All that bad?
For almost all of 2010, sports reporters have been using Toronto as an example of a city where the market share and size are there, but the winning simply is not. I believe that this situation really is becoming falsified! On the heels of seasons where the city’s NBA and NHL teams falling a game short and an extremely long-shot away, respectively, from postseason play - I think that this summer could be the start of a good fall in the province’s capital.
The Jays, the team I have loved for years, is full of amazing and up-and-coming young talent to fill the voids of the Roy Holladay’s and Joe Carters that brought so much excitement and winning of championships. The team is legitimately in the mix for the AL Wildcard spot at the end of the season and is holding ground in the most serious division in sports today: the AL East (Yankees, Sox, Rays). The team is on track for 85 wins and a winning record in the toughest division in their league, and has shown much progress in the now-obvious rebuilding phase from the second Doc left the office.
Raptors, eerily the Blue Jays down the road, have lost their perennial stars Bosh and Turkoglu, who are now hated beyond the likes of Vince Carter around the area - but have a young core ready to run for the postseason. Although ESPN projects they fall extremely far from a seeding position in April, there is much anticipation that this team should provide the most exciting style of play seen in recent years. Should the team, based on pride and sheer athletic power (Johnson, DeRozan, Weems) hold the 2nd spot in the Atlantic without the stars of last year, it would make for an interesting tweet to @chrisbosh.
The Maple Leafs seem to have the team put together to make a serious run this year with the likes of Phaneuf as captain, Burke making huge moves (catching Versteeg, Armstrong) and Kaberle set to return. This team could be the wildcard of the East and surprise in the Playoffs for the first time in too-many years as the league’s most valuable team.
In other notes, the Argos? and TFC could be in the playoffs this year, so with so many Toronto teams with the right signs, why all the pessimism?
