The Case for Canadian Exceptionalsim or the Evolving Landscape of Canadian Sports

As times change, economies and societies change with them. From a time in the mid 90's, when it appeared professional sports in Canada was on life support, to today, where professional sports in Canada seems as strong as it ever was, Canadian sports fans have been riding a roller coaster of mild success and seemingly prolonged failure for quite some time now. In some ways, traditional, Canadiana in our sports scene is going stronger than ever, and still, the global nature of sports (as has oft been predicted for the last 20 or 30 years) is making a real impact on the Canadian landscape. Canada's historical favourite sport is thriving, Canada's only exclusive professional league is seeing its first wave of new construction in decades, and Canada's favourite "World's game" is seeing a huge boom in infrastructure and professional expansion.

More hockey, hockey, hockey...

I suppose the best place to start is with Canada's first love (and fuck lacrosse). The game of hockey, particularly at the highest professional level, is experiencing a bit of a renaissance in the wake of the US economic downturn. All of a sudden the real money of fans in markets like Winnipeg and Quebec City seems a lot more enticing than the theoretical money of fans in markets like Atlanta and Phoenix. Canada has already re-claimed one team from the wave of southern expansion and it seems entirely possible that a second could be on its way. With the prospect of new, NHL caliber arenas in Toronto and Quebec City, it seems only a matter of time before Canada sees an eighth (and if we dare to dream, ninth) NHL team.

New Winnipeg Bluebombers Stadium

Canada's lone, exclusive professional (or more specifically, relevant) sports league, the CFL, is also on a tear of new development. With BC Place already refurbished to nearly NFL caliber levels, the Winnipeg Blue Bombers and Hamilton Tiger-Cats set to move into new buildings in the next couple years, and the Ottawa Roughriders still trying (although somewhat uninspiringly) to return to the CFL in a refurbished Frank Clair Stadium, the league might look like an entirely different animal by the end of the decade. Throw in the Saskatchewan Roughriders, who are in the very preliminary stages of trying to get a new stadium built, and pretty soon the majority of CFL teams could be playing in brand new venues. For a league that spent the last couple of decades playing in dilapidated and neglected stadiums that could be seen, at best, as high in "character" while low in just about everything else, this could be a real turning point for the league. If the Toronto Argonauts could ever get their shit together and move out of the soul sucking cavern that is the Rogers Centre football configuration, and into an outdoor, 25-30K, CFL specific stadium, that franchise, and by-proxy the league could be on a real roll.

A big part of what made Toronto's newest franchise such a success was the character of the stadium. Torontonians wanted a change from indoor sports, and BMO Field (along with Toronto FC), offered fans that chance. I think a similar Toronto Argonauts stadium would probably have the same effect on the fanbase.

A stadium like this would save the Argos

BMO Field

Speaking of Toronto FC, the third aspect of Canada's evolving pro sports scene starts with them. People have projected for decades that soccer was "the next big thing", both in Canada, and the United States, but it seems that finally, in Canada at least, that soccer may finally, actually be “the next big thing”. After Toronto FC's initial success (at the box-office, not on the field, obviously), Major League Soccer saw potential. In conversations after that initial success commissioner Don Garber drew comparisons to the NHL. He saw that the NHL was able to not just sustain itself, but grow by being a big player in Canada (not to mention off put some of the losses of American franchises with the profits of Canadian ones). Garber saw that the Canadian market seemed to be more accepting of Major League Soccer as a professional league, and decided to act. Soon enough, both Vancouver and Montreal would be given franchises and Garber's plan to cash in on Canadian soccer fans was underway.



Big, beautiful, soccer specific-ish stadium



Not that there is anything wrong with that. As a Canadian soccer fan I am happy to be taken advantage of (to a point. I won't pay TFC's ever inflating ticket price, but I am happy to have more teams in Canada). To look back at the difference in soccer infrastructure in this country over the decade is almost unbelievable. From a nation with zero soccer specific stadiums, to a nation with three-ish (okay, two but BC Place isn't that bad) in just over 5 years time is incredibly impressive. BMO Field, while barebones when it comes to amenities is a SSS with natural grass, and a primary tenant, something Canadian soccer fans could have only dreamt of ten years ago. Throw in the great location and Canada (and specifically Toronto) has got something that could now be called a true home field for the national team. Toronto FC and Canadian soccer fans have really hit the jackpot with BMO Field. It can be hard to look past the dismal performance of the home team, but in the grand scheme of things, the progress is astounding. August nights at BMO Field, with the sights and sounds of the CNE midway as a backdrop to a Toronto or Canada home game, have become a real special atmosphere. One that Canadian sports fans ought to be proud of, and one that sports fans anywhere in the word ought to be jealous of.

Concept for renovated Stade Saputo

With new teams and new arenas sprouting up all across Canada, I think it is safe to say that professional sports in our country might be entering a golden age. It would be great if the success of the teams could match the success of the businesses, but I suppose we shouldn't expect everything all at once.


Links and Twitter handles: @FadooBobcat @FriedgeHNIC, @DamoSpin, @JeffMarek, @michaelgrange @GloBlair @GordStellick @darrenrovell @Paul__Jones @Wilnerness590 @keithlaw @sportsnetsoccer @bgnewf @LukeWileman @Nigel_Reed @TimSidizen @TSNProducerTim @DShulman_ESPN @gareth_wheeler @_Joe_Ross @tsnotoole @Sid_Seixeiro @JayOnrait @GloBlair @tsnjamesduthie @dshoalts @GregSansone @tim_micallef @jamessharman @bruce_arthur @DarrenDreger Listen Here - http://www.fan590.com/onair/primetimesports/

Why the Jets' Return Means So Much to all of Canada

The NHL's return to Winnipeg has been the biggest positive story of this off season. A midst all the tragedy this past summer, Winnipeg's return to professional hockey remained a beacon of optimism for hockey fans in Canada. With their debut now out of the way, and with the deluge of good will and support from hockey fans across the country we can start to reflect on what happened, how it happened, and why it was received like it was. Why did the return of the NHL to Winnipeg, or more succinctly, the return of the Winnipeg Jets, create such a swell of emotion from people who otherwise, have never been Jets fans?

