Hooligans Sportsbook

Notes from the Toronto sports scene

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Mudcat

Mudcat

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1) The 4-19 Raptors attracted over 19,000 fans to their home game on Friday night. Some strength in Raptor Nation apparently.




2) More importantly (IMO) the Blue Jays and R A Dickey have agreed to terms for a 2 year extension. Wow. Who was that idiot at SBR who used to always say DO WORK? (Rhetorical question - don't really want an answer.) (Seriously, if you are thinking about answering, see if you can find the inner strength to resist.) Anyways, the Blue Jays are DOING WORK!

Okay I realize there is no guaranteed repeat of his Cy Young season but he has averaged over 200 innings per year for the last 3 years, and pretty good overall stats. Good to have a guy like that in the already much-strengthened rotation. Man if Ricky Romero can return to form . . .

Only downside is they gave up a top prospect in Travis D'Arnaud. Hopefully it doesn't come back to bite them in the proverbial ass.
 
The Dickey contract extension is a bargain, too - basically the same money Ryan Dempster got.

I don't think anyone expects Dickey to duplicate last season, but as you mentioned, he was very good (although not Cy Young good) for two seasons before that.

Will anyone go to the games now?
 
Attendance will depend a lot on performance I think. Things are looking okay on paper right now but let's face it, it is not impossible they will be a .500 team that is out of the race by the end of July. Ask the Florida Marlins. If so, they can probably expect the same attendance they have been getting.

If they are in the race, who knows? Once upon a time the Blue Jays held the Major League record for attendance. It is not impossible for a competitive ballclub to attract fans here.
 
Didn't realize it but apparently the pitching prospect Toronto is giving up in the Dickey trade, Noah Syndergaard, is a pretty big deal too. Him along with one of the top rated young catchers for a 38 year old arm - risky business.

Blue Jays are clearly making the statement we are going for it right now.

I support it.
 
I am not a baseball fan but I was just looking at Blue Jay's season's ticket prices. You can get a season's ticket in the 500s for $650 bucks plus tax, I suspect.
If two of us were to get tickets, we could sell them off here and there and probably get most of the cash back and get to see some games for very cheap.
 
38 year arm as a knuckler is not as big a risk as a 38 year old that relies on a healthy fastball. Giving up some upside minor leaguers seems justified for a run at the pennant this year and next.
Hell, Charlie Hough was starting at 46. I will be rooting for the Jays in the AL this season.
 
FairWarning
If the Leafs and Canadians were playing for the title, who would Canada vote for?
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That is a helluva question. In terms of who would get the most votes FOR - nationwide, probably the Leafs.

But they would also probably get the most votes AGAINST.



Still if the Habs ever became a contender again they would have the, "Oh Jesus Christ, not THEM again," factor. Similar to the Yankees. Also there is the general Quebec-is-annoying factor. Few people remembers the Leafs being relevant so if they contended it would be more of a Chicago Cubs flavor of story. Still obnoxious but more of an underdog thing.



So I'll say the Leafs.
 
Mudcat
That is a helluva question. In terms of who would get the most votes FOR - nationwide, probably the Leafs.

But they would also probably get the most votes AGAINST.



Still if the Habs ever became a contender again they would have the, "Oh Jesus Christ, not THEM again," factor. Similar to the Yankees. Also there is the general Quebec-is-annoying factor. Few people remembers the Leafs being relevant so if they contended it would be more of a Chicago Cubs flavor of story. Still obnoxious but more of an underdog thing.



So I'll say the Leafs.
Click to expand...


Clearly the Senators are the best team in the country. That is, if there was a professional hockey league up and running that had both Canadian and American teams
 
Hmm. I used to go to like 40 a year at old Exhibition Stadium through most of the 1980's. But then I started to Peter down. I have been to less than a handful at Skydome. Those would have been in the early days, the first season or 2 after it opened so I'll say

1990 ??
 
FairWarning
If the Leafs and Canadians were playing for the title, who would Canada vote for?
Click to expand...

The obvious answer would seem to be the Leafs, but I think the actual vote would be pretty close to even. Lots of non-Quebecers were raised as Habs fans. The link to the annoying Quebec/French culture is not all that strong - there was always a strong anglo-Canadian presence on the team.

We need Stats Canada posting here.
 
Au contraire Pierre.

Okay I myself was raised a Habs fan. I am not any more but would still vote for them in that vote. (It would be more of an anti-Leafs vote).



And I don't know how the overall vote would go but I really feel that the Habs are all about the French to a lot of Canada. Between the constant hysteria over the coach's/GM's/captain's level of bilinguality, and politicians and tabloids and various individuals trying to tie the team to different separatist/language agendas - the Habs are the frenchies.

Not saying that insisting on a bilingual coach isn't completely sensible - because it is - and I'm not saying that intelligent people shouldn't disregard when one idiot talks about booing the English part of O Canada or banning the Canadian flag at the Bell Centre or whatever. But there is perception.

To many, the Habs are seen as one of the most "racist" (languagist?) organizations in pro sports. People get uppity about too many white guys on the Utah Jazz/Minny Timberwolves? How about the open - almost official - preference for Frenchness from the Habs?


Where's Pucky? Puckayyyy!
 
Mudcat
How about the open - almost official - preference for Frenchness from the Habs?
Click to expand...

?!? Go check the number of Frenchies on the team. Not just in recent years. Check the last 20 years.

You're talking about a minority of vocal, unwashed fans that the media likes to use to drum up a non-story. Sure, some Habs fans want more French guys on the team. That's entirely normal. The same way that a lot of American fans would rather have teams full of North Americans vs. Euro/Russian players. Everyone wants to relate to their local heroes. Everyone's a little bit xenophobic.

Vast majority of people in Quebec don't care about the race/language of their hockey players. The most admired Habs players in recent years:

P.K. Subban
Carey Price
Jaroslav Halak
Alexei Kovalev
Doug Fokken Gilmour

Muddy don't be that guy. Don't walk right into the media's retarded agenda. We have one Pucky already.

Fokken may or may not be Doug Gilmour's middle name.
 
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