Go Blue Jays
{Photos by Zach and me}
This past weekend I decided to take a mini-getaway to Toronto where Zach and I caught a Toronto Blue Jays game.
“Why don’t they have breaks in baseball? What if you need to go to the washroom?” I asked.
“You just go. Watching baseball is a giant break.” Zach replied.
Watching baseball is like reading a book. A good baseball game is like reading The Lord of The Rings. It’s anti-climatic with fouls and sudden excitement of perhaps a homerun, then it goes back to anti-climatic. A bad baseball game is like reading The Catcher in the Rye. It’s just boring yet you feel like you need to finish it because perhaps it would get interesting. And then it's over. It’s no wonder people consume too much alcohol watching baseball, and I took way too many selfies at the game as entertainment. "I'm usually not this full of myself. I'm just incredibly bored" I wanted to say to the people behind me that might have been judging on how many cellphone pictures I took.
Toronto Blue Jays is probably the most known baseball team in Canada. “The Blue What?” I often hear. Yeah, Canada is definitely not known for our sports or entertainment. Americans have Glee, Walking Dead, The Voice and the list goes on. What do we have? ... Corner Gas *insert cricket noise*, oh and Avril Lavigne *insert more cricket noise*. On daily basis, we hear the LA Lakers, Miami Dolphins, Dallas Cowboys, New York Yankees, Boston Red Rox. What do we have? The Raptors? I can’t remember how many times I’ve had this conversation:
“What is your favorite basketball team?” my foreign friend would ask.
“Uhm. I don't have one. But maybe the Raptors I guess.” I would say.
“Who?”
“The Toronto raptors! They’re NBA too.”
“oh. I like the Lakers. And LeBron James. I like LeBron James.”
Every Canadian like at least one American team, "My favourite is The Red Sox" is normal in Canada. but what American would have a favorite Candian team? I would side-eye any American if they say "My favorite hockey team is the Ottawa Senators!". Like, what's wrong with you? I like them because I'm obligated to like them because I live in Ottawa. Americans, on the other hand, have so many better hockey teams. Heck, the last time a Canadian team won the Stanley Cup was 1993 with Montreal Canadians. We are lucky if we even make it to the playoffs.
And what's CFL? You mean the NFL? No? Well, who watches the CFL? Not a lot of people if you minus those Saskatchewan folks. When I went back to Vancouver in December I decided to survey my Vancouver friends.
Me: “Do you like the BC Lions?”
Friend 1: “… Who?”
Friend 2: “I watch the Seahawks...”
Friend 3: “I like the Seahawks. NFL is more… exciting.”
Friend 4: “... Yeah sure?”, “Do you go to their games?” I then asked, “Uhm. Sometimes I get free tickets from work and then I go…”
Geeze. No wonder The Vancouver Grizzlies went extinct ("The grizzlies who?" as I hear you say in the background). After my survey I decided to become a BC Lions fan.
“Why?!” Alfred asked with a stink face.
“Because none of you Vancouverites like them! And someone should cheer for them!”
“Ok. So what actions are you going to take as a new Lions fan?”
“I don’t know.”
“Are you actually going to wear their hat? They have such an ugly logo…”
It’s not a secret that Canadian sports fans feel emasculated on a daily basis. It was why we got so excited when we beat the Americans in Sochi Olympics hockey. It is why Canadian Baseball fans are currently very excited that the Blue Jays are doing so well. Most times they are overshadowed by the Yankees and Red Sox in their league, but with 9 winning games streak and being number 1 right now in the eastern ranking, they are pretty awesome.
“I hope my MLB team win this year!” An American would state with such aggression. But no, not us Canadians, we just hope that the Jays make it to the playoffs and everything else after is a bonus. We're used to not being on top, but we've made peace with that while we support our underdogs and damn, you can't find a friendlier neighbor than that.
This past weekend I decided to take a mini-getaway to Toronto where Zach and I caught a Toronto Blue Jays game.
“Why don’t they have breaks in baseball? What if you need to go to the washroom?” I asked.
“You just go. Watching baseball is a giant break.” Zach replied.
Watching baseball is like reading a book. A good baseball game is like reading The Lord of The Rings. It’s anti-climatic with fouls and sudden excitement of perhaps a homerun, then it goes back to anti-climatic. A bad baseball game is like reading The Catcher in the Rye. It’s just boring yet you feel like you need to finish it because perhaps it would get interesting. And then it's over. It’s no wonder people consume too much alcohol watching baseball, and I took way too many selfies at the game as entertainment. "I'm usually not this full of myself. I'm just incredibly bored" I wanted to say to the people behind me that might have been judging on how many cellphone pictures I took.
Toronto Blue Jays is probably the most known baseball team in Canada. “The Blue What?” I often hear. Yeah, Canada is definitely not known for our sports or entertainment. Americans have Glee, Walking Dead, The Voice and the list goes on. What do we have? ... Corner Gas *insert cricket noise*, oh and Avril Lavigne *insert more cricket noise*. On daily basis, we hear the LA Lakers, Miami Dolphins, Dallas Cowboys, New York Yankees, Boston Red Rox. What do we have? The Raptors? I can’t remember how many times I’ve had this conversation:
“What is your favorite basketball team?” my foreign friend would ask.
“Uhm. I don't have one. But maybe the Raptors I guess.” I would say.
“Who?”
“The Toronto raptors! They’re NBA too.”
“oh. I like the Lakers. And LeBron James. I like LeBron James.”
Every Canadian like at least one American team, "My favourite is The Red Sox" is normal in Canada. but what American would have a favorite Candian team? I would side-eye any American if they say "My favorite hockey team is the Ottawa Senators!". Like, what's wrong with you? I like them because I'm obligated to like them because I live in Ottawa. Americans, on the other hand, have so many better hockey teams. Heck, the last time a Canadian team won the Stanley Cup was 1993 with Montreal Canadians. We are lucky if we even make it to the playoffs.
And what's CFL? You mean the NFL? No? Well, who watches the CFL? Not a lot of people if you minus those Saskatchewan folks. When I went back to Vancouver in December I decided to survey my Vancouver friends.
Me: “Do you like the BC Lions?”
Friend 1: “… Who?”
Friend 2: “I watch the Seahawks...”
Friend 3: “I like the Seahawks. NFL is more… exciting.”
Friend 4: “... Yeah sure?”, “Do you go to their games?” I then asked, “Uhm. Sometimes I get free tickets from work and then I go…”
Geeze. No wonder The Vancouver Grizzlies went extinct ("The grizzlies who?" as I hear you say in the background). After my survey I decided to become a BC Lions fan.
“Why?!” Alfred asked with a stink face.
“Because none of you Vancouverites like them! And someone should cheer for them!”
“Ok. So what actions are you going to take as a new Lions fan?”
“I don’t know.”
“Are you actually going to wear their hat? They have such an ugly logo…”
It’s not a secret that Canadian sports fans feel emasculated on a daily basis. It was why we got so excited when we beat the Americans in Sochi Olympics hockey. It is why Canadian Baseball fans are currently very excited that the Blue Jays are doing so well. Most times they are overshadowed by the Yankees and Red Sox in their league, but with 9 winning games streak and being number 1 right now in the eastern ranking, they are pretty awesome.
“I hope my MLB team win this year!” An American would state with such aggression. But no, not us Canadians, we just hope that the Jays make it to the playoffs and everything else after is a bonus. We're used to not being on top, but we've made peace with that while we support our underdogs and damn, you can't find a friendlier neighbor than that.
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