The overwhelming love for these new Jets comes less from the reality of the current situation, and more from the climate in which the original Jets left.

I know it was ugly, but I still wanted to win it.

I was an eleven year old kid when the Jets left (so I suspect I was ten when the Nordiques left). Not at the age where you have become "smart" by any means, but at the age where you have become "aware" of what is going around you. I had liked hockey since I was about 5 years old, but was obviously too young to understand the inner-workings of, not necessarily the game, but the league.

When the Jets left, there was a very strong narrative surrounding professional sports in Canada; Things were bad, and they weren't getting any better. Two of our hockey teams had fled, not just to the US, but to the sunbelt. The CFL was embarking on its ill-fated American experiment. The Expos and Blue Jays had just been robbed of a potential World Series meeting. And to cap that summer off, in the World Cup of Hockey, Canada lost two out of three, and had to watch the United States celebrate on the ice in Montreal. Follow that up with a horrible run at the World Junior Hockey Championship (bookended by dynasties as they were), and things looked bleak for Canadian sports fan. The Jets (and the Nordiques) became more than just individual teams. They were symbols of the fleeting Canadian sports scene.

Another awful 90's moment I just remembered

The rivalry that has emerged between US and Canadian hockey is a symptom of that mid to late 90's, almost "moral panic", about the game in our country. Obviously there are other reasons contributing to the US supplanting Russia as our number one hockey rival, but this feeling that emerged then, that "the big bad Americans" were coming for us, that was a big spark to what is certainly the best current rivalry in international hockey. The stars of today are about my age and everyone I knew growing up and know now look at the Americans as our primary hockey rival. The Russian rivalry is quaint and nostalgic, but the American rivalry is mean and aggressive.

Fifteen years on, and the nation wide jubilation at the return of the Winnipeg Jets is emblematic of a feeling that Canada is "taking back" a sport that "those greedy Americans" tried to steal from us.

Kind of a big deal

Now obviously, that was never the case. Canada wasn't losing "its" sport and the US wasn't "stealing" anything. The economic realities of the time (both general and specific to those organizations) forced a sort of restructuring of North American professional sports landscape, and that restructuring is a part of why the Winnipeg Jets were able to return.

Antropov? That doesn't bode well

I think Canadians would be absolutely satisfied if the Jets were the last team to move to Canada. I think Canadians are happy with seven representatives in the top flight of professional hockey. Not that they wouldn't take more, and maybe time will change, but as it stands, I think Canadians feel somewhat vindicated that the NHL returned to Winnipeg. It was sort of like a nation wide "told ya so!" to the NHL.

So congrats Winnipeg. We are all pulling for you. And so long as you never cost my team points or a playoff spot, that will never change.









Links and Twitter handles: @FadooBobcat @FriedgeHNIC, @DamoSpin, @JeffMarek, @michaelgrange @GloBlair @GordStellick @darrenrovell @Paul__Jones @Wilnerness590 @keithlaw @sportsnetsoccer @bgnewf @LukeWileman @Nigel_Reed @TimSidizen @TSNProducerTim @DShulman_ESPN @gareth_wheeler @_Joe_Ross @tsnotoole @Sid_Seixeiro @JayOnrait @GloBlair @tsnjamesduthie @dshoalts @GregSansone @tim_micallef @jamessharman @bruce_arthur @DarrenDreger Listen Here - http://www.fan590.com/onair/primetimesports/

Team Canada to call Toronto Home

Canada Opens World Cup Qualifying With Toronto Stand - Globe and Mail

Captain Canada and a victim of TFC/MLSE mismanagement

Team Canada (the association football version) will make Toronto, and more specifically, the as of yet illogically named (for FIFA games anyways) Canadian National Soccer Stadium its home for it's first run of qualifying games for the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil. The senior men's team has only played a handful of games in Toronto since the stadium went up, and only one meaningful game (a crushing draw with Jamaica that effectively ended the 2010 World Cup campaign almost before it began).

With the teams Canada has been drawn against, and hopefully the stability provided by a consistent home field (which will hopefully, but not likely provide a home crowd as well), the squad should make it through to the next round of qualifying. SHOULD. But this is Canada's men's national team, and they rarely do as their supposed to (unless they're supposed to lose, they're pretty good at meeting that bar).

Of note, all three games will take place on Friday nights, which should make for some, lets call them, "lively" attendees.

Hopefully ticket prices are reasonable so that casual Canadian soccer fans will consider going, as opposed to the cash grab mentality that normally pervades CSA ticket distrubution methods wherein they attempt to overcharge knowing that the fans of the other team (i.e. whoever is playing against Canada) will pay almost anything to watch "their" team (despite the fact that presumably a large number of those supporters now live and work in Canada.

Links and Twitter handles: @FadooBobcat @FriedgeHNIC, @DamoSpin, @JeffMarek, @michaelgrange @GloBlair @GordStellick @darrenrovell @Paul__Jones @Wilnerness590 @keithlaw Listen Here - http://www.fan590.com/onair/primetimesports/