OT: Baseball?

[Captain Bowie]

I hate the Jays. Their fawning in-house media turned me off of ever cheering any success they may have.
I agree, though, that the Mariners put very little effort into marketing to BC. It's far easier to get a Jays fix daily than it is to even see a Mariners recap.
I laugh at those who hate the Leafs yet support the Jays.

How is that the same thing? We don't have a ball team, it is perfectly reasonable for a ball fan in BC to cheer for the Jays. There is no sane reason to cheer for the Leafs.

Growing up the majority of kids I played ball with were Jays fans, some Mariners but Jays most of all.

 

[Rotting Corpse*]

I have posted about this before but the time zone difference actually made the Jays more appealing to me than the Mariners. I loved coming home from school or work and watching the Jays game which would just be starting. Even now I usually miss the first few innings but still I honestly hate it when the Jays are playing in the west and the game won't be on when I get home from work.

 

[Captain Bowie]

I have posted about this before but the time zone difference actually made the Jays more appealing to me than the Mariners. I loved coming home from school or work and watching the Jays game which would just be starting. Even now I usually miss the first few innings but still I honestly hate it when the Jays are playing in the west and the game won't be on when I get home from work.

I loved that too! I'd come home from school as a kid/teen, turn on the Jays game for a while before I had to go to whatever sport that night or do homework or whatever. Certainly helped foster a love for the team.

 

[PM]

I still love that. Come home from work and have a beer on the porch in the sun while watching the game on my phone. Finishes right around dinner time. Hockey I still prefer at 7pm though, just more of a night sport to me while baseball I consider a day sport. And my favourite football games are the 10am starts on Sunday. Get up at 9, cook some bacon and eggs, make my coffee and watch the game. Game ends around lunch time, it's perfect.

We are spoiled on the west coast with the best start times. Maybe that's why east coast sports fans are always so salty

 

[Rotting Corpse*]

I still love that. Come home from work and have a beer on the porch in the sun while watching the game on my phone. Finishes right around dinner time. Hockey I still prefer at 7pm though, just more of a night sport to me while baseball I consider a day sport. And my favourite football games are the 10am starts on Sunday. Get up at 9, cook some bacon and eggs, make my coffee and watch the game. Game ends around lunch time, it's perfect.

We are spoiled on the west coast with the best start times. Maybe that's why east coast sports fans are always so salty

It is also just the pace of the game, it just is not as important if you miss stuff. If hockey started at 4PM, chances are when you get home from work it is probably the second period or later and it is annoying. With baseball, I do not really care if I miss the first couple innings.

 

[PM]

Definitely agree with that. He first few innings is usually the starting pitcher letting nothing by. Although if it's someone like Kershaw pitching I don't want to miss that either. I'm not a Dodgers fan but I'd like to see them go far this year and Kershaw get a title.

 

[Rotting Corpse*]

He just got hurt

 

[PG Canuck]

Remove your avatar and GTFO!!!!

People assume I am some bandwagon fan when I walk around with my Jays hat on. I have been a fan of the team since the *insert old player name here* was a regular (Raul Mondesi, Jose Cruz Jr. Darren Fletcher, Reed Johnson, Vernon Wells, Delgado, the O-Dog, Shannon Stewart, Tony Batista and his crazy stance, Brad Fullmer and his lip full of chew, ect....)

Although I will admit I do that with all the Seahawks fans I see around that were non-existant 5 years ago. I just want credit for all the crappy years I put in.

Like I said I like their players, especially Stroman who is one of my favourite MLB players. However, I don't give a **** about Justin Smoak regardless of his good season.

In another 2-3 years when the Jays are irrelevant and not cool anymore, I'll likely be fully off the Jays wagon with no attadments to them. Nothing but a distant memory...like an ex you look back on and say yeah we had fun but it's time to move on.

 

[PG Canuck]

I have posted about this before but the time zone difference actually made the Jays more appealing to me than the Mariners. I loved coming home from school or work and watching the Jays game which would just be starting. Even now I usually miss the first few innings but still I honestly hate it when the Jays are playing in the west and the game won't be on when I get home from work.

