Toronto Sports Story Part 1: Lets Go Blue Jays!

In optimal traffic conditions, I can drive from my house in Brampton to the entrance of the of the Toronto Blue Jays home stadium, The Rogers Centre ("Skydome", for the hip amongst us,) in 25 minutes. 

Add an extra 5 minute walk; I'm at the Air Canada Centre, home of the Raptors and the venerable Toronto Maple Leafs. My geographical proximity to the aforementioned sports franchises is shared by millions in the GTA -- probably including you the reader, yeah you!--, and come to think of it, the Toronto sports stories of my era which I'll say is about 1995 - present, are all going to sound the same. We have seen the same things, and you can't change the past. However these collective memories, emotions, hopes and dreams, have come to help forge my identity, and allowed to me to form real bonds within the community.

I have been a HUGE sports guy for my whole life. It was my internet before the internet. Growing up, there was simply not much to do in Brampton, but come to think of it, I was also kid, so there probably wasn't much to do anywhere else. Sports was one of my first real ways to see and understand the world around me, and I fully immersed myself in that world. Pre internet era, it was way harder to be a sports fan, but it was much more special too. Newspapers + Sportcenter, that was my s**t (still is!)! Many of my bestest buds were met through a) talking about sports, b) playing sports, and/or c) playing video games of sports. The GTA is a region where "embracing diverse backgrounds" is one of the biggest factors of our collective regional identity. Having major league home teams in most of the big leagues of North America has no doubt had a positive impact on uniting people from different backgrounds all over the GTA. I could connect, and bond, with anyone and everyone if we shared a mutual passion for sports. Sports fanatics are able to transcend the barriers of age, class, and religion to engage peacefully, only to create vitriolic new barriers in likes to " HA-HA we beat you!" or "f**k your city! (aka we probably lost"). It's a hilarious cycle and unfortunately Toronto is usually on only one side of that dichotomy hahaha...it's true.

Despite our incompetence. The big 3 sports teams made me personally feel like our region was relevant in a bigger picture. When we talk about Basketball (NBA) and Baseball (MLB), ones gotta remember our Toronto franchises are the representatives for the entire country! It didn't start like that (RIP Grizzlies and Expos), but in the survival of the fittest that is the world of professional sports, Toronto is and has been the fittest city in Canada.

However, Toronto has also had notoriously bad sports luck. There has not been a major Championship in this city since 1993. Only Cleveland Ohio possesses a championship drought more severe than us...and they got Lebron James back and Johnny Football! Toronto needs to step it up, or else we will soon be the straddled with the stigma of being perennial losers.

This series of articles will look at The Baseball, Basketball and Hockey franchises of Toronto, and the Impact they have had on my life. First we'll look at the last real champions Toronto has had, the Blue Jays.

The Blue Jays: My heart and soul. I f**king love the Toronto Blue Jays. I missed the excitement of the back to back championships in my day. I was aware that we were winning, and a successful franchise, I knew about Joe Carter, and Roberto Alomar, but a 4/5 year old JDA only had so much of an understanding of the world at that time, but i was intrigued by the influx of merchandise and promotion during the time. Awkward admission, I didn't really "understand" the Jays logo when I was younger, sorry, it just looked really weird to me (some sort of V, why?), but I liked the team. 

I really got to understand and appreciate baseball in the summer of 98, when a family friend explained the game to me, and like magic... it clicked. Mark McGuire, Sammy Sosa, a young Griffey and A-Rod, baseball was hot, and baseball was f**king awesome, if you got it. And that damn logo was a Blue Jay in profile, idiot JDA, talk about a paradigm shift! 

Like all years since 1993 the Jays were not successful when I started to become a fan. But, my understanding of why we were unsuccessful made me an even bigger fan: "it wasn't our fault!". During that era, the Yankees were seemingly always winning, and everyone loved them for it. I came to understand that the playoff format of Baseball essentially made it impossible for the Jays to make it into the playoffs. Only 8/30 teams made it back then. The Yankees were a dynasty then, so they always got a spot. The Yankees were a great team, with great home-grown talent, but they also could simply buy a better team each year and pay the big money to retain their best players. There was no salary cap for teams in Major League Baseball so the best team could buy the best players every year. The Yankees are the darlings of the MLB, so there wasn't much resistance from the league executives. There was 1 more playoff spot, aka "the wild card", but we had to compete with 10 other team for that spot. Plus we had another divisional rival, also an MLB darling, the Boston Red Sox to deal with, to me we were being bullied in pro sports terms, we had no chance.

That made the Jays take the role of "the little guys" to me and from there it was game over. Nothing makes you a bigger fan then feeling that your guys are being treated unfairly. F**k the Yankees and Red Sox, their success and hype came at a direct loss to our success. Every time I saw a ubiquitous Yankees, or Red Sox hat, I would gain +1 exp. for the Jays. How could you directly support a team that directly keeps your home team down?  The problem with the "big team" is this: any loser bandwagoner can support who ever won the championship last, that's cheap and the tell-tale sign of not knowing anything about sports. You think riding for the the most recent winners is the smart choice? Not to the "real fans". The Jays were a victim of circumstance, and it was my duty to never abandon them. We have had amazing players, Roy Halladay in his prime was a legend. We had good runs, but it was never going to be good enough, especially in that era of baseball. However these obstacles and hopelessness only endeared the team further to me. The intrigue of defeating huge odds. Baseball doesn't have the sweeping popularity of hockey or basketball in Toronto, but Jays fans are some of the most passionate and knowledgeable fans in Toronto. My life has been enriched by being a Jays fan, Jays fans know. The team is a big part of my identity as a local of this region.

Side note about Roy Halladay. Back when Halladay was on the Jays, the American President at the time was the quotable George W. Bush, a noted baseball guy. Bush was a controversial leader to say the least, and like many Canadian socialist in training, I was not a fan of his policies. However I once read an interview where he stated that the starting pitcher on his team would be Roy Halladay. Our Roy Halladay! I was floored. The leader of the "free world" would pick a Toronto player as his go to guy? Wow, maybe Dubya wasn't as dumb as people said. Hahaha, despite my 2 cents about the guy, I respect the position of President and I felt like Bush's endorsement of our guy was an endorsement for us. Somehow, that we existed more, and that we mattered more. That was one of the rare times I ever agreed with George W. Bush.

The landscape of Baseball has changed, the game is more fair now than it was in the last decade. The balance of power in the league has evolved. Unfortunately, the Jays still haven't made the playoffs or established themselves in the modern MLB. Every other team in the league including the upstart Tampa Bay Rays, the Baltimore Orioles and  even the Kansas City "these O's aint" Royals, made the playoffs! The Jays are running out of excuses, and some fans are running out of patience. All eyes on the Jays next summer, I'm excited to see how our team will respond to the now palpable pressure, I think we will prevail. We have the talent, do you know Joey Bats? One of the most elite players of this decade! We just need that.....something! Damn it! Quick, someone just call Drake! Lets go Blue Jays! 2015 Playoffs here we come....

***piano from 'started from the bottom' slowly fades in***

see you in part 2.

***JDA out***

JDA is one of the boyz. And of course, a #BramptonRises kinda guy. Follow him on twitter @Jibbyville.

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