or – less likely – second. After taking care of Washington and Miami (the two teams they are fighting with for that third spot) this week, it looks good that Toronto will have a fairly high seeding come playoff time. They have 10 games left and are 3 games behind 2^nd place Cleveland and 6 games back of 1^st place Detroit (who they play twice). I am particularly impressed with Anthony Parker. The Raptors did not fare so well when he was out with an ankle sprain. He's not a big scoring guy, but he's a team player (as are most of the Raptors) and he is one of the major reasons for the team's successes this year.

The Leafs are not so much a lock. They are right in the think of the playoff hunt. As of this writing, they are one point out of eighth with one more game to play than the eigth place Monteal Canadiens. As my friend Rich tells me, it will likely come down to the final game of the season when Toronto and Montreal face off in Toronto. No doubt that game will be well watched throughout the 401 corridor. It would be nice for them to get in as I will no doubt hear it from all the Canuck bandwagon jumpers out here in B.C. who are all have all become born again hockey fans after a season in which the Canucks failed to make the playoffs.

The third team - the Blue Jays - hasn't played a single game yet this year, but they look to have a good chance. After last year's 2^nd place finish in their division (albeit 10 games back of the Yankees and 8 games back of the wildcard winner.), they have made some upgrades (Frank Thomas) and gotten rid of some problems (Ted Lilly – incidentally I was at the game when he and Manager John Gibbons allegedly exchanged fisticuffs in the tunnel to the dugout). Last year started bringing back feelings of '92 and '93, so I hope they can build from that.

I check all of my sports scores at Yahoo Sports. There are many other sites including the NHL site, the NBA site and the MLB site.