This is basically me...except reverse. When I get off work the Jays are close to done because of the time difference. What's the point watching a couple innings at the end? Pretty hard to get attached to a team like that, for me.

I missed half their ****ing postseason games anyways. While that is the MLB's fault to an extent, being an East team doesn't help either.

Watching highlights isn't my cup of tea.

 

[PM]

He just got hurt

Yeah but he should hopefully be back in time for playoffs and the Dodgers rotation and offense should be able to hold the spot until he returns.

 

[Domecile]

Remove the viaducts and build a 40k baseball stadium right by false creek.

 

[Rotting Corpse*]

I do this weird thing with teams where I kinda lose interest and then they become great.

I was a rabid Jays fan from 2003-2014 or so. Barely ever missed a game, knew everything that was going on. Even knew what was going on with all their minor league affiliates. Then I pulled back a bit and stopped paying close attention and suddenly they are in the playoffs.

Similarly I lost interest in the Canucks around 2009 or so; really barely was even paying attention when the 2010-11 season started and then...

Now I am following the team as close as I ever have; I have 6,500 ****ing posts on this forum in 2 years and they have been utter trash the whole time.

It is like reverse bandwagoning.

 

[Captain Bowie]

I do this weird thing with teams where I kinda lose interest and then they become great.

I was a rabid Jays fan from 2003-2014 or so. Barely ever missed a game, knew everything that was going on. Even knew what was going on with all their minor league affiliates. Then I pulled back a bit and stopped paying close attention and suddenly they are in the playoffs.

Similarly I lost interest in the Canucks around 2009 or so; really barely was even paying attention when the 2010-11 season started and then...

Now I am following the team as close as I ever have; I have 6,500 ****ing posts on this forum in 2 years and they have been utter trash the whole time.

It is like reverse bandwagoning.

I'd really appreciate it if you stopped caring about the Canucks again and left the forum for a while.

 

[NoShowWilly]

I do this weird thing with teams where I kinda lose interest and then they become great.

I was a rabid Jays fan from 2003-2014 or so. Barely ever missed a game, knew everything that was going on. Even knew what was going on with all their minor league affiliates. Then I pulled back a bit and stopped paying close attention and suddenly they are in the playoffs.

Similarly I lost interest in the Canucks around 2009 or so; really barely was even paying attention when the 2010-11 season started and then...

Now I am following the team as close as I ever have; I have 6,500 ****ing posts on this forum in 2 years and they have been utter trash the whole time.

It is like reverse bandwagoning.

How the **** did you lose interest in the Canucks in 2009?

Some of the most entertaining hockey this team has ever played.

Yet now you are invested in the team after two of the worst seasons this team has ever had.

 

[crobro]

Crab park at the foot of main for a major league ballpark

 

[Hit the post]

Yet now you are invested in the team after two of the worst seasons this team has ever had.

Wasn't just terrible in terms of wins & losses - but fairly dull as well. AWFUL combination (not that any combination of losses + whatever is going to be that good).

 

[ziploc]

Crab park at the foot of main for a major league ballpark

No thanks.

How about demolishing the Coliseum and putting a ballpark there?

 

[NoShowWilly]

Wasn't just terrible in terms of wins & losses - but fairly dull as well. AWFUL combination (not that any combination of losses + whatever is going to be that good).

scored the least amount of goals i believe they ever have in a full season.(b2b years)
had a single 20 goals scorer who only scored 20.
25th OA in goals against
played a very dull defensive style
played for ties
had a thick headed coach who would not change anything.
had terrible special teams
one of the softest teams in the nhl with no excuses about possession

truly was an awful season to watch. sorry this has gotten offtopic for this thread. my apologies.

 

[DustyMartellaughs]

How is that the same thing? We don't have a ball team, it is perfectly reasonable for a ball fan in BC to cheer for the Jays. There is no sane reason to cheer for the Leafs.

Growing up the majority of kids I played ball with were Jays fans, some Mariners but Jays most of all.

Maybe in the early days of the Jays one could rationalize being a fan. Not now. It's the exact same sugary in-house media that shove the Leafs down our throat. All Toronto, all the time. They don't cover baseball, they cover the Jays. It's not reporters reporting, its employees spinning. It's sickening, disingenuous, and transparent.
"Canada's team" only because they've beaten us over the head with that mantra and wear a maple leaf. They're thousands of miles away. Why should I feel any sort of emotional connection? Because we're told to? No thanks. It would make just as much sense to cheer for the San Francisco Giants because we each have a nice bridge.
I hate Toronto, and I hate Rogers.

 

[denkiteki]

I hate the Jays. Their fawning in-house media turned me off of ever cheering any success they may have.
I agree, though, that the Mariners put very little effort into marketing to BC. It's far easier to get a Jays fix daily than it is to even see a Mariners recap.
I laugh at those who hate the Leafs yet support the Jays.

I think you'll find a lot of people in Vancouver/BC that hate the Leafs yet support both the Jays and Raptors.

Reason -

1) Only professional team in Canada (for their respective league/sports)
2) Marketing - Pretty much all Raptors/Blue Jays games are on cable (TSN/Sportsnet)
3) They actually have connections out West - Raptors play pre-season game(s) in Vancouver, Blue Jays have a farm team in Vancouver

Although in the case of Raptors, i really only support them because i figure they are the best chance to end lebron's monopoly of EC winner/NBA final appearances.

 

[DustyMartellaughs]

I think you'll find a lot of people in Vancouver/BC that hate the Leafs yet support both the Jays and Raptors.

Reason -

1) Only professional team in Canada (for their respective league/sports)
2) Marketing - Pretty much all Raptors/Blue Jays games are on cable (TSN/Sportsnet)
3) They actually have connections out West - Raptors play pre-season game(s) in Vancouver, Blue Jays have a farm team in Vancouver

Although in the case of Raptors, i really only support them because i figure they are the best chance to end lebron's monopoly of EC winner/NBA final appearances.

2. Absolutely. They expose their investment to as many potential customers as they can. That's just good business.

3. I buy the Jays connection, because of the Canadians. As far as Raptors preseason games, preseason games in any sport seldom elicit real passion. I think if you're already a Raptors fan, they're cool, otherwise it wouldn't move me to actually care about their regular season fortunes.

1. This is the one I don't get, in any sport. It's misplaced nationalism, the kind that rears its head when only one team from Canada is left in the NHL playoffs and we're told that to not cheer for them is somehow unpatriotic. **** that. I love good hockey, period, so once the Canucks are out (if they were ever in) I truly couldn't care less who wins as long they play an exciting game. The Oilers or Leafs may win a Cup in the next decade, but how that's supposed to make my heart swell with Canadian pride at what they've achieved FOR ALL OF US from coast to coast escapes me. I don't care what a team from Toronto does just because they're located within our borders. If TO gets an NFL team I'm still a Seahawks fan, even if the team is named the Mounties, Beavers, Lumberjacks, or some other icon of our country.

 

[Captain Bowie]

Maybe in the early days of the Jays one could rationalize being a fan. Not now. It's the exact same sugary in-house media that shove the Leafs down our throat. All Toronto, all the time. They don't cover baseball, they cover the Jays. It's not reporters reporting, its employees spinning. It's sickening, disingenuous, and transparent.
"Canada's team" only because they've beaten us over the head with that mantra and wear a maple leaf. They're thousands of miles away. Why should I feel any sort of emotional connection? Because we're told to? No thanks. It would make just as much sense to cheer for the San Francisco Giants because we each have a nice bridge.
I hate Toronto, and I hate Rogers.

I really don't know what your point is. What has changed now compared to the early 2000's in terms of coverage? It is largely the same people. Jamie Campbell did PBP back in the day, now he does in-studio coverage, and Gregg Zaun went from player to analyst. Other than that, pretty much the same.

You are giving a lot of valid reasons to not like them, and that's perfectly fine. But you are trying to pretend the reasons that exist that people DO like them either don't exist, or aren't valid. They are valid simply because thousands and thousands of people feel them.

1. This is the one I don't get, in any sport. It's misplaced nationalism, the kind that rears its head when only one team from Canada is left in the NHL playoffs and we're told that to not cheer for them is somehow unpatriotic. **** that. I love good hockey, period, so once the Canucks are out (if they were ever in) I truly couldn't care less who wins as long they play an exciting game. The Oilers or Leafs may win a Cup in the next decade, but how that's supposed to make my heart swell with Canadian pride at what they've achieved FOR ALL OF US from coast to coast escapes me. I don't care what a team from Toronto does just because they're located within our borders. If TO gets an NFL team I'm still a Seahawks fan, even if the team is named the Mounties, Beavers, Lumberjacks, or some other icon of our country.

You can get it or not get it all you want, people cheering for the Jays isn't going to go away because you want them to. You can think it's stupid or misplaced or whatever, but there are more people connected to the Jays for a variety of reason than any other team.

I'd say let it go, let people cheer for who they want and life will be easier.

 

[denkiteki]

2. Absolutely. They expose their investment to as many potential customers as they can. That's just good business.

3. I buy the Jays connection, because of the Canadians. As far as Raptors preseason games, preseason games in any sport seldom elicit real passion. I think if you're already a Raptors fan, they're cool, otherwise it wouldn't move me to actually care about their regular season fortunes.

1. This is the one I don't get, in any sport. It's misplaced nationalism, the kind that rears its head when only one team from Canada is left in the NHL playoffs and we're told that to not cheer for them is somehow unpatriotic. **** that. I love good hockey, period, so once the Canucks are out (if they were ever in) I truly couldn't care less who wins as long they play an exciting game. The Oilers or Leafs may win a Cup in the next decade, but how that's supposed to make my heart swell with Canadian pride at what they've achieved FOR ALL OF US from coast to coast escapes me. I don't care what a team from Toronto does just because they're located within our borders. If TO gets an NFL team I'm still a Seahawks fan, even if the team is named the Mounties, Beavers, Lumberjacks, or some other icon of our country.

Difference is for the NHL, its much harder to go from hating a team to liking a team just for a month. Remember you spend pretty much 11 months hating the team, its hard to just turn a switch and suddenly like a team because they are the only team left. A better comparison might be Olympics and say Team Canada in the Winter games. You'll see NHL fans in Canada all cheer for team Canada regardless of which NHL team they support. They'll even cheer for Crosby or say McDavid (in 2022?) during that period because you want team Canada to win and never actually wanted them to lose (unlike the Oilers for example).

As far as Raptors goes, they are the only ones that plays any pre-season games in Vancouver every year so if you're a neutral NBA fan in Vancouver, it could be the difference between cheering for them than say LAK or whoever. Of course the connection is likely weaker so once the Raptors rebuild, fans might just switch their support to Portland or Seattle (who's rumored to be on the shortlist for NBA expansion).

 

[Josepho]

I think you'll find a lot of people in Vancouver/BC that hate the Leafs yet support both the Jays and Raptors.

Reason -

1) Only professional team in Canada (for their respective league/sports)
2) Marketing - Pretty much all Raptors/Blue Jays games are on cable (TSN/Sportsnet)
3) They actually have connections out West - Raptors play pre-season game(s) in Vancouver, Blue Jays have a farm team in Vancouver

Although in the case of Raptors, i really only support them because i figure they are the best chance to end lebron's monopoly of EC winner/NBA final appearances.

This is definitely it.

I think there's just a culture of following the Raptors/Jays/Seahawks because those were really the only teams with decent Vancouver coverage for a significant time. I think there's gonna be less support for those teams in the future now that people are very capable of following whatever team they please.

 

[Rocko604]

I have to wonder how many of the people who are saying Jays "fans" count themselves as "12s". 😂

That's the wagon round these parts.

The majority of Jays fan I know are diehard 12s.